News

Retro Las Vegas: Transformation from a Modest City to a Desert Metropolis

In 1900, only 22 people lived in Las Vegas. In fact, it wasn’t until 1930 when President Herbert Hoover–in the midst of the Great Depression–commissioned the Boulder Dam (renamed the Hoover Dam), that people began flooding to the city. Though a small but dedicated gambling community had existed for years, the Nevada state legislature only legalized local gambling in 1931.

After the law was passed, casinos and hotels began popping up along Fremont Street, marking the birth of today’s beloved Strip.

These days more than 39 million people visit Las Vegas each year. Check out these vintage Las Vegas pictures to see the modest gambling city take shape over the past 80 years, eventually forming the desert metropolis it is today.

In 1931, the first Nevada Gaming License was issued to Mayme Stocker and J.H. Morgan. They opened the Northern Club five years later. Source: Las Vegas SunAn aerial view of the Las Vegas’s iconic Fremont Street, sometime around the 1930s. Source: Vintage Las VegasFremont Street in the early 1930s. Many of Las Vegas’s first establishments were located on this street, including Eldorado Club, Golden Gate Hotel and the Pioneer Club. Source: Vintage EverydayWomen at one of the casinos off Fremont Street in the early 1940s. Source: Vintage Las VegasEven in 1940, Las Vegas was a spectacular evening attraction. Source: UNLVIn 1944, the Hotel Last Frontier embodied an old western theme. Eventually the hotel reopened as the New Frontier Hotel, transforming from an old-west theme to a space-age theme. Source: Vintage Las VegasA gambler and Faro dealer in 1940. The man standing up was the game’s “lookout,” a person who was charged with making sure that players didn’t cheat. Source: Offbeat OregonSands Hotel and Casino (seen here in the 1950s) was the seventh resort to open on the Las Vegas strip. Source: Vintage Las VegasThe Frontier Club at night in the 1940s. Source: Vintage EverydayVegas showgirls pose for a picture circa 1953. Source: Maudelynn’s MenagerieThe entrance to the Thunderbird Hotel in the 1950s. The Thunderbird Hotel was the only resort that contained a bowling alley. It was also the first to feature a porte-cochere. Source: UNLVThis vintage Las Vegas postcard (postmarked in 1958) depicts Fremont Street at night. Source: Postcard RoundupFor a few years, horse race results were listed on boards, allowing gamblers to bet on the races at any time. Source: SFGateThe Golden Nugget in 1960. Originally built in 1946, it is one of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas. Source: Gorillas Don’t BlogPatrons at a Las Vegas casino in 1960. Source: iBytesJackie Gughan, posing here in front of El Cortez Hotel and Casino, was considered one of the fathers of Las Vegas. He had stake in about a quarter of downtown Las Vegas, and owned multiple casinos and hotels. Source: LA TimesA billboard advertising Jerry’s Nugget in the 1960s. Source: Vintage Las VegasAn aerial view of the Las Vegas strip in 1964. Source: Vintage Las VegasVisitors walk through the Las Vegas strip in 1964. Source: Vintage Las VegasIn 1965, Jane Fonda married Roger Vadim at the Dunes. Source: Las Vegas 360Women in sheer tops work as blackjack dealers in 1966. Source: iBytesIn 1970, couples could get married at The Little Chapel of the Flowers for just $15. Source: SFGateThe old MGM building in the 1970s, before the fire that claimed 85 lives in November of 1980. Source: Vintage Las VegasLas Vegas in 2014. Source: Samsung

In 1950, most hotels and casinos were located on Fremont Street. See the street in action in A Last Frontier: Las Vegas, 1950:

Related Posts

Elon Musk sets his sights on struggling MSNBC as network is spun off by owner Comcast

In a notion that is sure to torment its liberal journalists, billionaire MAGA darling Elon Musk is flirting with the idea of buying MSNBC. The network has been spun off by owner Comcast in the latest sign of trouble after a dire year of plunging ratings and hysterical performances from anchors. While it’s not for sale, there’s been widespread speculation that it could change ownership.

Rebekah Vardy is dealt another blow following her Wagatha Christie legal defeat as she takes aim at Coleen Rooney during her I’m A Celeb stint

Rebekah Vardy has been hit by another blow after her Wagatha Christie legal defeat. The WAG, 42, had hoped to cash in the courtroom drama by trademarking the name coined during her epic battle with Coleen Rooney, who is currently starring on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! But MailOnline can reveal that Rebekah has now lost a challenge from upmarket linen firm Christy which has blocked her from flogging Wagatha Christie-themed towels and sheets.

I know who’s REALLY running the White House! KENNEDY’s hilarious (and terrifying) warning as Jungle Joe snoozes and World War Three looms

Is anyone else getting serious World War III vibes? The Russkies are threatening to bomb US air bases in Poland after launching nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles at Ukraine. This Putin escalation comes after a White House decision to greenlight Kyiv’s lobbing of long-range American-made rockets into Mad Vlad’s backyard, killing North Korean mercenaries.

I’m a Trump-hating celebrity… get me out of here! The mortified lefty stars fleeing America after Kamala’s crushing defeat… and where they’re heading now

As Donald Trump vows to Make America Great Again mortified Hollywood hotshots are trading the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles for a new life overseas. Left-wing celebrities who were devastated by Trump’s landslide election victory have pledged to flee America in order to give their families a better life. Eva Longoria, a Texas native who has been living abroad for work, is taking permanent residency in Mexico and Spain with her husband and son in order to ‘escape’ her ‘dystopian’ homeland.

Trump’s hush money sentencing is canceled as judge opens the door for case to be dismissed

Donald Trump’s sentencing in the hush money case has been delayed indefinitely and New York Judge Juan Merchan has opened the door for the charges to be thrown out. It was the latest stunning turnaround in the case, where Trump had been scheduled to be sentenced before the election aft his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying financial records. That sentencing, which could have brought four years of jail time, was delayed. Trump’s team wants the case tossed entirely, now that their client, set to become the 47th president and already the first former president to be convicted of a crime, is set to take the reins of power.

Putin says he will fire MORE of Russia’s new hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine and has already begun mass production of the nuclear-capable weapon

Vladimir Putin has said he will fire more of Russia’s new hypersonic missiles at targets in Ukraine. The Russian president added that his country has already begun mass production of the nuclear-capable weapon. Putin also said that Moscow would carry out more tests of the hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile in ‘combat conditions,’ a day after firing one on Ukraine.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *