History of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Spanish for the meadows, was founded by Mormon missionaries. These early settlers were followed by westward-traveling pioneers and, later, by the men who built Hoover Dam, the area’s first big tourist attraction.

Nevada was the first state to legalize casino-style gambling, but not before it reluctantly was the last western state to outlaw gaming in the first decade of the 20th Century. On Oct. 1, 1910, a strict anti-gambling law became effective in Nevada. It even forbid the western custom of flipping a coin for the price of a drink.

But gamblers quickly set up underground games where patrons who knew the proper password again wrangled day and night with Lady Luck. Illegal but accepted gambling flourished until 1931 when the Nevada Legislature approved a legalized gambling bill authored by Phil Tobin, a Northern Nevada rancher. Tobin had never visited Las Vegas and had no interest in gambling.

Tobin said the legalized gambling legislation was designed to raise needed taxes for public schools. Today, more than 43 percent of the state general fund is fed by gambling tax revenue and more than 34 percent of the state's general fund is pumped into public education.

Legalized gambling returned to Nevada during the Great Depression. It legitimized a small but profitable industry. That same year construction started on the Hoover Dam Project that, at its peak, employed 5,128 people.

The young town of Las Vegas virtually was insulated from economic hardships that hit most Americans in the 1930s. Jobs and money were widespread because of Union Pacific Railroad development, legal gambling and construction of Hoover Dam 34 miles away in Black Canyon on the Colorado River.
World War II stalled major resort growth in Las Vegas. During World War II, nearby Nellis Air Force Base grew into a key military installation. Originally built to train B-29 gunners, it later became the training ground for the nation's ace fighter pilots. Many key military personnel assigned to Nellis during World War II later returned as civilians to take up permanent residency in Las Vegas.