Las Vegas is synonymous with gambling, casinos, neon lights, and excess. Yet the city’s origins trace back to a remote Mormon outpost in the Nevada desert. While online gambling with the brands like SlotLords is blooming nowadays, Las Vegas still recognizes as the gambling and entertainment capital of the world. This article explores how a dusty western town became a glittering neon oasis.
Humble Beginnings as a Mormon Fort
The origins of Las Vegas start with a Mormon fort built in 1855. The fort provided respite for travelers journeying along the Old Spanish Trail between Santa Fe and Los Angeles. With plentiful artesian wells, it was an ideal spot for a rest stop. The Mormons abandoned the fort in 1857, but the site later became part of a railroad development spearheaded by Montana Senator William Clark.
Clark realized the area’s potential as a railroad town. In 1905, he auctioned off 1,200 lots of land to spark development. Las Vegas was officially founded as a city in 1911 when the railroad arrived. Back then, gambling was strictly outlawed in Nevada. Instead, Las Vegas functioned as a ranching and mining town.
The Hoover Dam and Legalized Gaming
Two key events transformed Las Vegas’ fortunes in the 1930s. In 1928, the Boulder Canyon Project Act approved building the Hoover Dam to provide hydroelectric power and water to the southwest. The massive project brought an influx of workers who needed diversion and entertainment. At the same time, gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931 to raise state revenues during the Great Depression.
Sensing an opportunity, developers built gambling halls and saloons along Fremont Street to cater to the Hoover Dam workers. These early 1 € casino marked the beginnings of Sin City. Developers realized that gambling could make Las Vegas a tourist destination amid the barren desert landscape if they built attractions around it.
The Mob Years and the Rat Pack
The 1940s and ‘50s were dominated by the Mob, who funded the construction of many landmark Vegas casinos. Gangsters like Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky built opulent resorts like the Flamingo and funded casinos along the Las Vegas Strip. These projects transformed the area from a downtown gambling district into a glamorous getaway destination.
During the Rat Pack era of the 1950s/60s, Las Vegas cemented its reputation as the entertainment capital of the world. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and other stars performed regularly, lending Vegas an air of glitz and glamor. Their headline shows attracted even more visitors eager to see the hottest acts in town.
The Rise of the Mega-Casinos
In 1966, entrepreneur Howard Hughes moved to Las Vegas and purchased many properties along the Strip. His investments helped usher in an era of corporate ownership that continued expanding Vegas’ offerings. Over the decades, developers competed to build ever more extravagant resorts complete with lavish casinos, restaurants, pools, spas, entertainment venues, theme parks, and shopping malls.
| Year | New Hotel Openings |
| 1966 | Caesars Palace |
| 1969 | International Hotel (later the Las Vegas Hilton) |
| 1973 | MGM Grand (now Bally’s) |
| 1989 | The Mirage |
| 1993 | Treasure Island |
| 1998 | Bellagio |
The 1990s brought a huge boom in growth, led by visionaries like Steve Wynn who spent $630 million building the opulent Bellagio resort with an 8-acre lake, fountains, and art gallery. The era of the mega-casinos transformed Las Vegas into a fantasy land in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
Modern Reinvention
The Great Recession hit Las Vegas hard due to its reliance on tourism and gambling. But the city has rebounded by reimagining itself yet again for the 21st century. Today Las Vegas offers far more than just gambling, from fine dining to luxury shopping to world-class entertainment. Nightclubs, pool parties, and music festivals draw younger visitors. The city even has a thriving startup and tech scene.
Major league sports have now joined the mix with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, and soon the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. The city also has its sights set on landing an NBA or MLB franchise.
Over 150 years, Las Vegas continually reinvented itself from remote Mormon outpost to Wild West railroad town to Mob playground to entertainment mecca to a global tourist destination with 40 million annual visitors. Through booms and busts, Sin City rolls on by adapting to the times. And with over 150,000 hotel rooms, it has plenty of space to keep raising the stakes.
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