Ever wonder how Sin City came to be through the years? In this article, I will give a brief overview of the history of Las Vegas.
The city of Las Vegas was incorporated in 1911: those who moved there because of the railroads found it to be a barren place, hot and dusty and completely unattractive. However, in 1920 the first casino opened on Fremont Street and a new industry was born in the Nevada desert.
Since then, the city has been the center of real and suspected mob activity, illegal fun and games, and more speculation about what goes on there than any other city in the world.
The 1930s were instrumental in the development of Las Vegas. During those Depression years, the government financed the construction of the Hoover Dam to the tune of $70 million. As a result, Las Vegas became a prosperous city, but it was a prosperous city that was not expected to prosper after the completion of the dam.
But since gambling was legal in Las Vegas, and not in nearby Boulder, where the dam workers lived, Las Vegas became the hot spot for workers looking for entertainment. The first real resort in Las Vegas, El Rancho Vegas would look very humble by today’s standards: It was a getaway that specialized in banquets and weddings, and had no gambling on the property.
The beginning of casinos as we know them today can be attributed to Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel, a mobster couple who had worked in a protection ring in New York City. Siegel was an aspiring actor who dated the likes of Clark Gable and George Raft when he wasn’t running the Mafia’s gambling businesses. Among other scams, he imported narcotics from Mexico and built a huge prostitution business in Las Vegas.
During the 1940s and 1950s, downtown grew rapidly, with gaming establishments like Binion’s and The Golden Nugget making Las Vegas a true destination city. Benny Binion, of Binion’s Horseshoe fame, made great strides in creating the Las Vegas we know today. Among other perks for guests, he began serving free drinks to gamblers and slot players, had limousine service to and from the airport, and often professed his belief in making ordinary vacationers feel like high rollers. .
Meanwhile, the federal government began to express concern about the Mafia’s ties to gambling in the Nevada desert. Senator Estes Kefauver held hearings in 1950 and 1951 to investigate those alleged connections. Once the hearings were over, a Gaming Control Board was created to regulate (and legitimize) gaming.
Investors and developers in Las Vegas often had somewhat shady connections: They managed to gain a certain respectability by donating to political and charitable causes. Eventually, they came to be considered good capitalists and pillars of the community, at least by laid-back Las Vegas standards.
Topless showgirl revues began at Stardust and Dunes, and ballroom shows soon followed. By 1955, casinos were being built as fast as plans could be drawn up and funding secured.
But the real draw of Las Vegas can be attributed to three men: Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Howard Hughes. Sinatra and his Rat Pack played the Sands, Presley wowed crowds at the International (now the Las Vegas Hilton), and Hughes spent $300 million developing property in Las Vegas until his death there as an inmate at the Desert. Inn.
The Strip (Las Vegas Boulevard) became the place to build in the 1960s; in the 1980s, it was the only place. Millionaire entrepreneurs like Steve Wynn replaced mobsters as the movers and shakers behind the scenes.
Las Vegas today has gained respectability: it is a brand, a destination and a favorite vacation spot for travelers from all over the world.