| Hemenway Park | |
|---|---|
| Hemenway Valley Park | |
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 Interactive map of Hemenway Park | |
| Location | 401 Ville Drive,Boulder City, Nevada, United States |
| Coordinates | 35°59′45″N114°49′54″W / 35.9957423°N 114.8316996°W /35.9957423; -114.8316996 |
| Created | 1984 (1984) |
| Owned by | City of Boulder City |
| Status | Open |
| Website | www |
Hemenway Park (also known asHemenway Valley Park[1]) is a park inBoulder City, Nevada, United States. Opened in 1984, the park hosts community gatherings and sports events. It is equipped withtennis courts,basketball courts, asoftball field,horseshoe throwing areas,picnic spots,gazebos, and aplayground.
Desert bighorn sheep frequent the park between April and October. They climb down from theRiver Mountains to eat the readily available supply of grass and to get hydrated from the park'sirrigation sprinklers. Since 2013 the sheep have been infected withpneumonia which has caused the number of sheep visiting the park to drop to 50 from 60 in 2023. The animals attract tourists and photographers to the park, including those ontour buses bound forLake Mead and theGrand Canyon. The sheep are not always at the park, so to reduce inquiries about whether they were there, the city installed the Ram Cam in 2023. The Ram Cam provides alive-streamed view of the park for24 hours a day onYouTube.
Multiple academics in the region have tried to identify the source of the park's Hemenway name, but their efforts have been unsuccessful. Christie Vanover, a Lake Mead National Recreation Area spokeswoman, discovered that a geography book published in 1909 makes the oldest documented reference to the name. The book discusses Hemenway Pass, which has acopper camp. In 2015, theLas Vegas Review-Journal journalist Henry Brean said that researchers had narrowed the source down to two likely contenders. The first contender is Mary Hemenway, an affluentwidow inNew England. Although she did not travel to the region, she funded Hemenway Southwestern Archaeological Expedition, which took place between 1886 and 1894. Focusing on locations inNew Mexico andSouthern Arizona, the exploration started inAlbuquerque. However, a person in the party could have reached present-dayClark County, Nevada, where Hemenway Park is located, by traveling northwest along theColorado River.[2]
Christie Vanover, the Lake Mead National Recreation Area spokeswoman, proposed an alternative theory involving Frank Hampton Cushing, the exploration team's commander, who had previously been in the employ ofJohn Wesley Powell, a well-known explorer. Cushing may have convinced Powell, who surveyed and assigned names to the area's landmarks, to assign Mary Hemenway's name to avalley orwashland to acknowledge her benevolence. Mark Hall-Patton, theClark County Museum administrator, proposed a second theory involving Luther S. Hemenway, a Mormon pioneer. He suggested that Hemenway, a grower ofwine grapes nearSt. George, possibly was connected to Daniel Bonelli, after whom various landmarks are named. However, Hall-Patton did not find proof showing that Hemenway visited the locations that bear his surname or that Bonelli chose to name landmarks after Hemenway. According to Hall-Patton, it is frequently the case that people do not know a name's source. The population was very small in the 19th century. Since many people had departed or died after having lived there for a brief period, no one might know who or what a place was named for.[2]
Hemenway Park began operating in 1984.[3][4] The park is located at 401 Ville Drive in northernBoulder City, Nevada, and is 10 acres.[1][5][6] Visitors can seeLake Mead, which is situated five miles away.[1][7] It is about a mile from Boulder City Parkway (known asU.S. Route 93 Business) and two blocks from the route's intersection with Ville Street.[8][9] It is close to the River Mountain Hiking Trail.[10] At the park, perched at the hill's summit is the Administration Building. Built in 1932, it is theUnited States Bureau of Reclamation's regional base.[11]
The park has twotennis courts, asoftball field, twohorseshoe throwing areas, twopicnic spots equipped withbarbeque grills,gazebos, and aplayground.[1][12][13][14] It has signs informing visitors that dogs are not allowed in the park, in accordance with acity ordinance put in place to protect the sheep that frequent the area.[15][16] TheNevada Department of Wildlife installed six educational displays in 2014 discussing thedesert bighorn sheep that frequent the park.[3] The panels educate readers about the sheep's biology and history.[17]James B. Gibson, aClark County Commissioner, secured $175,000 in funding in 2020 to renovate the park.[18] The joint-use deal between the county and the city tapped money from the former's upgrade budget for parks and recreation.[19] The grant paid for benches and watering systems.[20] It supported the creation of a walking path to keep tourists on the park's edges, helping preserve its center for the sheep.[18][19] It funded signs that provided information about the sheep and the desert plants.[18] Around 2023, the park received upgrades such as the refurbishment of the damagedbasketball court and the installation of a Whirly Q Spinner in place of a damaged playground piece. The city installed two swings, including one that isaccessible.[20]
Hemenway Park has been used for community gatherings centered on the sheep. When the park's sheep suffered from pneumonia in 2013, the pastor of the Boulder City United Methodist Church visited the park to host a gathering involving praying andreiki healing.[21] It was the site of Artful Arty's Kids Drawing Day, an event put on in 2016 by the Boulder City Art Guild. The aim was to allow elementary school students to draw bighorn sheep in real time.[22] TheNevada Department of Wildlife led lessons there in 2017 to educate the public about the sheep.[23] Beginning in 1988, the Boulder City Interfaith Lay Council has put on a yearlynon-denominational Easter Sunrise Service at the park.[24][25] Over 200 people attended the service in 2025.[26] The park hosts sports events includingcross country running,[27][28] andsoftball.[16]
Desert bighorn sheep areNevada's state animal.[3] Roughly six months into Hemenway Park's 1984 opening, the sheep began visiting the park.[3] In 2012, there were between 200 and 250 adult members of a bighorn sheep herd that lived in theRiver Mountains. Around a third of the sheep frequently visited Hemenway Park forgrazing.[29] Biologists in 2013 noticed that the park's sheep hadsymptoms ofrunny noses andcoughs. Workers from theNevada Department of Wildlife caught a sick ewe to undergoeuthanasia so she could bedissected. The officials aimed to use the animal's tissues to determine whether a lethal form ofpneumonia had affected the herd. Since bighorn sheep lack immunity to pneumonia, they frequently die in large numbers from it when exposed.[30] The ewe was confirmed to be suffering from pneumonia so government officials had to stop reintroducing River Mountains animals to othermountain ranges.[31] Since 2013, scientists have identified four distinctstrains of the bacteriumMycoplasma ovipneumoniae in the River Mountains sheep.[32] The youngest members of the herd are most at risk of dying since they have immatureimmune systems, causing the population's reduction.[33][34] The number of sheep in the River Mountains grew to nearly 300 in 2015 but dropped to about 180 in 2023 owing tobacterial pneumonia.[35] Previously, about 100 sheep went to the park but by 2023 the upper limit topped out at 50 to 60 sheep.[35]
Since theLas Vegas Valley typically has over 200 days without rainfall, many bighorn sheep in the area are in danger of dying from the drought. While the bighorn sheep atMuddy Mountains,Arrow Canyon Range,McCullough Range, andSpotted Range face the greatest danger, the sheep from River Mountains that visit Hemenway Park are not in danger. This is primarily due to how close they are toLake Mead, allowing them grazing opportunities throughout the year.[36] Each year throughout the warmest six months between April and October, the mountain-dwelling sheep visit the park every day, typically beginning their descent as temperatures climb toward 90 °F (32 °C).[22][29][37] They generally are at the park starting in the middle of morning and ending as the afternoon draws to a close.[37] The sheep head to the park because the readily available supply of water from the park'sirrigation sprinklers make life there considerably less challenging compared to mountain life.[29][35] The mixture of theforbs and grass at the park provide the sheep nutritional variety, while its towering trees offer cover from the desert environment.[35] The end of the fall is the sheep'smating season. To compete for access to mates, the male sheep at the park clash by ramming their horns against each other.[38]
Since at least 1992, the sheep have been relocated to different sites.[39] Beginning in 1997, sheep were transported from the River Mountains, which had anoverpopulation of sheep, to theDelamar Mountains.[40] In 2005, state employees planned to relocate roughly 24 young sheep from the park to theVirgin Mountains. The Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn offered to cover the projected $15,000 required to track the animals and $7,000 for relocating the sheep using eight crates.[41] In 2007, 25 sheep were moved, drawn from a herd of over 250.[40] The next year, 50 sheep were transported to Delamar andMeadow Valley Mountains; a state official said the reduction in sheep was driven by grievances over sheepfeces and worries aboutpublic safety.[42]
Ron Eland, the editor of theBoulder City Review, called the sheep the city's "unofficial mascot".[35] The sheep attract tourists, photographers, wildlife enthusiasts, and locals to visit the park.[29][43][44]Tour buses destined forLake Mead or theGrand Canyon frequently visit Hemenway Park.[13] The city's Parks and Recreation department delivers an annual notice to tour operators that outlines the guidelines on entering the park with groups.[45] The park's sheep have grown used to being around people.[35] They go within close proximity of visitors, who can view them while seated at the park's picnic tables.[7][46] Sheep grazing in the park come as close as a few feet to visitors.[37][47] ANevada Department of Wildlife staff member, Lauren MacLeod, said that people should avoid giving food to the park's sheep since food that does not align with their natural diet could pose serious health risks. MacLeod recommended that to avoid disturbing the sheep, observers should rely on binoculars or their camera's zoom functionality to see the animals without getting too close.[35] The park's proximity to the high-trafficBoulder City Parkway raises the likelihood of sheep-car accidents.[35]
In March 2022, Boulder City Parks and Recreation Director Roger Hall initially proposed having a real-time video stream showing the sheep at Hemenway Park.[48][49] In the months preceding the installation, the city's employees devised and set up the required technology through collaboration across multiple departments.[49] A challenge that held up the project in February 2023 was not having access to a network connection beyond mobile service, a requirement to stream the video, but the issue was later resolved.[50][51] TheBoulder City government mounted the "Ram Cam", a real-time video broadcast system, on top of the park's restroom facilities and made the stream available to visitors on September 2, 2023.[48][52][53] Awide-angle view is captured by the camera.[54] The video stream is broadcast24 hours a day onYouTube.[49][55] Paid for through the city'sgeneral fund, the government spent a little below $6,000 to purchase the devices.[48]
The animals do not follow a set routine so may be in the park on one day but not there the next day.[48] The cameras were mounted to let people know if the sheep were currently in the park, aiming to reduce calls to the city and the Boulder City Chamber of Commerce from those planning a visit.[52] Another purpose of the cameras was to enable state biologists to monitor the sheep's physical condition in case any had gotten hurt.[49] A year after the cameras were set up, they had been watched over 150,000 times and there was a significant drop in inquiries about the sheep's whereabouts.[55]
Media related toHemenway Park at Wikimedia Commons