When most people think of Las Vegas they think of the bright lights and the big city where entertainment is at its best. While this is the modern picture of Las Vegas, the city was not always the place it was today. In fact, the history of Las Vegas is quite lengthy and interesting. Everything that has taken place in the history of Las Vegas made it the entertainment epicenter that it is today.

Looking Back at Las Vegas

First, it should be known that Las Vegas was named by the Antonio Armijo party in 1829, who were using the water in the area when they were heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from New Mexico. Las Vegas in Spanish means "the meadows" and this name was an indication of the artesian wells that were in the area that gave life to many different plants. The artesian wells actually helped to create the Las Vegas Wash, which then led to the Colorado River.

For the first 100 years of its history Las Vegas was visited by many, including scientists and the Army. After annexation by the United States, Brigham Young actually sent 30 missionaries to Las Vegas to try to convert the Native American population. These missionaries built a fort but would later abandon the area in 1857 due to people moving in who had much more liberal views. In 1865 Octavius Gass occupied the fort and started working with irrigation and wine making, making it the most popular stop on what was known as the Mormon Trail. By 1885 there were more people settling in Las Vegas, with farming being the primary industry for at least the next 20 years of Las Vegas history.

It was during the 1900's that Las Vegas really started to blossom and this was due in large part to the fact that the town had a reliable source of fresh water. Wagon trains and railroads would make Las Vegas a water stop from many different areas including Los Angeles and Albuquerque. In fact, The San Pedro was completed in 1905; the San Pedro is the railroad from Salt Lake City to southern California. Las Vegas would continue to grow, becoming a city on May 15, 1905 and the growth continued until 1917 when the railroad went bankrupt. It wasn't until US Route 91 connected Las Vegas to California that things started to look up a bit, but that wasn't until 1926 and even that did not solve all of the problems.

It was in 1930 that things started to look up because President Herbert Hoover signed a bill for work to begin on what would be called the Hoover Dam. With work on the dam beginning the population grew to over 25,000 and shortly thereafter gambling was legalized. The gambling industry soon became organized and even regulated and the city would issue the first gambling license in 1931 to the Northern Club. Soon there were others that were becoming licensed on Fremont Street such as the Las Vegas Club and the Apache Hotel. Fremont Street would eventually become known as Glitter Gulch because of all of the lights that were able to be turned on due to the Hoover Dam.

In 1940 US Route 95 was extended so that it came to Las Vegas, giving the city two major roads that would bring people in from all over the country. In was the next year that Thomas Hull opened El Rancho Vegas, which was the first resort that opened on what was the future Las Vegas Strip. In 1946 The Flamingo opened up, which brought even more people to the city to see the business of the infamous mobster, Bugsy Siegel. Within the next ten years the strip really exploded with business with many of the now famous hotels opening such as the Sahara, the Sands, the New Frontier, Royal Nevada, The Riviera, The Fremont, and the Tropicana.

From the 50's on there hasn't been all that much more growth, but the businesses that are there have continued to become more successful and more structured. The casino business is now the major industry in the area and an attraction for more than 200 million people per year. Las Vegas is considered the ultimate destination by people from all around the world.