Winchester, Nevada

Winchester, Nevada
Census-designated place and unincorporated town
Sahara Hotel Station of the monorail
Location of Winchester in Clark County, Nevada
Coordinates: 36°8′9″N 115°7′15″W / 36.13583°N 115.12083°W / 36.13583; -115.12083
Country	United States
State	Nevada
County	Clark
Founded	April 23, 1951; 73 years ago (1951-04-23)
Founded by	Clark County Commission
Area [1]
• Total	4.96 sq mi (12.84 km2)
• Land	4.96 sq mi (12.84 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation	1,919 ft (585 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	36,403
• Density	7,342.28/sq mi (2,834.66/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
Area code(s)	702 and 725
FIPS code	32-84600
GNIS feature ID	0845753

Winchester is an unincorporated town^[2] and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States that contains part of the Las Vegas Strip. It is one of a number of CDPs in the unincorporated urbanized area directly south of Las Vegas. The population was 36,403 at the 2020 census.^[3] It is governed by the Clark County Commission with advice from the Winchester Town Advisory Board. "Winchester, NV" does not appear in postal addresses; the United States Postal Service has assigned "Las Vegas, NV" as the place name for the ZIP codes containing Winchester.

The southern part of the Las Vegas Valley was referred to as Paradise Valley as early as 1910, owing to a high water table that made the land particularly fertile for farming.^[4][5] County commissioners established a Paradise school district in 1914.^[6]

In 1950, mayor Ernie Cragin of Las Vegas sought to annex the Las Vegas Strip, which was unincorporated territory, in order to expand the city's tax base to fund his ambitious building agenda and pay down the city's rising debt.^[7] A group of casino executives, led by Gus Greenbaum of the Flamingo, lobbied the county commissioners for town status, which would prevent the city from annexing the land without the commission's approval.^[7] The commission voted to create the unincorporated town of Paradise on December 8, 1950.^[8][9] A month after its establishment, the town was expanded to include the residential areas of Paradise Valley.^[10] Months later, however, it was reported that county officials had determined that the town had not been properly established, because the petition for the town's formation had an insufficient number of signatures and because it had violated a state law forbidding formation of a town spanning multiple school districts.^[11] On August 20, 1951, county commissioners accepted petitions to create two new towns covering the area of the putative town.^[12] Town "A" of Paradise included the areas that lay within a Las Vegas school district, extending from the city limits to a point one mile south, while Town "B" included the areas within the Paradise school district.^[11] In 1953, Town A was renamed as Winchester, and Town B became known simply as Paradise.^[13] Ultimately, in 1956 state law consolidated all local school districts into a countywide school district, which in the Las Vegas Valley's case is the Clark County School District.^[14]

Winchester sits in the east-central part of the Las Vegas Valley. To the north it borders Las Vegas, to the west and south is the CDP of Paradise, and to the east is Sunrise Manor.

Relative to streets, it is the area bordered by Sahara Avenue on the north, Boulder Highway on the east, Desert Inn Road on the south and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks on the west, with a few additional enclaves west of Interstate 15.^[15] The Strip casinos which are part of Winchester include the Sahara, Fontainebleau Las Vegas, Resorts World Las Vegas, Circus Circus, and the Westgate.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 4.3 square miles (11 km²), all land.

At the 2000 census, there were 26,958 people, 11,986 households, and 6,052 families living in the CDP. The population density was 6,253.2 inhabitants per square mile (2,414.4/km²). There were 13,535 housing units at an average density of 3,139.6 units per square mile (1,212.2 units/km²).^[20]

Of the 11,986 households, 20.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.3% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.5% were non-families. 38.7% of households were one person and 14.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 3.01.

The age distribution was 19.8% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 24.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.5% 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.7 males.

The median household income was $32,251 and the median family income was $39,451. Males had a median income of $27,886 versus $22,453 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $20,615. About 11.4% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.2% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

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