Unveiling the Neon Past: A Comprehensive Timeline of Las Vegas’ Evolution from Desert Valley to Entertainment Capital

The text provided is a detailed narrative of Las Vegas’s dynamic and evolving history, from its early days to its current status as a major tourist and entertainment hub. Here’s an analysis of its key thematic elements and historical coverage:

Transient Nature of Development:

• Las Vegas is depicted as a city with a penchant for reinvention, where historic structures are frequently demolished and replaced. This reflects a broader theme of American development but is particularly pronounced in Las Vegas’s ethos of constant renewal.

Documentary Challenges:

• The city’s tendency to rewrite its own history poses challenges for historical preservation and education, making physical engagement with its past difficult.

Cultural and Historical Tapestry:

• The narrative weaves through various periods of occupation and development, from the original Paiute inhabitants and their displacement to the transformative effects of infrastructure projects like the Boulder Dam (later Hoover Dam).

Pioneers and Visionaries:

• Las Vegas’s history is marked by influential figures like Senator William A. Clark, JT McWilliams, Steve Wynn, and Howard Hughes, whose ambitions and actions helped shape the city’s trajectory.

Growth Through Infrastructure:

• The development of railroads and the availability of electricity facilitated Las Vegas’s growth, showcasing how technological advancements spur urban expansion.

Impact of Organized Crime:

• The involvement of organized crime in the early development of the city’s casino and hotel industry is acknowledged, highlighting a period when illicit activities were a significant part of Las Vegas’s growth.

Economic Shifts and Corporate Involvement:

• The transition from a mafia-run town to a corporate-run city reflects broader trends in American business and the changing nature of the Las Vegas economy.

Tourism and Entertainment:

• The evolution of Las Vegas as a hub for entertainment, from early hotel and casino ventures to massive resorts with elaborate themes and attractions, underscores its role as a primary destination for global tourism.

Social and Economic Challenges:

• The text does not shy away from the less savory aspects of Las Vegas’s history, including exploitation of miners by Clark and the dislocation of Native Americans.

Modernization and Innovation:

• Las Vegas’s adaptation to changing tastes in entertainment and hospitality, as seen through the construction of themed hotels and the introduction of new leisure concepts, shows the city’s forward-looking approach.

Reflection on Historical Preservation:

• The account reflects on the efforts to preserve Las Vegas’s history, such as maintaining the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort and acknowledging the contributions of historical figures like Helen J. Stewart.

Legacy and Memory:

• The text considers how Las Vegas’s history is remembered and commemorated, including the controversies over figures like Bugsy Siegel and the preservation of landmarks like neon signs and the Morelli House.

Cultural Significance:

• Las Vegas’s cultural impact is analyzed, from its significance in the neon art movement to its role in popularizing the buffet and reinventing the concept of a resort.

Future Outlook:

• Lastly, the text contemplates the uncertain future of Las Vegas, suggesting that its propensity for change will continue to be its defining characteristic.

This text is a rich source of information for understanding the multifaceted history of Las Vegas, encompassing its indigenous heritage, pioneer days, and modern transformation into a world-renowned city. It places a special emphasis on the intersection of development, culture, and technology in shaping the urban landscape.

The History of Las Vegas … The history of Las Vegas is much different than that of other famous American cities.

0:05Most of its short 100-year existence has been demolished or replaced.

0:10Las Vegas’ history has been documented in pencil. It’s written, erased, and written over again in the same place.

0:18It can make learning difficult because we are no longer able to physically visit some of these historic locations.

0:25However, with some imagination, we can retell the history of this oasis in the dessert.

0:30We’ll begin by learning about the Paiute Native Americans and their time in the Las

0:35Vegas region. Then, we’ll find out how Senator William A. Clark put Vegas on the map by building

0:42a railroad station in town. We’ll get to know a man named JT McWilliams, and how he had hoped his Ragtown would bring

0:50him riches. Electricity became available when the nearby Boulder Dam was completed, and it would make

0:56Las Vegas one of the brightest cities on Earth. Hotels would spring up on Fremont Steet and the Strip, and we’ll learn about the historic

1:06resorts that had an impact on the city. We’ll cover some of the Vegas visionaries like Steve Wynn and Howard Hughes and discover

1:13how they impacted the city with their ideas. Finally, we’ll learn about how Las Vegas has become a thrill attraction destination,

1:21and how sports teams are now calling Las Vegas home. Let’s learn about the history of Las Vegas.

1:32Native Americans where the first peoples to live in the Las Vegas region and their descendants

1:40have inhabited the Las Vegas Valley for over 10,000 years. The Tudinu and Paiute tribes have called Vegas their home for over one thousand years.

1:50They called themselves the ‘Desert People’, and they occupied the territory that includes the Colorado River, Southeastern Nevada, and parts of California and Utah.

2:00They were the ancestors of the modern-day Paiute Tribe which would migrate between the

2:06mountains in the summer and the Las Vegas Valley during the wintertime. Archaeologists have found pictographs and other historical items that have helped us

2:15learn more about the original Las Vegas residents. During the 19th century, settlers moved into the Las Vegas region and displaced most of

2:25the Native American’s. The natives lost their lands, homes, and culture.

2:31However, they would one day receive assistance from a rancher named Helen Stewart, who had

2:37empathy for them being forced to leave their homes. Helen Stewart owned a large piece of land near what would one day become Downtown Las

2:46Vegas, and she would go on to donate ten acres of that land to the local Paiute tribe.

2:52The Native Americans would use the land to establish the Las Vegas Paiute Colony which

2:57is dedicated to preserving native culture. The first major migration to the Las Vegas region took place in 1855, when William Bringhurst

3:08led a group of Mormon missionaries from Utah to the Las Vegas Valley. The group was part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

3:17The missionaries built a fort in the Las Vegas Springs area with the purpose of converting the Paiutes and developing a town on the trade route from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.

3:28They constructed a large adobe fort near a creek and used flood irrigation to water their

3:34crops. However, the Mormon’s plans failed because of tensions among leaders of the community,

3:41difficulties in converting the local Paiute natives, and the summer heat made growing crops almost impossible.

3:48Eventually the missionaries abandoned the fort in 1857 and returned back to Utah.

3:54Thankfully, the remains of the fort have been preserved for visitors to view at the Old

3:59Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park. The area would remain unsettled for a few years until a man named Octavius Gass obtained

4:09the fort and its land with help from the United States government. The Paiute tribe gave up ownership of the area around the fort to the United States

4:18in return for supplies of food and farming equipment. Gass began making wine after renaming the area Las Vegas Rancho and Las Vegas became

4:29known as the best stop on the Old Spanish Trail. Sadly, Gass accumulated large debts and had to sell the property.

4:37He would be another person to receive help from Helen Stewart as she purchased his property in order to help pay his debts.

4:51William Andrews Clark was a self-interested businessman and politician that would help found the city of Las Vegas.

4:58He was born in 1939 and excelled at his school studies. So much so that he became a teacher in his home state of Iowa at the young age of 17.

5:08However, William preferred to use his intelligence to benefit himself instead of others.

5:14Clark was labeled as greedy because he was always looking for ways to make money.

5:19Clark was a soldier in the United States Civil War and instead of fighting alongside his fellow soldiers, he decided to desert his post to open a mining business.

5:30He would later open the Company Store, which was based in Salt Lake City.

5:35The Company Store specialized in shipping goods and supplies to miners that were located in very rural places.

5:42Clark took advantage of the miners who had little options due to being so far away from the cities, and he charged them higher prices than others were charged.

5:52Clark felt that he could make more money by becoming a politician and he began a political

5:58campaignfor Senator. He began giving bribes to other politicians hoping that they would help him secure a position,

6:05but it failed as Washington D.C. caught wind of his plans and kept him out of the race

6:10that year for trying to cheat. Clark ran again in 1901 for political office, but this time he appealed to the local mining

6:18population to help get him elected instead of trying to bribe politicians.

6:24Clark made false promises to the miners on things that he could never deliver such as shorter workdays and higher wages.

6:31He was elected and did not make good on any of his campaign promises to those who elected

6:37him. The Las Vegas Valley was unknown to Clark until his Brother-in-law suggested that William

6:42research the area as a potential site for a railroad station. Clark had been wanting to run a railroad line from Salt Lake City in Utah to the shipping

6:51ports of Los Angeles in California. A railroad would be a much faster form of transportation for his goods, and most importantly

6:59for Clark, make more money in profits. He would also be able to develop a townsite around the railroad station that could work

7:06to support his businesses. Any trains that would run from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles would need a location about

7:13halfway through for trains to stop and be serviced. Las Vegas was the perfect location for this halfway stop because it was the location of

7:22a natural water spring that would be perfect for replenishing the steam engines making the journey to California.

7:28Senator Clark agreed that Las Vegas would be a great location and he reached out to a well-known Las Vegas landowner named Helen J. Stewart.

7:37Stewart agreed to sell him 1,800 acres of her ranchland in Las Vegas, so that Clark

7:44could build his railroad station and townsite. Helen Stewart hired a professional land surveyorby the name of J.T.

7:52McWilliams to help her map out the 1,800 acres of ranchland that was being sold to William

7:58Clark. While surveying the ranch, McWilliams noticed that there was a tract of government land

8:03for sale next to where Senator Clark was planning to build his railroad. J.T.

8:08saw an opportunity to make money quickly by developing a townsite before Clark arrived

8:14to build his railroad. In 1904 McWilliams filed a claim and purchased the government land and he hoped the land’s

8:21value would skyrocket once Clark’s railroad arrived. J.T. subdivided his land into lots and he named the area the Original Townsite of Las Vegas.

8:32J.T. McWilliams took out advertisements in Los Angeles newspapers for his proposed townsite

8:38and listed his subdivided lots for sale for an average of $200.

8:43Sales were better than expected and J.T. quickly sold his lots to various groups such as investors, miners, and even outlaws.

8:51McWilliams made promises to the buyers of one day constructing paved roads and giving them access to limitless natural spring water.

8:59However, like almost all other goods in the Vegas region during 1904, building materials

9:04were scarce. The buildings in the McWilliams townsite were built hastily with pieces timber and tent

9:11canvases which would result in the town receiving its Ragtown nickname. The first few months in the Ragtown townsite saw a flourish of business and social activities.

9:22However, it was short-lived as the Ragtown residents were constantly fighting the Las Vegas weather that was extremely hot and windy.

9:30McWilliams worked hard to sell his new residents on the idea that they would soon double their

9:35investments when Senator Clark built his railroad depot just across the railroad tracks.

9:41His enthusiasm was diminished when he saw the incentives that were being offered to potential residents to move to William A. Clark’s new Las Vegas townsite.

9:51McWilliams had difficulty competing with Clark’s offer that new residents would receive guaranteed

9:56access to the new railroad yard and station to anyone purchasing his lots.

10:02McWilliams worried that he could not compete with this offer from Clark and tried many

10:07last-minute efforts to try and persuade Ragtown residents from moving.

10:12McWilliams knew Ragtown could not survive, once he saw the plans for the new Clark townsite

10:18and what types of services they could offer residents. The future of Ragtown would be short lived as most residents and businesses that had

10:26been part of Ragtown bought new lots in the Clark townsite. Even the local newspaper, the Las Vegas Age, would go on to move its operations across

10:35the tracks to Clark’s side. The local freight business that used to haul products with wagons switched their operations

10:42to serve the new townsite as well. Not long after on September 5th, 1905, a fire swept through Ragtown that would destroy almost

10:51all of the tent city. This would then leave the new Las Vegas townsite to become the official center for business

10:58and residential activity. William A. Clark held his long-awaited Las Vegas land auction on May 15th, 1905, and

11:07the acres of land around the railroad tracks were put up for sale. More than 3,000 people attended Clark’s auction, many who came from Salt Lake City

11:17and Los Angeles. They had seen ads promising to reimburse the return train fare for anyone who attended

11:23the auction. Clark also paid to have maps of the undeveloped townsite advertised in nearby media markets.

11:31That same morning the Las Vegas Land and Water Company, which was partly owned by William

11:36Clark, promised to build a depot and railroad repair shops to provide jobs. Clark’s ace in the hole was that he would guarantee all buyers access to the newly built

11:47railyard, and this was a huge incentive for businesses to buy into his townsite.

11:52On the day of auction, the outside temperatures reached over a hundred degrees and the desert

11:57winds almost blew down the canvas tent that had been set up for the auction just east

12:02of the new railroad depot. However, this didn’t deter people from attending as Clark saw many more buyers attend than

12:10he anticipated. The Las Vegas townsite was divided into lots and prices ranged from $100 to $500 for residential

12:19lots and $750 for corner lots. Lots along Fremont Street were considered the best locations for businesses and they

12:28would be sold first at unexpectedly high prices. This included three lots that sold for $1,750 at the southeast corner of Fremont and Main

12:40which is the current site of the Las Vegas Club. Clark auctioned off more than 600 lots of his townsite that he had purchased from Helen

12:47Stewart and by the end of the auction he had made a profit of nearly five hundred percent.

12:53Some winning bidders wasted no time in getting their establishments built and began construction that very evening.

12:59A few saloon owners from Ragtown were determined to be opened the next morning and they literally

13:05dragged the wood and tents across the railroad tracks to their new plots in the Clark townsite.

13:11The auction was the beginning of what would one day become the most visited place in the world.

13:17Las Vegas officially became a city when it incorporated in 1911 and the town of Las Vegas

13:22was born. While William A. Clark was auctioning off his Las Vegas townsite, the United States

13:28government engineers at the Bureau of Reclamation were looking for a place to build a hydro

13:33electric dam that could help power the Nevada region. Engineers felt that southern Nevada’s Black Canyon and the nearby Boulder Canyon had serious

13:42potential to support a dam and could potentially produce hydroelectric power and water for

13:48irrigation. The area was also reachable by road as it was located off Highway 93 that ran between

13:55Las Vegas and Arizona. The construction of the Boulder Dam was approved in 1928, and it would one day transform Vegas

14:03from a dusty railroad town into an electric neon fantasy. The construction project attracted thousands of ambitious young men from all over the United

14:13States, as the project was happening during the Great Depression when finding work was difficult.

14:18Would be workers accepted positions even if the job meant working in some of the harshest working conditions as temperatures would reach over one hundred degrees on an average day.

14:29The Las Vegas townsite at this time had a small population of less than five thousand, but the city would soon see an influx of thousands of workers descend upon the city.

14:39The Boulder Dam was completed at an impressive two years ahead of schedule, and by 1939,

14:44the dam had become the most powerful hydroelectric dam in the world. The dam was later renamed to the Hoover Dam in 1947 in honor of U.S. President Hoover

14:55who was a supporter of the project, and without him construction would not have been possible.

15:06Fremont Street was the original main street in the history of Las Vegas and it’s still

15:11attracting thousands of visitors every day. It’s located in Downtown Las Vegas and it’s the second most famous street in the region

15:20besides the Las Vegas Strip. Fremont Street was named in honor of explorer and politician John C. Frémont, and it is,

15:28or was, the address for many famous casinos such as Binion’s Horseshoe, Eldorado Club,

15:34Fremont Hotel and Casino, Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, Golden Nugget, Four Queens, The Mint, and the Pioneer Club. The lots on Fremont Street sold quickly during the auction that had been held by Senator

15:43Clark, and the area wouldexperience heavy city traffic. It was for such reasons that Fremont Street became the first paved street in Las Vegas

15:51in 1925 and the first to receive a streetlight in 1931.

15:56The mid-1990’s saw renovations to Fremont Street and vehicle traffic was officially

16:02closed off. In 1996, a six-block stretch of Fremont Street was converted into a pedestrian mall called

16:10the Fremont Experience. In 2004, Fremont Street installed a vaulted canopy that would cover four blocks of the

16:18street with 49 million LED lights. The canopy that covers the Fremont Street Experience is the largest video screen in

16:26the world and it runs hourly shows that pay tribute to Nevada’s most famous character

16:31traits. In fact, the LED lights from Fremont Street are so bright that the canopy can operate

16:37video shows even in the daylight. The first resort to be constructed on the Las Vegas Strip was called the El Rancho.

16:46It opened on April 3, 1941, and it began what would become a long history of hotels that

16:54operated on the Strip. El Rancho was the idea of a man named Thomas Hull, who was a hotelier that operated resorts

17:02in California and was looking to expand his operations to Las Vegas. The resort was located on the corner of San Francisco Avenue and Highway 91 which would

17:12later become known as Sahara Avenue and the Las Vegas Strip respectively. Hull intended to target motorists traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas by offering

17:22travelers a hotel and casino in one place. The El Rancho resort experienced early success which would inspire others to open resorts

17:31on Highway 91. Food lovers can thank El Rancho, because it was this resort that added an all-you-can-eat

17:38buffet in the 1940s, popularizing the concept in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, on June 17, 1960, a fire destroyed the El Rancho and the resort permanently closed

17:51as a result of the incident. Like many future Vegas properties, the El Rancho was demolished, and the property today

17:58is the location of the Festival Grounds owned by MGM. The success of the El Rancho resort caught the attention of theatre magnate R.E.

18:07Griffith and he felt that Las Vegas had room for another resort. Locals thought the idea of having two casino resorts in town was ridiculous and they thought

18:16Griffith was crazy. He had his sights set on the Pair ‘O Dice nightclub that had been operating on highway

18:2491 and it was the first nightclub on what would later become the Las Vegas Strip.

18:29Griffith and his nephew purchased the nightclub property for $1000 an acre and began building

18:36the second hotel resort in Las Vegas which they named the Last Frontier.

18:41Construction on the Last Frontier was difficult because in 1942 the United States was fighting

18:47in World War II and supplies for the war had priority. In order to complete the Last Frontier’s construction, the engineering team had to

18:55resort to finding recycled materials and using some of the old nightclub’s buildings.

19:01Griffith bought an abandoned mine in the Las Vegas mountains so that his team could reuse the wiring and other electrical materials.

19:08Food was being rationed during wartime, so Griffith’s team bought local ranches and

19:13raised cattle for food and milk to be served at Last Frontier. Finally, the crew was able to buy used items from existing downtown casinos with the best

19:23find being an antique 40-foot mahogany bar with French beveled glass from the Arizona

19:29Club on Fremont Street. The Last Frontier opened on October 30, 1942, as a country western-themed resort and the

19:37layout of the property was designed to resemble a main street from an old wild west town.

19:43The resort included lots of plants to add to the western theme and it was landscaped with 3,700 trees, plants, and shrubs.

19:52The Last Frontier had 105 rooms for guests to stay and it also included the Little Church

19:58of the West, which would help begin the spontaneous Vegas wedding trend. The Carrillo Room, which was named after the Cisco Kid’s sidekick Leo Carrillo, was originally

20:10the main building of the old 91 Club. The resort was also the first in Vegas to host world-famous entertainers in hopes of

20:19attracting more guests. Last Frontier would host some of the biggest names in entertainment like Ronald Reagan,

20:25Carol Burnett, and John Wayne. Unfortunately, R.E. Griffith passed away in 1943, and his partner did his best to operate the resort after Griffith’s

20:37passing. The Last Frontier was sold in 1951 and it would stay around Las Vegas under various

20:44ownerships until it was demolished in 2007. Las Vegas would have access to large amounts of electricity after the completion of the

20:53Boulder Dam and it would help the city become filled with neon lights. It was the dam’s hydroelectric power that would help transform Las Vegas from a sleepy

21:02frontier town into the tourist attraction it is today. Las Vegas had been looking for a way to attract tourists and neon signs seemed to be the perfect

21:13solution. Fremont Street was quick to catch neon fever and it wasn’t long before glowing signs

21:19began lighting up other businesses. Neon was everywhere as Vegas casinos, diners, and department stores all added neon signs.

21:30The 15,000 miles of neon tubing would illuminate the whole city, and all the lights made Vegas

21:37the brightest city on Earth. What set Las Vegas apart from the rest of America at the time was the sheer number of

21:44neon signs and it would help give Downtown Las Vegas the nickname of Glitter Gulch.

21:50The neon signs of Las Vegas were elaborate and had personalities of their own. The lights weren’t just signs, but rather essential parts of some of Las Vegas’ most

22:00famous resorts. Competition would drive businesses to create more elaborate buildings and cover them with

22:06creative neon signs. Some of Las Vegas’ most historic neon signs include the Stardust sign, Binion’s Horseshoe,

22:15The Golden Nugget, and the Caesars Palace sign. The neon works of art served as great advertising tools, but they also had an added benefit

22:24of lighting up the streets of Las Vegas so gamblers would stay long into the morning hours.

22:30Two of the most famous neon signs in the history of Las Vegas are the Welcome to Fabulous Las

22:36Vegas sign and the Las Vegas Vic sign. Las Vegas Vic is a 90-foot-tall cowboy that points in the direction of the Pioneer Club

22:46with his moving arm and loud voice calling out with a friendly “Howdy Partner”.

22:51The neon cowboy has stood on Fremont Street since he was installed in 1951.

22:57The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas neon sign has been a landmark for those entering Vegas

23:03for decades. The sign is located at 5100 Las Vegas Boulevard, and most locals agree that its location is

23:11the official southern end of the Las Vegas Strip. The neon display was designed by Betty Willis, who was an employee of Western Neon in 1959.

23:20She incorporated white circles around the letters of the word ‘welcome’ on the sign to portray silver dollars which was a tribute to Nevada being known as the Silver State.

23:30Since its installation, the sign has become a must visit location for those entering Las Vegas and it’s even been listed as an official Nevada historic location.

23:40The Las Vegas neon scene would see its greatest glory in the 1960’s when the city was home

23:46to five of the world’s tallest electric signs. The city had become a shrine to neon, but by the late 1960’s Las Vegas was looking

23:56for new ways to market itself and plastic signs offered a cheaper alternative.

24:01New construction projects avoided adding neon because the tubing was seen as a sign of Vegas’

24:07past. A majority of the neon that powered Glitter Culch would be replaced with more modern aesthetics,

24:13however neon signs would always have a special place in the history of Las Vegas.

24:24The Flamingo resort and hotel was the third to open on the Las Vegas strip, and it’s been a Las Vegas icon ever since.

24:32The Flamingo has remained the oldest resort still in operation and was originally the vision of a man named Billy Wilkerson.

24:39He was the owner of some of the most popular nightclubs in Los Angeles and he chose the

24:44name Flamingo because of his love for exotic birds. Like many others before him, Wilkerson saw the potential in Las Vegas, and he purchased

24:5433 acres of land about a half mile south from the Last Frontier resort.

24:59Wilkerson wanted the Flamingo to be different from the earlier western themed hotels on Fremont Street and he planned to build a resort that included luxurious rooms, a golf course,

25:10a nightclub, and a large casino. However, Billy ran into financial problems and found himself in need of financing from

25:18outside investors. Instead of looking to traditional sources for a loan, he asked the mafia if they would

25:24be interested in investing in his resort. The notorious mobster Bugsy Siegel came to Las Vegas in 1945 and was looking to purchase

25:32ownership in a resort. He purchased the El Cortez on Fremont Street but, his plans to make money had been stalled

25:40because city officials were well aware of his criminal past. However, the new resorts opening on Highway 91 were outside the control of the Las Vegas

25:49politicians that had held him back from buying into a Fremont Street casino.

25:55Siegel was happy to help Billy Wilkerson with help funding the Flamingo in exchange for majority ownership in the resort.

26:02In order to keep their purchase in the resort secret, Bugsy Siegel and his partner Meyer Lansky posed as fake business investors and were able to use their mafia funds to invest

26:12in the resort. The Flamingo resort opened on December 26, 1946, at a total cost of six million dollars.

26:21It was said to be one of the world’s greatest resorts, and it boasted a 105-room luxury

26:27hotel. However, despite its beauty, the Flamingo’s opening was a failure. Bugsy Siegel had arranged for numerous celebrities to be flown in from Hollywood for the grand

26:37opening, but bad weather in L.A. on the night of the opening prevented any guests’ airplanes

26:42from taking off. To make things worse, the hotel’s construction hadn’t been completed yet.

26:49So, even if the guests were able to attend the opening, they would not have somewhere to stay.

26:54Many of the locals who enjoyed the old west style hotels felt uncomfortable with the Flamingo’s

27:00opulent style and they decided to skip the opening. The Flamingo lost more than $300,000 in it’s first weekend and it would only stay open

27:09for another week before temporarily closing. The resort would re-open a year later in 1947 once construction was fully completed.

27:19The early failures of the Flamingo had caught the attention of Bugsy’s fellow mafia investors, and they were concerned that he may have been stealing money for himself during the resort’s

27:29construction. The mafia had a difficult time getting detailed information on construction costs, and after

27:36an investigation, they confirmed that Bugsy Siegel had been pocketing profits for himself.

27:41The mafia investors who had helped give the Flamingo its construction financing demanded

27:47that Bugsy return all the money that he had taken during the construction of the resort.

27:52However, Siegel refused to pay them back and he denied their accusations that he had been stealing money from the construction project.

28:00Seigel would never pay the mafia back because he died shortly after the money dispute on June 20, 1947.

28:07Bugsy Seigel’s death is one of the most famous unsolved murder cases in American history.

28:13However, many agree that it was his organized crime associates who planned the attack after

28:18being told that they wouldn’t be getting their money back. The mafia investors who had helped Bugsy Siegel fund the casino, took over operations of the

28:27Flamingo resort after receiving word that Siegel had died. The mafia would later try to use Siegel’s passing as a promotion of the now notorious

28:36Flamingo, and they even buried Bugsy’s car underneath the hotel. However, the Flamingo realized that being associated with a known criminal was bad for

28:46business and the new owners began an attempt to rehabilitate the resort’s image.

28:52The mafia investors sold the Flamingo in 1960 to another group of mafia members from Florida,

28:58who renovated the resort to give it a tropical feel. The Flamingo would become extremely successful because of its world class entertainment and

29:06luxurious accommodations. The resort ushered in the golden era of early Vegas entertainment as opening night featured

29:14entertainment by singer Jimmy Durante and Cuban bandleader Xavier Cugat.

29:20Future headliners would include famous performers such as Judy Garland, Ray Charles, and Wayne

29:25Newton. The Flamingo’s opulence was unrivaled as it had tropical landscaping, green leather

29:32walls in the casino, and red upholstered furniture. It was also the first casino to employ casino retention tactics such as removing all clocks

29:41and windows while also designing the floorplan so that guests would always be passing gaming

29:47machines. The Flamingo’s combination of mafia history, unrivaled luxury, and elite entertainers make

29:54it one of the most unique locations in the history of Las Vegas.

30:04The Sands resort and casino was one of the most famous locations in Las Vegas during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

30:10It was famous for its gigantic neon sign that welcomed visitors driving on the Strip, and

30:18its world class entertainment in its Copa room. The resort would achieve world fame when the classic film Ocean’s 11 was filmed at the

30:26hotel. The Sands Hotel was the seventh resort to open on the Strip and it received its name

30:32when one of the owners’ socks had filled up with sand when inspecting the land that it was built on.

30:38The resort’s tagline ‘a Place in the Sun’ was taken from an Elizabeth Taylor film that

30:44had been recently released. The resort operated from 1952 until November 26, 1996, when the Sands was demolished, and

30:53The Venetian resort was built in its place. The ‘Place in the Sun’ held one of the most lavish resort openings that the strip

31:00had ever seen. The Sands opened in December 1952, and the widely publicized grand opening was attended

31:08by more than 12,000 people in the first few hours. Guests on opening night were amazed by the Sands entrance sign because of its beautiful

31:18design and size. The Sands sign was the biggest resort entrance sign to ever be built on the Strip, and it

31:25notified motorists of the numerous entertainers that were currently performing.

31:30Every guest was also given a pass to the Copa Room to see the world-famous Copa dancers,

31:36whose costumes were valued at over $10,000 each. That was more than what headliner Danny Thomas was being paid to perform as the main act

31:45on opening night. In total the Sands lost more than $200,000 on opening night, but it turned out to be

31:52a worthwhile investment, because everyone was buzzing about the Copa Room and the Sands

31:57sign. Some of the most famous names in music would take the stage at the Sands Copa Room.

32:04Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Dean Martin of the infamous Ratpack singing group would

32:10receive $25,000 checks each week to perform at the Copa.

32:16Some of their performances at the Sands were recorded live and would go on to sell as platinum

32:21records. The Copa Room was designed in a Brazilian carnival style and named after the famed Copacabana

32:28Club in New York City. It also became famous for attracting Hollywood celebrities such as Humphrey Bogart, Kirk

32:36Douglas, and Lucille Ball. However, the main reason for the Copa’s success was due to its band leader Antonio

32:43Morelli. Morelli would treat every celebrity like a member of his family and welcome them to come

32:49perform anytime. In fact, entertainers would often meet up at the bandleader’s home to unwind after

32:56a performance. Many gatherings of celebrities took place at his home and the State of Nevada would

33:01later recognize the Morelli House as a historical landmark. The Sands sign became a pop culture icon and would arguably become what the resort was

33:12best known for. When the Sands resort opened, it represented a shift to a more modern hotel design and

33:19the crown jewel was its fifty-six-foot-high art deco neon sign.

33:24For the first time, the sign was an integral part of the architectural design, and the

33:30Sands sign was the tallest sign on the strip for a number of years. The sign would reflect light during the day and then be lit up glowing red with neon at

33:40night. The sign became world famous after being featured in the film Ocean’s 11 and an episode of

33:46the I Love Lucy Show. The Tropicana is one of the few original Las Vegas resorts to still be in operation today

33:55and it’s known as the Tiffany of the Strip. The $15 million dollar construction cost was more than double that of any other Las Vegas

34:05resort. The Tropicana was designed in a Havana Cuban theme, and it was created to be the most elegant

34:11resort in Vegas. The design included a 60-foot flower shaped fountain that sat in the center of an enormous

34:19swimming pool. It also included special rooms adorned with dancing fountains and crystal chandeliers

34:25which were fit for their celebrity guests. The Tropicana resort and casino is still in operation today, and it is located across

34:33from the MGM, Excalibur, and New York New York resorts.

34:43In 1962, motel chain owner Jay Sarno began construction on Caesars Palace, which would

34:50one day go on to become one of Las Vegas’ most popular resorts.

34:55His vision was to theme the resort after the Roman Empire and to design an atmosphere in

35:00which everyone felt like a Cesar. That’s why the name Caesars Palace doesn’t have an apostrophe.

35:06It makes the word a plural noun and means that everyone is a Cesar, and everything belongs

35:13to them. Sarno was also the first to set the entrance to the resort back away from the strip, and

35:19he did this because he wanted guests to leave the real world behind and enter a fantasy world.

35:25Caesars Palace would help usher in a new era of lavish and gaudy Las Vegas resorts.

35:31Caesars Palace was the twelfth resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip on August 5, 1966.

35:39The grand opening was one of the most lavish parties that the city has ever seen, and it cost owner Jay Sarno over a million dollars.

35:47Guests were greeted by tremendous amounts of food including mountains of caviar, two tons of filet mignon, and over 50,000 glasses of champagne.

35:58Many celebrities flew to Las Vegas to attend the opening such as Gene Kelly, Johnny Carson,

36:03and Eva Gabor. Caesars also invited over five hundred veterans from the local armed forces base to attend

36:10the festivities. The resort was an instant success and the publicity from the grand opening generated

36:16over forty million dollars in revenue from future hotel room bookings.

36:21Caesars would become one of the Strip’s most popular resorts and a Las Vegas icon.

36:28The 1990’s would see newer and flashier resorts open on the Las Vegas Strip and Caesars

36:33Palace needed a way to compete with the newer casinos. The result was the Forum Shops at Caesars, and it was one of the first locations in Las

36:42Vegas where high-end shopping was an attraction in itself. At first thought, shopping wasn’t considered a natural fit for Las Vegas and critics felt

36:52that it would be an unsuccessful experiment. However, the Forum Shops were more of an experience than an everyday shopping mall.

37:01Caesars would prove the critics wrong as the Forum shops would become the highest grossing shopping center in the United States.

37:08The grand opening of the Forum Shops was a huge success. In fact, it was so popular that many shops ran out of inventory and shopping bags.

37:18Guests were greeted by Roman designed themes, and they had plenty of choices on where to shop as the Forum Shops had over one hundred luxury retailers.

37:27The shops also began what would become a Las Vegas trend and opened the first celebrity-chef

37:33restaurant called Wolfgang Puck’s Spago. The Forum Shops were also a destination for celebrities with an example being the Versace

37:42boutique. It had a humidity-controlled vault of evening gowns which were unlocked only for their most

37:48famous clients. The Forum Shops helped to change Las Vegas’ reputation as being just a gambling town to

37:56also now being an elite shopping destination. Howard Hughes was one of the most influential people in Las Vegas’ history despite only

38:06living in Las Vegas for a total of four years. He was a business tycoon and during the mid-1960’s he was one of the wealthiest and most famous

38:15people on the planet. Hughes helped usher in the corporate era of Las Vegas resort ownership while at the same

38:21time pushing out the mafia ties of Vegas’ past. His time in Vegas began on Thanksgiving day 1966 when he checked into the top floor of

38:31the Desert Inn, and the visit would take an interesting turn a few weeks later.

38:37The owners asked him to vacate the room for high rollers that were coming for new year’s

38:42eve, but Hughes didn’t want to leave. Instead of finding another place to stay, he wrote a check for $13 million dollars and

38:50bought the hotel. It would be the beginning of a Howard Hughes Las Vegas purchasing spree.

38:56Howard Hughes spent over $300 million dollars in an effort to change the image of Las Vegas.

39:03Hughes wanted to get rid of the Las Vegas mafia connections and replace them with corporate investors who could turn Vegas into a more glamorous destination.

39:12His Vegas spending spree included six casinos, the local TV station, the airport, and thousands

39:19of acres of land. Howard Hughes quickly became the State of Nevada’s largest employer with more than

39:258,000 people working for him in some fashion. He even bought the Silver Slipper casino which was across the street from where he stayed

39:34because he wanted to move the resort’s giant neon slipper that kept him awake at night.

39:40Howard Hughes would eventually leave Las Vegas in 1970, but he left his mark on the city

39:45by successfully ushering out the mafia and helping bring in the corporate hotel chains.

39:57Howard Hughes helped open the door for corporations to invest in Las Vegas resorts and the city

40:03of Las Vegas was eager to clean up its reputation of being a mafia run town.

40:08The downfall of the mafia in Las Vegas had begun due to the Nevada Corporate Gaming Act

40:13and a little black book. The mafia was not able to raise as much money as corporations could and it made it difficult

40:20for them to buy ownership into resorts as they were constantly being outbid. The Corporate Gaming Act required all owners of a casino to be licensed instead of just

40:30one person and this meant that the mafia could no longer hide their ownership in Vegas resorts.

40:36The little black book was a collaborative effort by the corporate hotel owners to create a list of any mafia members with known crimes against casinos.

40:45The owners also agreed to not do any future business with anyone listed in the black book.

40:52The mafia left Las Vegas for good in the early 1970’s and the city entered the Vegas corporate

40:58hotel era. The corporations wanted to make money and they replaced the unique themed hotels with

41:04bland larger versions of their corporate chain hotels. Vegas lost much of its charm that visitors came to enjoy, and it wouldn’t be until

41:13the late 1980’s when a man named Steve Wynn brought some fire back to the Strip.

41:19The corporate hotel age of the 1970’s came to an end when a man named Steve Wynn built

41:25the first ever mega resort on the Strip called the Mirage. Wynn understood that visitors preferred resorts that had a theme, and he chose a tropical

41:34South Pacific theme for the resort. The Mirage hotel contained over 3,000 rooms and it sat on an expansive 65-acre tropical

41:43themed paradise. The resort would become world famous for its unique features like dolphin encounters, white

41:50tigers shows, and a volcano. It was the world’s most expensive resort ever built with a cost of over $630 million

42:00dollars, and the Mirage would experience immediate success while welcoming in the next Vegas

42:05building boom. The Mirage Volcano and animal exhibits have entertained millions of visitors since their

42:11opening. The Mirage volcano was designed by Steve Wynn to be a roadside entertainment attraction

42:17and the volcano has since become a Las Vegas icon. It’s an artificial volcano that erupts nightly at front of the resort, directly on the Las

42:26Vegas Strip. Gas pipes and jets provide flames for the volcano, while red lights and foam imitate

42:32the lava flow. The Mirage also includes a 2-million-gallon dolphin habitat that is home to five bottlenose

42:39dolphins. It includes a dolphin research center that hosts educational tours in which visitors

42:45can interact with the dolphins. Finally, the Mirage was home to the magicians Siegfried and Roy and their exotic white tigers.

42:52The resort built a two-and-a-half-acre garden at a cost of over $15 million-dollars, which

42:58was home to the white tigers when they were not performing. The garden also includes other exotic animals such as bengal tigers, white lions, a snow

43:08leopard, and an Asian elephant.

43:16The New York New York resort was one of the first hotels in Las Vegas to use a city as

43:22their theme when it opened in 1997. The hotel was designed to make visitors feel as if they had been transported to New York

43:30City and it even includes replicas of numerous city landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty.

43:35More than 2,000 hotel rooms were built into various skyscrapers with its tallest structure

43:41being a five-hundred-foot replica of the Empire State Building. It was the tallest building in the state of Nevada for almost a decade until the Wynn

43:49resort was built in 2005. The crown jewel of New York New York is its Big Apple Roller Coaster which races along

43:57the top of the hotel in replica New York City taxi cabs. The New York New York hotel was the exact type of family friendly resort that the new

44:06Las Vegas was looking for. The resort is still in operation and welcomes millions of visitors each year.

44:13However, the 1990’s had two resorts that helped shape Vegas’ history. Steve Wynn’s luxurious Bellagio resort would become one of Las Vegas most famous and visited

44:24locations. The Bellagio resort debuted on the Las Vegas Strip in 1998 at a cost of $1.6 billion dollars,

44:32and it was the world’s most expensive hotel. It was built on the site of the Dunes hotel which was demolished to make room for a 3,000-room

44:41hotel. The resort includes and eight-acre manmade lake which features a nightly water show with

44:47synchronized music and over 1,000 water jets. Bellagio is also famous for being home to the world’s largest glass sculpture, Fiori

44:56di Como, which hangs in the lobby of the hotel. The glass artwork includes more than two thousand pieces of colored glass and it weighs over

45:0640,000 pounds. Few hotels can compete with the luxury and service of Bellagio, as it has won Diamond

45:13service awards for every year it has been in operation. Numerous polls and surveys have recognized Bellagio as the most popular resort in Las

45:21Vegas. Steve Wynn had designed the Bellagio to be one of the most luxurious hotels in the world

45:27and its opening had a ripple effect. The boring corporate resorts hurried to renovate or demolish older hotels and convert them

45:35into more luxurious destinations.

45:44The Las Vegas Monorail has carried more than 90 million visitors up and down the Strip

45:49since its opening in 1995. The monorail system was a joint project by a handful of resorts on the Strip to connect

45:57passengers with some of the most iconic landmarks in Las Vegas. Many visitors recognized the style of monorail cars being used on the Las Vegas monorail

46:07because they were the same Mark IV trains that were used at Walt Disney World on their monorail.

46:13There are a total of 36 electric monorail cars that run 30 feet above the ground behind

46:18some of the most famous casinos on the Strip. There are seven total stations along the monorail route with the furthest being the station

46:25at the Sahara resort. Other stops include the Las Vegas convention center, Harrah’s casino, and the LINQ which

46:31was originally built in 1959 as the Imperial Palace. One of the most popular stops is at the Flamingo and Caesars Palace station where guests can

46:40visit the Forum Shops and historic Flamingo resort. The monorail has plans in the future to add stations and grow the service line to include

46:48more resorts and sporting venues. After years of building legendary Las Vegas resorts, Steve Wynn decided he would build

46:57the diamond jewel resort on the Las Vegas Strip. He purchased and demolished the historic Desert Inn hotel to build his masterpiece resort.

47:06He named the project after himself, and the Wynn resort would become one of the top hotels

47:11in the world. Steve Wynn used the experience that he gained building other Vegas resorts to build his

47:17own 600-foot tall, 45 floor, 2,000 room hotel.

47:23The building was so tall that and hard to clean, that it installed the first automated window washing system at a Vegas resort.

47:30The Wynn resort also included Las Vegas’ largest casino and a convention center to

47:35host large events. A few years later, a second tower named Encore was built.

47:40It included an additional 2,000 rooms and it would make the Wynn-Encore resort the seventh

47:46largest hotel in the world. Steve Wynn, like many others before him, wanted the Wynn resort to have unmatched luxury and

47:54service for its guests. The Wynn resort was successful in creating a beautiful environment for guests as it has

48:01become one of the most highly awarded resorts on earth.

48:12Roadside attractions have historically played a large role in attracting guests to Las Vegas

48:17businesses. The original roadside attractions in Las Vegas were its neon signs like Vegas Vic, which

48:23were made to attract motorists. Steve Wynn would take streetside attractions to a new level in the 1980’s when he designed

48:30the Mirage’s volcano attraction that erupted nightly in front of guests on the Las Vegas Strip.

48:36Wynn would design another roadside attraction a few years later right next door to the Mirage

48:42at the Treasure Island pirate themed resort. Treasure Island featured a large pirate battle complete with pirate ships and firing cannons.

48:50The attraction is only feet from The Strip and millions of visitors stop to watch these nightly naval battles.

48:57The Bellagio fountains are one of the more recent attractions in Las Vegas’ history, and they are already one of its most famous attractions.

49:04The lake in front of the Bellagio resort comes to life at night as it is filled with water fountains dancing to music.

49:12Thousands of water jets propel colorful water streams hundreds of feet into the air to create beautiful performances.

49:18The water shows are often so mesmerizing that they have been known to make the traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard stop.

49:25Amusement attractions now play a large part in entertaining visitors that come to Las Vegas.

49:31The High Roller is the tallest observation wheel on the planet, and it lifts guests five hundred feet above the Las Vegas Strip for one-of-a-kind views of the Las Vegas Valley.

49:42Another unique Vegas observation deck is at the replica Eiffel tower located on the Strip

49:47in front of the Paris resort. It stands right on top of Las Vegas Boulevard and thousands of guests have visited the attraction

49:55since its opening. The one-thousand-foot-tall Stratosphere Tower resort is the location of some of Las Vegas’

50:03most extreme attractions. The Big Shot attraction sits at the very top of the resort’s tower and it jettisons guests

50:11up a one hundred fifty-foot mast at a speed of over forty miles per hour.

50:16The Stratosphere’s X-Scream roller coaster takes riders on a thrilling experience around

50:22the top of the resort’s tower and then dangles them above the Las Vegas Strip before pulling

50:28them back. For the most extreme attraction seekers, the Stratosphere offers the ultimate experience

50:34called Skyjump. This attraction offers guests an open-air leap off the Stratosphere tower down to the

50:40Las Vegas Strip below. It holds the world record as the highest decelerator on the planet and it guides riders down to

50:48the ground safely at speeds of over 40 miles per hour.

50:53Sports leagues had long been against letting their teams operate in Las Vegas because of its gambling and mafia history.

51:00However, the mafia would eventually leave Las Vegas and sports betting would become more socially acceptable.

51:07In 2017, the National Hockey League founded an expansion team named the Vegas Golden Knights

51:14and the city would finally have its first major professional sports franchise. The team was accepted immediately by the Las Vegas community and the Golden Knights have

51:24become known for having one of the most dedicated fanbases. Their games are played at T-Mobile Arena which is located at the southern end of the Las

51:32Vegas Strip. The name and logo of the team were designed to incorporate themes and colors from Las

51:38Vegas’ history. The word Golden in the team’s name refers to Nevada being the largest gold producing

51:44state in the country, and the red star of the secondary logo is designed to resemble the star from the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign.

51:53The red coloring for the team was chosen because it represents the unique red coloring of Vegas’

51:58Red Rock Canyon and the city’s skyline. The Oakland Raiders of the National Football League relocated their franchise to Las Vegas

52:07in 2020. Similar to the Golden Knights, the Raiders built a beautiful new stadium on the southern

52:13end of the Strip. The inaugural 2020 season was unique in that the team played its home games in front of

52:19empty seats due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Raiders would experience some success afterwards, but the local population didn’t

52:28accept the team like they did the Golden Knights. The Raiders already had a fanbase in their old city, and none of the team’s colors

52:34or themes represented the city of Las Vegas. This made it difficult for the Raiders to build a local following and fill the seats

52:42in their new stadium with Raider fans. Visiting fans were more than happy to purchase the empty seats, as Las Vegas was the perfect

52:49travel destination to see their favorite team play. And what does the future have in hold for Las Vegas.

52:55One thing we know is that it will most likely be written in pencil, and that the future

53:00will always try to be bigger and better.