Statue of the First Lady of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Maybe it just didn't sound right to call Helen J. Stewart the "mother" of Las Vegas, but that indeed is what she was. She and her husband ran the first ranch on the land that would become Sin City.
When her husband was shot dead, Helen used the doors from their house to build his coffin. She kept on, raising five kids by herself, and eventually sold the ranch to the railroad. She was the new town's principal booster once civilization arrived in 1905, becoming the town's first postmaster and first woman juror.
Her bronze statue by Benjamin Victor, unveiled in late 2011, stands on the former ranch site, and depicts her as a petite woman wearing a fashionable dress and work boots.
"Always a lady," its says on the accompanying plaque.