Wendover Air Force Base 662a

Wendover turned out to be much more sociologically interesting than I had expected. I had been through Wendover a couple of times over the past 20+ years and remembered that the last time I had been through in the early 90's, I had been surprised that what had been a sleepy small Utah town in the 70's had expanded into a town of a couple of relatively large gambling casinos just across the stateline in West Wendover, Nevada. On this more recent trip, the differences between the two towns were more obvious and more disturbing. West Wendover (in Nevada) seemed to be booming with several glittery casino/hotels, modern shops, and contemporary housing. Wendover (in Utah) seemed very rundown with older (or newer discount) motels, crowded housing, and fewer (and less attractive) stores. It seemed (though I can't verify this) that the Utah side of Wendover housed the lower-wage kitchen and service labor for the casinos, while the Nevada side housed the higher-waged management and service personnel that had more immediate contact with casino users. It also seemed that there were ethnic differences between the two sides with the Nevada side being whiter.

Though I have no pictures to document the above impression, the images of the former Wendover Air Force base (adjacent pictures) do suggest a lack of money in Wendover, Utah. The Wendover Air Force base was established early in WW II and has been through many permutations since. The Wendover base is important because it was the training ground for many of the bomber pilots in WW II, including the pilot who dropped the nuclear bomb at Hiroshima. The base was almost completely deactivated when I visited and apparently most of it had been turned over to the city of Wendover, Utah. These pictures would suggest that Wendover, Utah does not have the resources to either appropriately maintain the remaining structures or tear them down -- the overall area looked and felt like a large homeless camp.

This is of an old section of barracks, many with doors open, filled with trash, old mattresses, etc.