We hear a lot about Las Vegas as it’s one of the most popular tourist attractions in the US. However, how much do you really know about Las Vegas, its history and how it came to be the city it is today? To fully understand what Las Vegas is today, you need to know something about its past.
Las Vegas is found in the western United States in the state of Nevada. Las Vegas is Spanish for “the meadow” and was originally discovered in 1829 by a Mexican trader who was looking for a route to Las Angeles. Before this route was discovered, this area was referred to as the “journey of death”.
Later, exploration of water discovered there was an abundance of springs in the valley area that was called Las Vegas and this made the journey to Los Angeles quicker and easier. Thus, it became the preferred route to take for travelers and traders of the time. It still didn’t become really well known until 1844 when the well-known explorer John C. Fremont marked his visit in his logs.
About ten years after this, Las Vegas would finally become a permanent settlement. Mormon missionaries from Salt Lake City called it home for some time. They even built a fort and made a mail stop.
The history of Las Vegas continues as US Senator William Clark bought the rights to the former Mormon settlement in 1902. He also bought water rights and 2,000 acres of land in hopes of building a town. This town wasn’t officially founded until 1905 but Clark even constructed a railroad for the steam locomotives. The town became incorporated in 1911 with a population of 800. Up to this time, there were strict anti-gambling laws in place in the state of Nevada so you wouldn’t have seen any casinos back then.
1931 was the year that changed Las Vegas. Gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada and divorce laws were liberalized so you could get a divorce in Las Vegas after being a resident for only 6 weeks.
After World War II, Las Vegas began to build up hotels and casinos and earned the title of “Sin City”. Wealthy businessmen flocked here to invest in the popularly growing city. These billionaires invested in hotels and casinos and even built hotels with casinos in them and the city continued to grow into what we know it as today, over 100 years past its inception. Las Vegas is now one of the largest international tourist attractions in the world. It also has a population of over 2 million, making it one of the largest cities in the country as well.
