The History of the Las Vegas Strip You can learn a lot about Las Vegas through local Grand Canyon tours and museums, but there is a lot more history in the region than just the canyon or the popular shows. When most people hear about the city of Las Vegas, they think about the gaudy hotels and flashing lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Also known as “The Strip,” this 4.2 mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard South is host to 15 of the 25 largest hotels in the world. It attracts millions of tourists every year. Yet, many people do not realize that the Strip has not always been the host of the luxury and entertainment that it is widely known for today. In fact, the Las Vegas Strip has enjoyed a lengthy and storied history that dates back to before World War Two. Here is an outline of the history of the Las Vegas Strip. Beginnings Las Vegas Boulevard South, the official name of the road where The Strip is located, used to be called Highway 91. When Nevada state legislators voted to legalize gambling in 1931, entrepreneurs took the opportunity to develop casinos on historic Highway 91, now a popular route for tours from Las Vegas. One famous business innovator was Guy McAfee, a former commander in the Los Angeles Police vice squad, who opened the 91 Club that same year. McAfee would build several other resorts and casinos along Highway 91 during the following decades. However, today McAfee is known more for another reason. In order to avoid paying costly taxes to the city of Las Vegas, McAfee and others established another town just south of city limits, called Paradise. Partially due to this development, nowadays The Strip is actually located in Las Vegas, but instead resides in Paradise and nearby Winchester. When establishing the town, McAfee renamed the main road running through Paradise, Highway 91, as “The Strip,” in homage to his former home Los Angeles and its famous Sunset Strip. Thus, The Strip was born. Widespread Development Although McAfee’s 91 Club was the first casino to be built on Highway 91, the first one established on the current form of The Strip was El Rancho Vegas in 1941. It flourished, leading to another one, Hotel Last Frontier, in the following year. The Flamingo opened in 1946 and then the Desert Inn in 1950. Over the next 20 years, The Strip was slowly built up, due in large part to the interest of East Coast organized crime figures. Yet the era of huge, thousand room hotels did not begin until the late 1960s, when Kirk Kerkorian opened the International Hotel (today known as the LVH), which boasted 1,512 rooms. Kerkorian topped that achievement with the establishment of the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino with over 2,000 rooms. Then, in 1989, the Mirage founded a new type of development on The Strip, where megaresorts included gambling, lodging, entertainment and dining, all in one luxury facility. Many of the Mirage’s competitors changed and expanded as a result. The 2000s saw a trend towards even more luxury, with the Venetian, Bellagio and Wynn mega-resorts specializing in high-end retail, nightclubs, and dining.
If you want to discover additional information on The Strip or Nevada history, consider a helicopter tour of Las Vegas to find out even more and to witness its stunning skyline. For more information visit us at: http://www.papillon.com