The city of Las Vegas - Essay Example

The of Las Vegas Las Vegas is the most attractive and interesting in the whole of the planet earth. The city never existed before the twentieth century but today, it is the main tourist attraction in the world; it attracts millions of tourists from all parts of the world due to its attractive nature and its strategic positioning (Sean and Moehring17-63; ). It harbors the largest number of the world’s biggest hotels, i.e. it has 19 hotels out of the 25 largest hotels. This paper will be concerned with finding out the reasons as to why Las Vegas grew at a higher rate and the people who gave suggestions for its development.

In the 19th century, some Spanish explorers were passing through some springs, which were made by hunters in order to sip some water. These Spanish explorers were guided by Paiutes and utes as they crossed the desert between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. These explorers were so much amazed by these springs, which were found in the midst of cotton like grass and as a result, they decided to name this place “Las Vegas,” which is a Spanish name for meadows. During the mid-19th century, a missionary church began to farm in Las Vegas valley but later abandoned this place due to the challenging weather conditions that prevailed.

The place was too hot during the summers and very cold during winters, which posed a challenge to these settlers arguing that the weather was unbearable on their side. After this, many more people became interested in Las Vegas and so they started to pay visits. In 1905, Las Vegas came to existence after a couple from Spain decided to purchase the valley at a reasonable amount; this couple settled in this place and when they arrived, they were just recalling how the valley was attractive to them (Land M.

and Land B 17-37). The valley was lit by the brightness of the sun and was also surrounded by the magnificent mountains which enclosed the city on all sides. The squires built their house here where they settled and during their stay here, Squire continued to persuade the congress to build a dam along the Colorado River (Papa 10-39). He used to keep a record of weather of the location. As time went by, many more people joined him and the city continued to expand at a higher rate. Despite the efforts made by early visionaries, the city was still under-developed since it lacked modern facilities.

To solve this problem, the federal government had to intervene in 1928. During this time, the nation was experiencing depression and as a result, many citizens moved to Las Vegas in order to secure employment in the construction of a dam, which was on going. In 1940’s, the image of Las Vegas changed drastically, this was after many of the Gabblers were sent away by the federal government. These gabblers sought their refuge in Nevada and settled there. While here, they set up schools and many big hotels, which in turn raised the economic status of Las Vegas in general.

The city started becoming the destination place for visitors from all corners of the world. The means of transport available during this time was road and rail and this prompted the Clark County to purchase an airport in 1948 so as to ease the movement of the visitors, and this saw the numbers of visitors multiply at an alarming rate over a short period of time (Wright 29). The airport was known as Alamo, which is today known as Mc Carran International airport, and is today among the highly ranked airports in USA.

During this period, the tests for atomic and nuclear bombs arrived in this city. This led to the attraction of millions of tourists from all parts of the world since they now felt their security was guaranteed. The commerial institutions facilitated all the atomic tests which needed to be conducted by providing financial support. Due to this feeling of security, many people had interest in education and hence the setting up of many educational institutions including universities and colleges, and by the end of 1950’s, Las Vegas had grown drastically with many hotels, restaurants and educational institutions.

In the 1980’s, an explosion occurred which saw two of this city’s biggest hotels burnt to ashes. During this incidence, some people lost their life and hence a loss to the city as a whole. After the incidence, many people came up and restored these hotels and many more tourist attractions which are in existence up to date; this has given Las Vegas the present day appearance, which each and every person feels like being associated with. Tourists keep on flooding to this city and hence becoming a source of fame to the United States of America Works cited Land Myrick and land Barbara.

A Short History of Las Vegas. Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 2004, Print. Papa Paul. It Happened in Las Vegas: Remarkable Events that Shaped History. Guilford, Connecticut: Globe Pequot, 2009, Print. Sean Michael and Moehring Eugene. “Las Vegas: A Centennial History”. Nevada: University of Nevada Press, 2005, print. Wight Frank. Nevada Yesterdays: Short Looks at Las Vegas History. Las Vegas, Nevada, United States: Stephens Press, LLC, 2005, Print.