Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada, is a popular resort, with a reputation as the United States’ favorite gambling destination. Located in the Great Basin, in the southern tip of Nevada, the city grew immensely throughout the late twentieth century, particularly from the 1960s onward. It is now the largest city in the state.

The Spanish discovered the area in the late 1820s and named it “Las Vegas” (“The Meadows”) because of the oasis there. The presence of water made the site a way station for California-bound travelers. The modern city grew up around an Army post established during the Civil War. Incorporated in 1911, Las Vegas is the seat of Clark County.

The Las Vegas Strip, or the main entertainment and gambling district, is home to some of the nation’s largest casinos, nightclubs, and hotels. In the early twenty-first century, the casinos have sought to project a more “family-friendly” image by creating theme park–style attractions. The state’s relaxed marriage laws have made Las Vegas a popular destination for people who want to elope and get married quickly. The convention industry is also an important part of the local economy.

Landscape

Las Vegas is located in Nevada’s Great Basin, a desert valley in the southern tip of the state. The city, located at an altitude of 2,174 feet above sea level, covers 135 square miles (352 square kilometers). The surrounding mountains rise as high as 10,000 feet. The Greater Las Vegas metropolitan area includes other valley communities, such as North Las Vegas, Henderson, and the unincorporated parts of Clark County.

The city’s climate is typical of the Southwest desert region, with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is low, because the Sierra Nevada and Spring Mountain ranges act as barriers to rain clouds from the Pacific coast. Flash floods, however, occur occasionally in late summer. Humidity is generally low.

People

Las Vegas, the state’s largest city and the nation’s twenty-eighth largest, is one of the most rapidly growing areas in the United States. The US Census Bureau reports that the population increased from 2010 to 2020 by 58,147. Approximately one-quarter of the population has been there between one and five years. In 2022, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population at 656,274 people.

A plurality of the population (41.1 percent) is white and not Hispanic or Latino, with sizeable Hispanic or Latino (34.3 percent), Black or African American (11.8 percent), and Asian (6.9 percent) minorities. The entire metropolitan area, which includes all of Clark County, had a population of almost 2.3 million in 2021.

Las Vegas has produced a number of famous individuals, many of them in the entertainment industry. These include actors Clara Bow and Phyllis McGuire, producer and screenwriter Orson Welles, and jazz singer Joe Williams. Famous athletes include tennis players Andre Agassi and Jack Kramer. Famous non-native residents include mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, who helped establish Las Vegas as a gambling and resort center in the 1940s.

Economy

The economy of Las Vegas is based largely upon the related industries of tourism, entertainment, and gambling. The state legalized gambling in 1931, and since then Las Vegas has been a favorite tourist destination. Major growth came after World War II, when New York mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and others began building large hotels and casinos along the thoroughfare known as the Las Vegas Strip. Each year, about 40 million tourists visit Las Vegas, contributing more than $20 billion to the state economy.

Like Nevada as a whole, the city gains much of its revenue by taxes on gambling and sales. Business taxes are low, and neither the city nor state has personal or business income taxes. Other important sectors are the "marriage industry" (related to the state's liberal marriage laws), the convention industry, trucking, high technology, and manufacturing. (Not surprisingly, gaming equipment is a major product.) The city is an important regional commercial center.

Higher education is also a major part of the Las Vegas economy. The University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), established in 1951 as an extension campus, had an undergraduate student body of more than 25,000 as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Landmarks

Las Vegas’s most popular attractions are the casinos and resorts, the fifty or so wedding chapels, and other entertainment venues along the Strip. Some of the most famous resorts are Bally’s, Caesars Palace, the Flamingo, the Golden Nugget Hotel, Harrah’s, the Mandalay Bay, the Luxor, and the Tropicana.

To the north of Las Vegas is Nellis Air Force base, where the US Air Force trains its top-rated fighter pilots. The base is also home to the Air Force’s Thunderbird’s precision-flying team.

Besides the Las Vegas gambling and nightlife, tourists can enjoy the natural beauty of the neighboring mountains, as well as the view from Hoover Dam on the Colorado River.

History

Las Vegas began its existence in the nineteenth century as a desert oasis on the Old Spanish Trail. Because of the artesian springs, Mexican guide Antonio Armijo named the site “Las Vegas,” or “The Meadows.” Las Vegas soon became a way station for travelers headed to California from the Spanish province of New Mexico. There were no permanent residents in the Las Vegas Valley, however, until the mid-1850s. In 1855, William Bringhurst established a brief colony known as Mormon Fort, which lasted until 1857. The settlement served both as an outlet for Mormon missionary activity and as a supply depot.

During the Civil War, the US Army established Fort Baker (1864) in Las Vegas. There was no permanent civilian settlement, however, until 1865. In that year, Octavius Decatur Gass bought the abandoned Mormon Fort and there established the Las Vegas Ranch. Las Vegas became part of Nevada in 1867, having previously been part of the Arizona Territory. The city was connected to the railroad in 1905 and was officially incorporated in 1911.

The city’s present-day status as the “gambling capital” and “marriage capital” of the United States began in the early twentieth century. When the railroad arrived, Las Vegas became a stop on the line between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Then in 1931, the state legislature relegalized gambling (illegal since 1910) and also legalized divorce. The thoroughfare on which many hotels and casinos were located became known as the Las Vegas Strip. New York mobsters such as Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel contributed to Las Vegas’s post–World War II by building lavish resorts such as the Flamingo Hotel.

Federal money also did its part to build Las Vegas. The construction of the Hoover Dam provided steady employment for thousands of workers throughout the Great Depression. During World War II, many people worked what became Nellis Air Force Base, as well as at a magnesium plant.

Las Vegas grew enormously during the second half of the twentieth century, despite some occasional downturns. By 2000, there were dozens of major casinos and hotels dotting the Strip as well as other parts of the city. The local economy was still driven by other economic sectors, including manufacturing and high-tech firms.

Trivia

• The city’s name means “The Meadows” in Spanish. It was discovered in 1829 by Spanish explorers on the Old Spanish Trail to Los Angeles. The discovery of artesian springs made the location a shortcut on the trip to Spanish California.
• The city became known as the “marriage capital” of the United States because of the state’s liberal marriage laws and minimal waiting periods.
• Las Vegas has been featured as the setting of a number of movies and television programs. Films include Ocean’s Eleven (1960), starring Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack; Viva Las Vegas (1964), starring Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret; Bugsy (1991), starring Warren Beatty and Annette Bening; Leaving Las Vegas (1995), starring Nicholas Cage and Elisabeth Shue; and The Hangover, starring Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms.
• Gambling has been legal in Nevada since 1931. Las Vegas’s modern growth began after World War II, however, when mobster Benjamin Siegel and others began building large hotels and casinos.

Bibliography

Brean, Henry. “Clark County 3rd in Nation for Population Gain.” Las Vegas Review-Journal, 23 Mar. 2017, www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/clark-county-3rd-in-nation-for-population-gain. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.

Denton, Sally, and Roger Morris. The Money and the Power: The Making of Las Vegas and Its Hold on America. Vintage, 2002.

Land, Barbara, and Myrick Land. A Short History of Las Vegas. U of Nevada P, 2004.

"Las Vegas City, Nevada." US Census Bureau, 2023, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/lasvegascitynevada/PST045223. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.

Nagourney, Adam. “Crowds Return to Las Vegas, but Gamble Less.” The New York Times, 31 July 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/08/01/us/as-las-vegas-recovers-new-cause-for-concern.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.

Moehring, Eugene P., and Michael S. Green. Las Vegas: A Centennial History. U of Nevada P, 2005.

Schumacher, Geoff. Sun, Sin and Suburbia: The History of Modern Las Vegas. Rev. ed., U of Nevada P, 2015.

"Visitor Statistics." Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, 2023, www.lvcva.com/research/visitor-statistics/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.