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Las Vegas – The Beginnings - A Brief History

Rafael Rivera, a scout for the Antonio Armijo expedition, was the first European to pass through the Las Vegas valley in the year 1821. The purpose of the expedition was to identify a trade route between New Mexico and California. Rivera named the valley “the Meadows” or “Las Vegas” in the Spanish language due to the existence of fresh, naturally-watered grasses throughout the area.

Las Vegas was officially founded as a city on May 15, 1905. This resulted from the auctioning off of 110 acres of land to buyers. That 110 acres later became downtown Las Vegas. That was the catalyst for the subsequent creation of Clark County, Nevada in 1909. The City of Las Vegas was incorporated in 1911 as a part of Clark County.

The first casino was the Pair-o-Dice Club built on Highway 91 in 1931, and the first casino on what is today called "the Strip" was the El Rancho which opened in 1931 operating for 20 years until it burned down in 1960.

In 1946, Bugsy Siegel, a gangster, along with mob boss Meyer Lansky built the Flamingo at a cost of 6 million dollars. It boasted 105 rooms and was located 4 miles from downtown Las Vegas. Billed as the “World’s Greatest Resort Hotel” at the time, it is the oldest hotel and casino still operating on the Las Vegas Strip.

Today, Las Vegas is known by several names, including “Sin City,” “Glitter Gulch,” and “City of Lights.”