How did a Nevada city in the sweltering Mojave Desert become a byword for a good time? Let’s take a look at the fascinating Las Vegas history to find out.

When did Las Vegas history begin?

Of course, like much of the United States, Las Vegas history didn’t simply begin when white people planted a flag and gave it a name. There is evidence that several Native American tribes were in these lands from more than 10,000 years ago, with significant settlements 2,000 years ago.

It’s said that the first non-Native American to travel to this area was Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. The following century, in 1905, it was founded as the city of Las Vegas and it was officially incorporated in 1911. The name Las Vegas means The Meadows in Spanish, which is certainly at odds with the city today.

It’s the fastest growing US city founded in the 20th century and things really and truly took off from 1960s onwards. The peak of that growth was between 1990 and 2000, when the population nearly doubled.

The city’s official population stands at just shy of 650,000, while the metropolitan area is home to well over two million residents.

The dawn of legal gambling and Las Vegas

Nevada legalised gambling in casinos in 1931. This is a huge moment in Las Vegas history, even though the people around at the time might not have quite realised the significance.

It’s not like gambling took off instantly in Las Vegas. But slowly but surely, with a growing population thanks to construction and military bases nearby, casinos became big news on the strip.

The first luxurious casinos sprung up after World War Two. Soon people began to come to the area just for the hotels, casinos and general spectacle.

Swinging ’60s in Vegas

In 1959, the iconic Betty Willis designed Welcome to Las Vegas sign was put up for the first time. And with that, a new age of Las Vegas was ushered in. It was the 1960s is when things really took off in Sin City. This is when tycoons like Howard Hughes started building massive complexes and gambling was well and truly welcomed as a legitimate, and profitable, business to be involved in.

Notable casinos in Las Vegas history

There are plenty of notable casinos in Las Vegas history. Here are just a few of them…

• The oldest hotel in Las Vegas opened in 1906 and back then was known as the Hotel Nevada. Nowadays it’s known as the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino
• Having first opened in 1913 as the Las Vegas Coffee House, it was renamed as the Northern Club in 1920 and during Prohibition, it was the place to go for illegal drinking and gambling. But in 1931, it was the first place to receive a legal Nevada gaming licence. It went through a number of incarnations, the last of which was La Bayou. And then, in 2016, it shut its doors for the final time
• Wynn/Encore is currently the biggest casino complex on the Las Vegas strip, with more than 180 table games and 1,800 slots across 190,000 square feet

Nicknames

The most common nickname of Las Vegas has got to be Sin City, because of all the decidedly adult industries that are tolerated and welcomed there, including of course gambling.

Another interesting nickname in Las Vegas history is Atomic City. In the 1950s, the Nevada Test Site was just a few miles down the road. Nuclear weapons testing took place here for more than a decade. During that time, anyone in Las Vegas could see the mushroom clouds billowing up from the site. Hence the name Atomic City. However, after 1963, tests moved underground and the spectacle was no longer available.

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