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-- Unconfirmed, 'Missing in Action' --
Date of Disappearance: (Estimated) 1995
Directions:
According to the State Marker System, the location for this marker is:
"Located on Fremont Street in Las Vegas, Nevada."
N 36° 10.190 W 115° 08.523
Description:
According to the State Marker System, here is the exact description as reads:
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He founded the Las Vegas Age newspaper and was the voice of the community for more than a quarter century. A visionary, he helped make Hoover Dam a reality.
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Status: Old Pop Squires would reel in his grave if he ever found out what happened to his homesite. I knew going in full well this one was going to be a no-brain MIA, but I went for it anyway. This marker is more than likely never coming back, only because of Fremont Street's bustling tourist scene. This case boils down to one thing: nobody cares.
After undergoing tons of research into locating exactly where 'Pop' Squires' original homesite would've been, articles from my finding at the State Archives in Carson City located the property at '407 Fremont Street'. Here's the problem: that address was archived in 1958, the year he died and went into records. Soon after, Las Vegas' Strip began to grow north and even further north, eventually encompassing his tiny homesite, in turn, revising most of the address numbers to make room for a longer street. Circa 1964, the Strip was on, full fledged and catering to tourists and little went into restoring, finding or even archiving his homesite. Sadly, the property's exact location was lost and the '407 Fremont Street' I found was an estimation based on street numbers back then. In any case, here is what you'll find at '407 Fremont Street'...
 ... Yep, a sidewalk along LV Blvd. Believe it or not, based on the estimation, this is where 'Pop' Squires Homesite used to sit. The green wall you see is a parking garage for the Fremont Street Experience. For all I know, I could've easily been standing right over his old homesite when I shot this picture! Pathetic.
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There are various location descriptions for #190 which makes matters even more difficult. '407' was the address I found at the Archives, but NDOT records show the actual MARKER located at '417 Fremont Street'. Either way, it's only a few yards difference and wouldn't really matter because somehow, you'd see it if it was there.
 '407 Fremont Street' is now a bar, more specifically, a party goers hangout. Yep, I'd be reeling in my grave too.
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There are two parts to Fremont Street. The first one, in between LV Blvd and 4th St, was the location of the MARKER, specifically at the present site of Hennessey's Tavern. This is the view you'll see...
 The building on the far left is the former location of #190, now Hennessey's Tavern... and none of 'em give a hoot as who 'Pop' Squires was.
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The 2nd part of Fremont Street is the actual Fremont Street Experience. There is rumor that it may have been relocated here, next to 'Vegas Vic', the old cowboy neon sign. However, I walked the Experience from end to end and found no traces of #190 EVER being here. It seems like an unlikely place, mainly because trying to spot the miniature blue sign would be a demanding challenge. Plus, people wouldn't care anyway. The sheer purpose, cost and labor of moving it here would be pointless. People on the Strip don't know or don't care about Pop Squires, let alone the one-minded tourists. As far as the records show, #190 has been missing for a long time and could very well have been the FIRST EVER MIA in the system. In case you're wondering, I checked inside the parking garage, all four levels, and found nothing. Later, I checked with the folks inside Hennesseys if they knew anything about 'Pop' Squires, an historical marker, or 'any blue signs'. Unless I was buying a drink, they more or less ignored me and unofficially kicked me out. Arrogance. I also spoke with a few of the security personnel, custodians and volunteers at the Experience and as expected... all replied with blank stares and 'I dunnos'. The Jeopardy theme rang through my head. As of today, a few fellow marker hunters and myself are desperately trying to find the contact for the Fremont Street Experience to see if they can shed any more light on this already dark mystery. 'Pop' deserves better than this, that's for damn sure. Ironic for a man that pretty much made the Strip happen, yet he gets no marker of any kind for his remembrance. Typical Las Vegas.
 ...NO, NO, NO. #190 is NOT in the Experience.
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Like all the Clark MIA's, keeping track of #190 will be difficult for me so I'm relying on YOU, the fellow hunter, to keep me posted. If you want to do your own hunting, I wish you tons of luck! This one will probably never be coming back anytime soon. #190 was a miniature "Standard" type marker, similar to #132, #227 or #186. Should you spot it or find any information on it, please
let me know
so I can update this information and/or finding of it with full credit given to you!
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