Las Vegas, is the only American metropolitan area founded in the twentieth century to reach one million in population, in fact, presently is almost 2 million.

There is so much more to Las Vegas than it's title of "The Entertainment Capital of the World"!  A bit of history....

Native Americans lived in southern Nevada for thousands of years. Southern Paiutes were the only residents when the first non-native visitor,  Rafael Rivera, arrived, scouting for Mexican traders in 1830.  Then in May, 1844, John Fremont arrived on a mapmaking adventure and name the area "Las Vegas", Spanish for "the Meadows" after the grassy area surrounding a natural springs here.  The full name was actually "La Valle de Las Vegas" or "The Valley of the Meadows" but when the city was founded in 1905, the name was shortened to Las Vegas.  

The Mormon leader Brigham Young chose Las Vegas for a mission because of John Fremont's description of the area.  Missionaries arrived in June of 1855, and built a fort, part of which is still standing. But they left within three years.  A miner, Octavius Gass started buying land in 1865, eventually owned nearly 1,000 acres, until old debts cost him all of his holdings. After the new owner, Archibald Stewart, died in a gun fight in 1884, his widow, Helen, ran the ranch until 1902, selling all but 160 acres to Senator William Clark, a Montana copper baron who was planning a Los Angeles-to-Salt Lake railroad. The Union Pacific threatened to compete, they became partners.

Las Vegas was purchased by auction from Clark on May 15, 1905, and became a railroad town, serving passengers and servicing trains.  Named Clark County seat in 1909 and incorporated as a city in 1911, Las Vegas catered to sin with the red-light district known as Block 16, offered drinking, gambling, and prostitution in spite of laws to the contrary.

Hoover Dam construction was begun in March 1931, and it changed Las Vegas forever. Jobless depression victims started pouring in looking for work .  Boulder City was built by the federal government to house workers.  Their trips downtown boosted the economy-as did the dam's visitors.   Las Vegas began marketing itself as a tourist venue with a parade and rodeo, the annual "Helldorado".  The New Deal promoted growth.  Nevada led the nation in per capita in federal spending, and Las Vegas received  projects such as a school and parks.

Nevada Senator Pat McCarran was elected in 1932 and used his seniority and power to obtain federal projects which infused payroll and attracted new residents. An Army Air Corps gunnery school opened in 1941 and became Nellis Air Force Base. To the southeast, the Basic Magnesium plant refined manganese  which was used for the war.  The nearby town of  Henderson  was home to southern Nevada's only heavy industry, the plant moved into chemical production and research. Northwest of town, the Nevada Test Site opened in 1951 and began conducting above ground and  later underground atomic tests.   Testing was eventually discontinued but the site still supported research at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Many of the names from our history are remembered around Las Vegas - Meadows Mall, The Freemont Street Experience", McCarran International Airport to name a few.