Mount Charleston

History

According to historian Stanley W. Paher, Conrad Keil (a.k.a. Kyle) built a sawmill and cabin in Kyle Canyon circa 1870–1880. It is shown on a 1881 plat map as being across from Fletcher Canyon, where the historic US Forest Service Administrative Site is located. A 1929 plat map shows that area was serviced by a water pipeline from Fletcher Spring. The Civilian Conservation Corps Camp Charleston Mountain was based there beginning in 1933. According to NVCRIS archaeological records in the Nevada State Historical Preservation Office, another pipeline originating from Fletcher Spring was run to three water tanks on present day Mt. Charleston Church property, which serviced the 1950s-1980s era Young Ranch. The historic Young Ranch property is presently the Retreat on Charleston Peak and Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway. Edmund W. Griffith initially established a campground in Kyle Canyon around 1905, concurrent with establishment of the Tule Station on the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad. His development, shown on the 1929 plat map to be in the present day Old Town Subdivision, was named Charleston Park. Griffith's Charleston Park Lodge (a.k.a. Griffith's Lodge) was built around 1915. A casino was later added to the lodge, which burned down in 1961. Historical postcards in the Pomona, Calif. Public Library show that lodge was at the present location of the Mt. Charleston Library and Volunteer Fire Department

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the census-designated place (CDP) of Mount Charleston (which may not coincide exactly with the town boundaries) has a total area of , all of it land. The communities comprising Mt. Charleston are made up of four subdivisions: Echo, Cathedral, Old Town and Rainbow, as well as a condominium complex next to the US Forest Service's Kyle Gateway.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay

  Aphelocoma woodhouseii (S.F.Baird, 1858) · Aves
  2,294
• Common Raven

  Corvus corax Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,286
• Dark-eyed Junco

  Junco hyemalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,016
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

  Setophaga coronata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,887
• Mountain Chickadee

  Poecile gambeli (Ridgway, 1886) · Aves
  1,834
• Chipping Sparrow

  Spizella passerina (Bechstein, 1798) · Aves
  1,818
• Ruby-crowned Kinglet

  Regulus calendula (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  1,736
• Pygmy Nuthatch

  Sitta pygmaea Vigors, 1839 · Aves
  1,551

Largest nearby schools

• Spring Mountain J-SHS
  High · Las Vegas · 60 students · 6.7:1 ratio
• Lundy Earl B ES
  Elementary · Mt Charleston · 13 students · 6.5:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.72 — 2026-08-20
  17 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada
• M 3 — 2026-08-09
  35 km WNW of Indian Springs, Nevada
• M 3.64 — 2026-07-18
  45 km SE of Beatty, Nevada
• M 2.99 — 2026-07-12
  17 km NNW of Indian Springs, Nevada
• M 3.39 — 2026-07-09
  47 km SE of Beatty, Nevada
• M 2.93 — 2026-07-09
  46 km SE of Beatty, Nevada