Las Vegas: Why did it become the gambling capital of the world?
One city connected with entertainment and nightlife is Las Vegas. gambling, shows, bars, the kind of stuff that makes for some fantastic movies. Rising among the top three travel destinations in the US and among the most well-known resort cities worldwide, the city welcomed about 42 million tourists in 2019. Before creating this film, I had never visited Las Vegas, but this very unusual city captivated me.
Where else, along the same street, could you visit the gondolas of Venice and the Eiffel Tower? But as I toured more of this city—on the Las Vegas Strip as well as off—I couldn’t help but wonder why Las Vegas is the top gambling city in the country. How came it to be this way? And why occurred in this area of the Mojave Desert? After the bike bell, let’s find the reasons Vegas is Vegas.
We must first comprehend why a city in the middle of the desert exists before we can determine exactly why Las Vegas has so many casinos. Given most people need water and don’t like heat stroke, deserts aren’t usually great places for towns. One of the hottest locations on Earth, Death Valley is just two-hour drive from Las Vegas. We must travel in time to address this question.
Las Vegas did not exist during the first decades of the 1800s. The first non-Native American to travel the valley arrived in 1829; Anasazi and Peyote tribes called this land home. The first colony the Mormons established was a fort, but they stayed not long. Still, you may tour the historic Mormon fort in Las Vegas right now. Strategic location of Las Vegas explains why it exists.
It’s about midway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, two significant western American cities at the time. With fresh water sources, Las Vegas served as a somewhat oasis in the Mojave. Las Vegas was named so since it was greener than the nearby desert and refers to the meadows. This made this a perfect stopping location. Later, Las Vegas developed into a vital supply base after silver was found close to the city.
At this time, nobody imagined the city would be a major worldwide tourist attraction. Given that it was bright and pleasant all the time, some forward-looking supporters eventually envisioned it as a vacation town like Palm Springs. The Great Depression brought the city’s major break when the federal government chose to fund western dams to supply affordable electricity and water to expanding Sunbelt towns.
As it happened, roughly 30 miles or 48 kilometers from Las Vegas would be built the largest and most well-known dam in the United States. The Hoover Dam is what I mentioned. The dam first felt like a setback. Rather than building in Las Vegas, the federal government decided to create a whole new city known as Boulder City to house the workers of the dam.
Historical and Infrastructure Development
Again, Las Vegas would be a vital supply base for the mammoth project—the biggest dam in the world once it was completed—and produce the biggest reservoir in the United States. The project produced a tourism attraction in addition to jobs. It comprised casinos, a red light area, and clubs. Now that we understand how Las Vegas positioned itself on the map, where then do casinos and gaming fall into this narrative? Nevada has historically, at least relative to other U.S. states, had a reasonably tolerant stance toward gaming.
The territorial and finally state legislatures alternated between letting it go unpackled, forbade it, and decriminalized it. In Nevada, one could basically gamble without regard for consequences before 1909. The state legislature outlawed gambling between 1909 to 1931, therefore guiding card games into back rooms. Unable to seem to change its approach to gambling, the state assembly approved it in 1931, rendering it among the only localities in the country authorized for legal gambling.
This was a quite wise action taken by the state government in order to offset its economic downturn during the Great Depression. We now understand why Las Vegas boasts casinos and resides in a desert. That does not, however, help to explain why Vegas became Vegas. Up to the 1960 census, Reno was Nevada’s biggest city.
Why did Las Vegas become king? How did a few casinos in a tiny city develop into the entertainment powerhouse it is today? The fact that Las Vegas is on the way to Los Angeles proved useful once more. New Deal money spent for expansion and paving of the route, therefore facilitating visitor arrival. Las Vegas also aggressively bought an existing airport, one that would finally expand into Harry Reid International Airport, during that era.
Local officials were correct when they said air travel was the way of the future When these same local authorities sought and got federal money for a convention center, they made the right move that once more propelled Vegas’ expanding tourism sector. and they foresaw divorce ahead of their time as well.
Although Las Vegas is usually connected with weddings, they have you covered on both sides of the marriage. The Nevada Assembly created an extraordinarily lenient divorce legislation in 1931, the same year it approved its gaming legalization bill. Divorce ranches sprang up soon as would-be divorcees arrived in the city to obtain their divorce where Clark Gable did.
Usually the lady, one of the couple would move in for six weeks and savor a sunny vacation before divorcing. Despite their very different overall populations, Nevada was granted more divorces than New York by 1945. The 1930s were all about dams and divorce; the 1940s in Vegas were all about the military.
When the United States entered World War II in 1941, the city added two new military bases—what are now Creech Air Force Base and Nellis Air Force Base. Tens of thousands of military men and their families were added to the area by these new bases and businesses. This helped Las Vegas flourish as well as the gaming business. The casinos and performances gave some brief solace to GI and war-weary people.
The trend following the war was big, resort-style casinos. Early on, casinos were mostly spread in downtown Las Vegas, close to Fremont Street. Still a lot of casinos there today. But on the route to Los Angeles, in unincorporated Clark County, Nevada, these larger resort casinos discovered the site they needed. Unlike other Sunbelt cities such Phoenix and Albuquerque, the city of Las Vegas never aggressively enough about acquiring territory around it.
Most of the casino gaming is therefore outside of Las Vegas, proper. Fear of greater taxes and more control, casino owners also opposed annexation. Opening in 1946 by well-known mobster Bugsy Siegel, the Flamingo was the first luxury hotel on the strip. In 1952 the Sahara and the Sands followed the Flamingo; in 1955 the Riviera and the Dunes; in 1957 the Tropicana.
Gambling was banned
We would be taken to the 1970s by other well-known casinos including the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, Hacienda, Stardust, and Circus Circus. These golden years confirmed Las Vegas as the place to be. Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and Liberace lived in this age. These new mega resorts accomplished more than only attracting well-known talent.
Around travel, they established an agglomeration economy. Each one of those casino hotels developed a specific personnel. In the Las Vegas area are many hotel management, casino dealers, performers, food and beverage vendors. For this reason opening a casino in Las Vegas is simpler than in areas devoid of one.
The city can out-compete other casino resort cities and right now does. And as preferences and time pass, Las Vegas keeps redefining itself. Many of the casinos I mentioned are no more around. or have undergone really extensive renovations. The Venetian was built on the site of The Sands. The Hacienda cleared path for Mandalay Bay.
In 2007 the Stardust was exploded. Targeting higher-income guests who favored spas, fine dining, and luxury retail stores, the new resort casinos including the Bellagio, Palazzo, and Encore sought to draw From the Mormon fort to Sin City, Las Vegas has had an unusual climb. Though the result was never guaranteed, the city and its officials were able to profit from some early gains. Like closeness to Los Angeles, federal New Deal funding, mild weather, and early resort casino success.
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