Known for glitz, glamour, entertainment, debauchery, shopping and excess, the most populated city in the state of Nevada is the largest founded in the twentieth century, and is the gambling center of the United States.
Beginning as a stopover to the pioneer trails to the west Las Vegas became a very popular railway town in the early twentieth century. As the railway was growing and the Hoover Dam was built all it needed is the legalization of gambling to be transformed into the advent of the casino-hotels for which Las Vegas is famous.
In the 1940s several hotel-casinos were built by the two-lane main road leading into Las Vegas from Los Angeles and became home to today’s ‘Strip”. Among other notable buildings from that period was also the Flamingo Hotel with it’s neon signs. In the 1950s the building continued to accelerate – The Desert Inn, the Sahara Hotel, the Sands Hotel, the Royal Nevada…. And the entertainment industry took off.
Entertainment became the reason to visit the city, and in the 1050s became the synonymous with the Rat Pack. Sinatra’s image of all-night singing, dancing, drinking and womanizing brought a new demographic to the Strip. As the Rat Pack charmed America, the Strip continued to expand.
There was a notable decline in tourism in the 1970s and the government decided to clean up their act. In the 1980s the Strip was reborn, the impressive Mirage was built, and the Treasure Island with it’s full scale pirate ship became the newest example of excesses available here.
Then in the 1990s the Excalibur was opened, as the medieval castle which also has non-gambling entertainment for children and the young at heart including court jesters performing in public areas.
The Luxor - a glass pyramid boasting a powerful beam of light shining from its top, as well as a full-scale reproduction of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Its atrium in the middle of the pyramid could hold nine Boeing 747s one a top of another….
This is Vegas today, and is definitely back!
WHAT IS IT The gambling center of the US.
WHEN TO GO It’s a year round center of entertainment of all kinds.
WHAT TO DO Gamble, watch live entertainment shows, shop, eat at the finest gourmet restaurants, day trips to the Grand Canyon are also available.
WHAT IT IS KNOWN AS Sin City or the entertainment capital of the world, the movies Ocean’s Eleven as well as CSI Las Vegas series were filmed there among many others…
