Like these other early casinos, the Pioneer Club is no longer, however its legacy remains. Some of the early Fremont Street casinos in this era included: Soon street lamps, and the expansion of electricity to the old Las Vegas Strip brought modern signage to Fremont Street in the early stages of what would be known as “Glitter Gulch.”

According to the city’s official website, the population of Las Vegas in 1909 was just 800 residents.ĭuring the 30’s, the construction of Hoover Dam, brought thousands of workers to the bars and casinos downtown. Gambling was legal for years, then outlawed in 1910, but later legalized for good in 1931. That very first number? “1.”īack then, dusty (and we mean that literally), sawdust joints operated as the first casinos. The was home to the city’s very first telephone number, at what was then the Hotel Nevada, now the Golden Gate. Las Vegas was founded in 1905, (although not incorporated until 1911), and Fremont Street was the heart of it, with the town’s first paved road and eventually, its first stoplight. In its early days, Fremont Street was sort of the “Main Street” of Las Vegas, due to its proximity to the main transportation hub of the day, the city’s first train depot, where the Plaza Hotel and Casino stands now. The old Las Vegas Strip during the 1940’sĪ Very Short History of the Old Las Vegas Strip