"las vegas" a Las Vegas Travel Page by doug48

las vegas is located in a valley in the mohave desert. in 1844 the explorer john fremont, (fremont street) came to the valley when it was still part of mexico. the town of las vegas was established in 1905 and was incorporated in 1911. las vegas is the county seat of clark county nevada. there were a number of events that helped las vegas become the thriving city that it is today. in 1931 nevada legalized gambling. this brought a number of "cowboy" gambling houses downtown. in the mid 1930's the hoover dam was constructed in nearby boulder city which brought more money to the town. in 1946 the gangster bugsy siegal built the flamingo the first luxury casino on the strip. in 1989 steve wynn built the mirage which was the catalyst for the building boom of high rise luxury casino hotels you see today. pictured is caesar's palace in the 1980's at the time it was the most high end casino hotel in las vegas.

pictured is hoover dam located about 25 miles southeast of las vegas. this feat of 1930's engineering is a very worth while side trip when in las vegas.