How the Dazzling Las Vegas Strip Rose Up From the Desert

 The story behind the glitzy stretch of highway that became the destination for America’s most sublime—and most sordid—aspirations

In 1829, a group of explorers  by Spanish merchant Antonio Armijo moved west toward Alta California through the arid Mojave Desert—the ancestral lands of the Southern Paiute people. A young scout named Rafael Rivera discovered a particularly verdant area full of grassland irrigated by a natural spring; this lushness soon inspired the place’s name: “The Meadows,” or “Las Vegas.” 

Though a couple dozen Mormon missionaries arrived here in 1855—largely failing to convert the Paiute population—the oasis remained something of a secret until four years later, when prospectors came to the valley. They found gold and silver, and the ensuing rush sparked a population boom, with miners arriving in droves to dig by day before chancing their new fortunes away in the saloons and bordellos at night.

At the turn of the 20th century, the oasis town became a rest area for wagon trains and a stop on the new railroad connecting Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. This railroad was completed in 1905, and in 1911 Las Vegas was incorporated as a U.S. city. Though gambling was outlawed at first, clandestine casinos opened for business. Then, in 1931, everything changed when Nevada became the first state to legalize gambling, as well as the first to offer quickie divorces. From then on, the Silver State was synonymous with American excess. Around the same time, construction began on the Hoover Dam, which would provide water and power to the valley. This monumental project brought an influx of construction workers to the city of Las Vegas, and local entrepreneurs wasted no time in opening casinos to relieve these men of their spare cash.

 This characteristically American mix of grit, graft and speculation turned a dusty desert road into the entertainment capital of the world, a 4.2-mile stretch that would eventually become known as the Las Vegas Strip.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Strip attracted shady characters right from the start. In 1939, a cop named Guy McAfee arrived in Vegas after fleeing Los Angeles under accusations of corruption. He quickly put down roots, buying and developing the Pair O’ Dice Club and several others. Inspired by his beloved Sunset Strip in L.A., McAfee also bestowed the indelible name upon Vegas’ main drag. Soon after, in 1941, Californian businessman Thomas Hull founded the area’s first luxury resort, El Rancho Vegas, with blossoming gardens and a capacious swimming pool. This new adult playground caught the attention of the New York mob, who saw opportunities in both legal gambling and in less-legal money skimming. In 1945, the infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel bullied his way into development of the luxury Flamingo resort, creating a template for the super-casinos to come. Until then, Vegas casinos typically sported rustic Wild West themes, but Siegel ushered in an era of unbridled opulence.