Anyone visiting Las Vegas today would surely agree that it’s truly a 21st century city. For example, where else in the world can you find a concert and performance venue quite like the iconic Sphere?
But it’s also a city with a long and varied history, one which goes right back to the early 20th century when, like so many places in America, it was the railroad that saw its birth.
Since then, it has become a pleasure center for literally billions of people over the decades with countless tales to tell.
The modern history of Vegas really began in the 1930s with the massive civil engineering project of the Hoover Dam. At the time the population of Las Vegas was around 5,000. But the influx of workers from all around the country meant that this number quickly swelled to 25,000.
With cash to spend and leisure time between shifts these men, and it was mainly men, needed entertainment. So, more and more bars and gambling establishments started to open.
Gambling Becomes Legal
The one small problem was that this coincided with the years of prohibition, something that gave the world of organized crime a foothold in the emerging city, something that would take several decades to shake off.
Faced by the flood of gambling taking place, the state government decided that the best move would be legalization, something that was done in 1931. It was still regulated but was allowed to take place in licensed venues under strict rules.
The Birth Of The Strip
While more and more licensed gambling venues were springing up there weren’t the resort and casino complexes there are today. Until, that is, 1941 when Thomas Hill opened El Rancho Vegas, the first of the hotel/casinos. It was also the first of many to be built over the following years along the 4.2-mile road that is now known as the Las Vegas Strip.
Originally just a two-lane road, it soon grew to accommodate the many casino resorts springing up along it including The Flamingo, The Bellagio and the legendary Caesars Palace.
It’s perhaps in this spirit that Montreal is today seeking to build its own glamorous casino spurred on by the popularity of the online sites highlighted by BonusFinder Canada.
Into the Golden Age
Going into the 1950s and 60s the post-war boom saw Las Vegas reaching unprecedented heights. The population was growing and more, and more casinos, and hotels were opening their doors for the first time.
Among them were the Sands, the Riviera and the Tropicana.
This added glamour attracted film stars and celebrities like never before – and the most famous of these was the notorious Rat Pack. Led by Frank Sinatra they epitomized the era for the city – and also saw the arrival of big-name entertainers as an added attraction alongside the casinos.
But there was a dark underbelly in the form of organized crime which exerted a strong hold, as well as having some major investments, in the casino resorts. However, the city was soon to start cleaning up its act.
The Modern Era Begins
Increasingly the FBI was taking an interest in Mafia involvement in Las Vegas. The arrest of many gang members followed and legality began to be restored. This was also a time when major residencies by performers like Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand started to become commonplace.
However, the mid-seventies saw a global economic downturn. Visitor numbers decreased and several casinos closed for good.
Fortunately, this was relatively short-lived and by the 1980s a new generation of entrepreneurs started to arrive. One of the most famous of these, Steve Wynn, saw the future in the mega-resort – bigger and more luxurious places than ever before which started to attract a whole new clientele.
This led to the real boom years of the 1990s when the city’s population almost doubled, along with increased visitor numbers attracted by the arrival of so-called “theme” hotels. There was also a huge growth in the number of convention visitors coming to Las Vegas, a place that is perfect for combining business with pleasure.
Into The 21st Century
The new millennium saw even more developments. New hotels and attractions started to spring up. Visitor numbers also continued to climb year on year, despite fierce competition from places like Macau and Singapore.
New resorts including the Palazzo and The Cosmopolitan opened raising the luxury stakes still higher and the world’s biggest performing artists like Adele and Elton John continued to perform months-long residencies.
Looking to the future, Vegas is set to expand still further, offering visitors even more experiences and entertainment. So there’s no denying that it’s come a very long way since its origins in the Nevada Desert. And it still has a very long way to go.