Las Vegas in the 1940s was notable for the establishment of The Strip in a town which "combined Wild West frontier friendliness with glamor and excitement". [1] In 1940, the population was 8,400 but within five years, it more than doubled its size. [2] The Las Vegas Valley had a population of 13,937 in 1940, increasing to 35,000 in just two years. [3]
In the early 1940s, the town experienced political problems resulting in two city governments, each claiming to have the right to rule. The militarization of Las Vegas began when the Army Gunnery School (now Nellis Air Force Base) was established in 1941; between 1941 and 1945, 55,000 students attended classes here. The city of Henderson was established in 1941. [4]
During the World War II period, when defense spending was high, tourist traffic to Las Vegas necessitated raising of many new buildings on Fifth Street, Fremont Street and many other prime roads leading to the casinos. During the '40s and '50s the resort sector also developed in a big way to the detriment of the residential houses in many of the residential streets. [5] Suburbs with single family housing complexes and apartment blocks sprung up behind El Rancho and other hotels on The Strip. The city also modified its grid pattern layout, as the city extended southwards and realigned in a north–south direction. As the casinos came into existence on the Strip near Fremont Street, commercial establishments were moved to Main Street and Commerce Street. [6]
In 1940, the Clark Inn Motel was built as a Regency modern type hotel. In the same year, the Chief Hotel came into existence as a remodeled version of the Mission Hotel. Both these were built on the Charleston Boulevard in the 1200 block. During the Second World War period, the Las Vegas Boulevard witnessed proliferation of wedding chapels, auto courts and motels. [5] In 1940, the hotel magnate of California, Hull was invited by James Cashman of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to build one of his El Rancho Hotels with a casino, which would be profitable. Cashman and his associates showed him a number of sites. But Hull had his own preference and built the El Rancho Las Vegas hotel at a large site of his choice. He built the hotel with a sprawling casino, coffee shops upscale restaurants, well-turned gardens and parks, a swimming pool and a large parking lot which could accommodate 500 cars. [7] Following this hotel, the next seven years witnessed the emergence of Last Frontier, Flamingo and Thunderbird hotels. It was built in the low rise western architectural style at the early developmental stage of The Strip. The El Rancho Vegas opened in 1941 on what became the Las Vegas Strip, serving as the model for future casinos. [8] In 1942, Clark Gable was staying at the El Rancho when he learned that his wife Carole Lombard was in a commercial airplane crash near Las Vegas at Goodsprings, Nevada, in which there were no survivors.
In 1941, John Grayson established the El Cortez Hotel and Casino. The Arizona Club, also known as the "Queen of Block 16", was the first Las Vegas saloon to have second story constructed for prostitution and was unchallenged until 1941. In 1942, Las Vegas closed its prostitution district, accommodating a request from the military, and by December 1942, bars and casinos were closed for an eight-hour period, starting at 2:00 AM. [9] The West Side Club opened for African American customers in the early 1940s as, in 1942, Las Vegas city commissioners denied a permit for an interracial hotel-casino in the Downtown area. The Hotel Last Frontier was established in 1942. Its Western Frontier Village contained The Little Church of the West where Betty Grable and Harry James married in 1943. By 1944, the Army base's training range had been enlarged to 3.3 million acres. A riot in that year, resulting from an altercation between the police and black GIs who wanted to enter downtown bars and casino. [10] The Huntridge Theater was built in 1944. [11]
At 16.5 percent of the labor pool, women made up a small minority of workers in 1940, numbering slightly more than 1,000. About half were in service, sales, or clerical work with thirteen percent in professional jobs, 10 percent working as proprietors or managers, another 10 percent engaged in domestic service, and the balance working in some operative business. In the decade of the 1940s, though the number of women of working age women increased 196 percent, their participation in the workforce increased 413 percent. [12]
The post-war era was one of celebration for Las Vegas's tourism industry as all war period restrictions were lifted and tourist traffic boomed. [13] A colorful feature of entertainment in the Last frontier in 1945 was the dancing shows of chorus girls. One of the chorus leading girls became the entertainment director of El Rancho Vegas. [14] In 1945, Nevada Power Company noted that 77 million kilowatt-hours of electricity were being used by its customers. This more than doubled in two years, reaching almost 160 million kilowatt-hours. [15] In December 1946, the Flamingo Hotel was opened by Bugsy Siegel and in the following year, the "Howdy, Pardner" city symbol (nicknamed Vegas Vic) was erected. Rededicated by an act of Congress in 1947, the Boulder Dam was renamed the Hoover Dam. By 1948, the Strip contained several casinos, including the El Rancho, Last Frontier, Fabulous Flamingo, and Thunderbird (later renamed Silverbird). Las Vegas' expansion beset the town with water shortages such that faucets ran dry at the Las Vegas Hospital in 1949. [11] In the same year, the Nevada Natural Gas Company began coordination of a 144 miles (232 km) natural gas pipeline between the city and Topock, Arizona. [16] With the dramatic growth of Las Vegas, the increasing water supply needs of the city and the county was brought to focus in 1946, in view of the county's inadequate ground water potential to meet the demand. Lake Mead was identified as a potential solution to the problem. The dismal sanitary conditions of the city was also discussed and sought to be resolved. In January 1946, efforts made by some lobbies to lift the ban on prostitution were turned down on health grounds. [17]
"In 1946, the arrival of Benjamin Bugsy Siegel inaugurated a second capital regime, the mob era. Gambling took on a new face... when Siegal... opened the Flamingo Hotel, marking a new phase in Las Vegas history."
H.K. Rothman, p. 103, 310
During World War II, the Rockwell Field which was a civilian airport of Las Vegas and Clark County since 1926 was closed and the new airport became a military base of the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1941 and functioned as "flexible gunnery training school". This airport was named as McCarran Airport, in honour of Patrick McCarran, the then U.S. senator of Nevada. After the war, the gunnery school was closed but the air force, in 1947, wanted to continue operating the airport for military purposes only. As a result, a new civilian airport location had to be chosen. This was selected at the Alamo Field. Clark County bought this land from its owner George Crockett but permitting him to retain his business in the airport. [18] After the war ended, as part of tourism promotion, a new county airport was built starting with a referendum in May 1947 and commissioned on 19 December 1948. It served for 15 years till the jet planes made the airport ineffective. [19] The stone pillars which marked the entrance to the old McCarran Airport were shifted to the new airport and rededicated to McCarran. [18]
Railroad underpasses were also planned and built by the Municipal authorities, and one such underpass which was built in 1949 on the Las Vegas western lands at West Charleston which was aimed to achieve the goal of extending the city westwards. [5]
Las Vegas, often known as Sin City or simply Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-largest in the Southwestern United States. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife, with most venues centered on downtown Las Vegas and more to the Las Vegas Strip just outside city limits. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city had 641,903 residents in 2020, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053, making it the 25th-most populous city in the United States.
Harry Reid International Airport is an international airport serving the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located five miles south of downtown Las Vegas in the unincorporated area of Paradise and covers 2,800 acres (11 km2) of land. Reid is owned by Clark County and operated by the county's department of aviation. The airport is named after the late U.S. congressman and senator from Nevada Harry Reid. It has four runways and two terminals with five gate areas (concourses) all connected with a people mover system. Reid is one of two airports in the United States with slot machines inside the terminals.
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about 4.2 mi (6.8 km) long, and is immediately south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise and Winchester, but is often referred to simply as "Las Vegas".
The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the fifth resort to open on the Strip, the first four being El Rancho Vegas, The New Frontier, Flamingo, and the El Rancho. It was situated between Desert Inn Road and Sands Avenue.
The New Frontier was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice, opened in 1931. It was sold in 1941, and incorporated into the Hotel Last Frontier, which began construction at the end of the year. The Hotel Last Frontier opened on October 30, 1942, as the second resort on the Las Vegas Strip. The western-themed property included 105 rooms, as well as the Little Church of the West. The resort was devised by R.E. Griffith and designed by his nephew, William J. Moore. Following Griffith's death in 1943, Moore took over ownership and added a western village in 1948. The village consisted of authentic Old West buildings from a collector and would also feature the newly built Silver Slipper casino, added in 1950.
El Rancho Vegas was a hotel and casino at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It opened in 1941, as the first resort on the Strip, known then as part of Highway 91. It was located at what is now the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. The El Rancho Vegas was conceived by Thomas Hull, who owned several hotels in California and wanted to expand his operations to Las Vegas. He decided to build his new resort along Highway 91, on desert land located just outside of city limits. Hull intended to target motorists traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, although his remote location was met with skepticism.
Flamingo Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment. The Flamingo includes a 72,299 sq ft (6,716.8 m2) casino and a 28-story hotel with 3,460 rooms.
The settlement of Las Vegas, Nevada was founded in 1905 after the opening of a railroad that linked Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The stopover attracted some farmers to the area, and fresh water was piped in to the settlement. In 1911, the town was incorporated as part of the newly founded Clark County. Urbanization took off in 1931 when work started on the Boulder Dam, bringing a huge influx of young male workers, for whom theaters and casinos were built, largely by the Mafia. Electricity from the dam also enabled the building of many new hotels along the Strip. The arrival of Howard Hughes in 1966 did much to offset mob influence and helped turn Las Vegas into more of a family tourist center, now classified as a Mega resort.
The Showboat Hotel and Casino, known as the Castaways Hotel and Casino from 2000-2004, was a hotel and casino located at the north end of the Boulder Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The hotel consisted of a 19 story tower containing 445 rooms, a casino and an adjacent RV park. The Castaways hotel was demolished on January 11, 2006 to make way for a new resort. However, construction never started on the project, and much of the property was redeveloped as the Showboat Park Apartments, opened in 2021.
John Davis Gaughan, Sr. was a casino owner and operator from the early 1950s in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had an ownership stake in many casinos throughout his career, but he is best known for his ownership of the El Cortez, where he resided until his death on March 12, 2014. At one time Gaughan reportedly owned more than 25 percent of the available real estate in Downtown Las Vegas.
El Cortez, a hotel and casino, is a relatively small downtown Las Vegas gaming venue a block from the Fremont Street Experience and Las Vegas Boulevard. Slots, table games, and a race and sports book occupy one floor of the main pavilion, at this historic casino. It opened on Fremont Street on November 7, 1941, and is one of the oldest casino-hotel properties in Las Vegas, along with the nearby Golden Gate Hotel and Casino. Primarily Spanish Colonial Revival in style, it reflects a 1952 remodel when the façade was modernized. On February 22, 2013, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Beldon Katleman was an American businessman. Katleman inherited partnership in El Rancho Vegas, a hotel casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, from his uncle Jake Katleman who died in 1950, and served as president of the hotel. Katleman was an investor in two other Las Vegas casinos, the Frontier Hotel and the Silver Slipper.
Pioneer Club Las Vegas was a casino that opened in 1942 and was located in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, at 25 East Fremont Street. It ceased operating as a casino in 1995, the same year the Fremont Street Experience was completed.
The El Rancho Hotel and Casino was a hotel and casino that operated on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It originally opened on September 2, 1948, as the Navajo-themed Thunderbird. At the time, it was owned by building developer Marion Hicks and Lieutenant Governor of Nevada Clifford A. Jones. A sister property, the Algiers Hotel, was opened south of the Thunderbird in 1953. During the mid-1950s, the state carried out an investigation to determine whether underworld Mafia figures held hidden interests in the resort. Hicks and Jones ultimately prevailed and kept their gaming licenses. Hicks died in 1961, and his position as managing director was taken over by Joe Wells, another partner in the resort. Wells added a horse racing track known as Thunderbird Downs, located behind the resort. The Thunderbird also hosted numerous entertainers and shows, including Flower Drum Song and South Pacific.
The 1950s was a time of considerable change for Las Vegas. By the 1950s, there were 44,600 living in the Las Vegas Valley. Over 8 million people were visiting Las Vegas annually in 1954, pumping $200 million into casinos, which consolidated its image as "wild, full of late-night, exotic entertainment". The population grew dramatically from 8,422 during World War II to over 45,000. From 1952 to 1957, through money and institutional lending provided by the Teamsters Union and some Mormon bankers, they built the Sahara, the Sands, the New Frontier, the Royal Nevada, the Showboat, the Riviera, the Fremont, Binion's Horseshoe, and finally the Tropicana. Gambling was no longer the only attraction by the 1950s; the biggest stars of films and music like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Andy Williams, Liberace, Bing Crosby, Carol Channing, and others performed in intimate settings and brought a whole new brigade of Hollywood film stars and others in the entertainment business to the city. In 1957, the first topless show "Minsky's Follies" was started here.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.
Guy McAfee (1888–1960) was an American law enforcement officer and businessman. Born in Kansas and orphaned in early childhood, he became a firefighter in Los Angeles, California, and later served as the head of the vice squad of the Los Angeles Police Department. He was the owner of brothels and gambling saloons, with ties to organized crime in the 1930s. He co-founded casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the 1940s and 1950s. He is credited as the first person to refer to Las Vegas Boulevard as the Las Vegas Strip, after Los Angeles's Sunset Strip.
Hilton Grand Vacations Club is a timeshare property located on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The property was previously occupied by the El Rancho Vegas hotel and casino from 1941 until 1960, when it burned down. The land remained vacant until 2001, when Hilton Grand Vacations purchased a portion of the property and began construction of a 28-story timeshare tower.
