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History of Las Vegas
“The City That Never Sleeps”  

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Who would have believed years ago, that a walk up a 3 mile stretch of road could include stops at New York, Paris, Egypt, Rome and Italy!  Wow, this no ordinary road!  This, friends and neighbors, is The Strip.  The first travelers to the area were said to have seen mirages of half naked dancing girls frolicking over the desert sands throwing boatloads of cash in all directions.   Ok, we made that last part up…because if they had we doubt they would have named it the “Journey of Death”.  The Valley would, surprisingly enough, take on a more pleasant name in the 1700’s, Las Vegas, which is Spanish for “The Meadows”.  

In 1844 noted explorer Captain John Fremont was the first to experience Las Vegas, ironically about 150 years before Vegas offered the “Fremont Street Experience”, a breath taking light show located high in the air over a couple downtown blocks, rejuvenating a then troubled downtown Vegas. 

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It wasn’t until the discovery of valuable minerals that people really started taking notice of the area.  In 1905 with the completion of the railway, Las Vegas officially became a city.  Since land was cheaper per acre than a cappuccino espresso is today, more and more settlers started to call it home.  By the time the city of Las Vegas incorporated in 1911, North America’s future fastest-growing city had almost reached a whopping 1,000 people.

In 1931, when the cards really started to turn, the entire Las Vegas population could have spent the night together in pretty much any one of the large resorts that line the Strip today.  Make no mistake, it was around this time that the future of Vegas was really starting to take its form. 

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When the State of Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, the city’s eyes lit up like a hard-luck poker player’s upon seeing his first four of a kind.  Six gambling licenses were issued immediately within the city.  Combine the new gambling laws with other significant events of the time, such as the beginning of the Hoover Dam, the largest man made dam in the world just out side of town, and one could safely say that things were starting to roll.  The state’s new divorce laws, making it almost as easy to divorce then, as it is to tie the knot in Vegas today, didn’t upset many either. 

The big casino boom started with Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo, opening just before his untimely demise in 1946.  Other major resorts were not far behind, the Desert Inn in ’50, The Sand Casino in ’52 and both the Dunes and the Riviera in 1955.  Each of these early casinos has a great and glorious history, even though some have been replaced, like a Vegas show girl, for a younger more attractive model. 

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Throughout the 70’s and 80’s, big corporations invested huge sums of money in Vegas.  Casinos literally became small cities, as gambling’s popularity grew throughout the United States.  Vegas had the monopoly on the American market.  But for the first time in history, another state threw its hat into the gaming ring.  New Jersey. 

By the mid 80’s, Las Vegas’ population started its unprecedented and unrelenting climb.  Growing faster than a MegaBucks jackpot, people started to move to Vegas for all the reasons they still do today.  It seemed the city of dreams, the entertainment capital of the world.  Those who have spent time in Sin City, understand best its true paradox; only in Paradise can the devil make you do it.  (Eve biting that apple ring a bell…?) 

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Today, there is no city in the world quite like Vegas.  There is something for everyone, even those who do not gamble.  It truly is about being entertained in every possible way people can be entertained.  There are shows and concerts of all varieties. 

The temperature is hot, the classic dry heat.  Only a Nevada local truly understands what that means.  It doesn’t rain often, but when it does it is pleasant, even welcome.  Considering the state-of-the-art construction of these billion-dollar behemoths, you wouldn’t think there would be any leaks…but there are some holes that even the industry’s billions cannot plug.  As tight-lipped as they’ve been about the proper way to play Blackjack, McB Duplin has found the truth. 

If you enjoy sitting by the pool, tanning in the sun, any resort in Vegas could be your destination.  Drinking margaritas, staying up until 5 AM, meeting people from every walk of life, Vegas reins supreme. 

There is not another place in the entire world where you can stand on the world’s largest man made dam, fly through the Grand Canyon, watch a volcano erupt, witness a pirate ship battle, see white tigers and walk the streets of New York, and still have time for Margaritas with Lamar (personally I love Lamar.  Ask for him at the Westward Ho). 

No city emits the magnetic vibes that Las Vegas does.  People cannot resist its pull.  For some, Vegas is a city where fantasies come true, while others, are left empty handed with little more than shattered dreams.   

Las Vegas is simply the purest form of ecstasy the gambler can experience.