This establishment also lays claim to the city’s very first telephone, as theirs was installed all the way back in 1907. The Golden Gate Casino claims to have been the first casino in Las Vegas, as the land it is built on was purchased in 1905. Over time, the whole city of Las Vegas would become known as ‘Sin City’. This area was allowed to legally sell hard liquor and was frequented by ‘ladies of the night’ and their customers.

The term ‘Sin City’ dates all the way back to 1906, and originally referred to an area of Vegas called Block 16. Las Vegas was officially founded as a city on May 15th, 1905 when railroad owner William Andrews Clark auctioned off 110 acres of land which would become the downtown area. The Mormons would make it their home and one of the world’s most ambitious civil engineering projects would put Las Vegas on the map. Now, with a reliable source of fresh water, transport, and accommodation for travellers and prospectors, the seeds of modern Las Vegas were sown. The first permanent settler was prospector Octavius Gass who renovated the abandoned fort turning it into a ranch and way station for weary travellers. In 1855, Mormons briefly settled the area but stayed for only three years. A fort was built in the valley but never permanently inhabited. Until 1844, Las Vegas was Mexican territory. This perfect re-supply spot shortened the trail and the traders named the valley “the meadows” – in Spanish: Las Vegas. In 1829, a 60-man party explored the area and discovered the Las Vegas Springs. Las Vegas got its name from the Santa Fe trader Antonio Armijo, who was trying to find a new route from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. The Paiute tribe spent its winters in the valley, migrating from the nearby mountains. Tools, carvings, pictographs, and evidence of early Native American life have all been found in the area, in the North-East of the Mojave Desert.

The first inhabitants of Las Vegas arrived more than 10,000 years ago. Las Vegas is a black hole of earthly delights, abandon, and pleasure a gravitational singularity of sin.Īfter all: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. If a city was a celebrity, it would be a mix of Marilyn Monroe, Lady Gaga, and Gary Busey: beautiful, larger than life, and slightly insane. Few cities capture the imagination like Las Vegas.

What were the first casino in las vegas