The City of Las Vegas, The Thirties – Documentary
- This is part three of a documentary series chronicling the history of Las Vegas.
- Part four will focus on the 1940s and is expected to premiere in 2022. Part five will focus on the 1950s.
- Read more Travelivery stories on our homepage
This documentary about The City of Las Vegas was funded by the Commission for the Las Vegas Centennial.
Click the links below to see the other videos from this series
Click here to check out The Forties
Click here to check out The Twenties
Click here to check out The Early Years: 1905 to 1920
The commission has established a grant program to support community initiatives that are of a historic nature, by utilizing the revenue generated from the special commemorative Las Vegas Centennial license plate.
The plate is available through the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and features the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign designed by Betty Whitehead Willis in 1959, which still stands in the median island south of Tropicana Avenue on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Since 2005, the commission has awarded more than $21 million in grants to projects like the Las Vegas Days Parade and Rodeo, as well as the restored, vintage neon signs that are in the medians on Las Vegas Boulevard downtown. The funds have also helped preserve the city’s history through projects like the Historic Westside School, the Neon Museum, and the Mob Museum.
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About The City of Las Vegas
Las Vegas (Spanish for “The Meadows”), officially the City of Las Vegas and often known simply as Vegas, is the 28th-most populated city in the United States, the most populated city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada.
The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and is famous for its mega casino-hotels and associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations. The city’s tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of “Sin City”, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos.
Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century (a similar distinction was earned by Chicago in the 19th century). Population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85.2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had 648,224 residents in 2018, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053.
As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city (“Las Vegas” in this case) is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip, which is actually located within the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester. – Wikipedia