Las Vegas: A Centennial History

Since Las Vegas was founded on May 15, 1905, when the Union Pacific auctioned off land around its new railroad shops, the city has grown from a ramshackle village to a sprawling metropolitan area of well over a million people. Such phenomenal growth was never a sure thing--in its first decades, the town languished as a railroad company town and market center for nearby ranches and mines. The construction of Hoover Dam in the 1930s brought thousands of workers, some of whom decided to stay, and World War II and the Cold War brought others, including military personnel and workers at the Nevada Test Site. But it was when Nevada legalized casino gambling in 1931 that Las Vegas met its destiny. This act, combined with the growing popularity of the automobile, cheap land and electricity, and changing national attitudes toward gambling, led to the fantastical casinos and opulent resorts that became the trademark industry of the city and created the ambiance that has made Las Vegas an international icon of pleasure and entertainment. In Las Vegas: A Centennial History Eugene Moehring and Michael Green offer a detailed account of the growth of this unique city, the impact of politics and of wars, and the city's struggle to establish a diversified economy. The authors' scope extends chronologically from the first Paiute people who settled around the artesian springs that gave the city its name, right up to the construction of the latest megaresort, and geographically far beyond the original township to include the several municipalities that make up the metropolitan Las Vegas area. Las Vegas: A Centennial History celebrates the city's unparalleled growth in the brief century of its existence. Italso offers fresh insight into the process of city building in the American West, where urban needs and aspirations must contend with water scarcity, isolation, erratic economics, highly diverse populations, and the rocky relationship between the need for civic order and the Western spirit of independence. Its story will engage residents and visitors alike, as well as all readers interested in the history and workings of an American city.