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Las Vegas was named by Spaniards in the Antonio Armijo party, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 1800s, areas of the Las Vegas Valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas or meadows (vegas in Spanish), hence the name Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Sign
The Las Vegas Sign

John C. Frémont traveled into the Las Vegas Valley on May 3, 1844, while it was still part of Mexico. He was a leader of a group of scientists, scouts and observers for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. On May 10, 1855, following annexation by the United States, Brigham Young assigned 30 missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by William Bringhurst to the area to convert the Paiute Indian population to Mormonism. A fort was built near the current downtown area, serving as a stopover for travelers along the “Mormon Corridor” between Salt Lake and the briefly thriving colony of “saints” at San Bernardino, California. However, Mormons abandoned Las Vegas in 1857. Las Vegas was established as a railroad town on May 15, 1905, when 110 acres (44.5 ha) owned by Montana Senator William A. Clark’s San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad, was auctioned off in what is now downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas was part of Lincoln County until 1909 when it became part of the newly established Clark County. The St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church near 4th and Bridger in downtown was founded in 1910.[3] Las Vegas became an incorporated city on March 16, 1911.

Gambling was legalized in the city on March 19, 1931. On December 26, 1946, Bugsy Siegel’s infamous opened on what would later become the Las Vegas Strip. The was completed on October 9, 1936 and above ground nuclear testing was conducted at the from 1951 to 1962. The era of megaresort casinos began on November 22, 1989, with the opening of The Mirage.

[edit] Economic history

Las Vegas started as a stopover on the pioneer trails to the west, and became a popular railroad town in the early 1900s. It was a staging point for all the mines in the surrounding area, especially those around the town of Bullfrog, that shipped their goods out to the rest of the country. With the proliferation of the railroads, Las Vegas became less important, but the completion of the nearby resulted in a substantial growth in tourism, which, along with the legalization of gambling, led to the advent of the casino-hotels for which Las Vegas is famous.

The city owes almost all its current status and reputation to American organized crime. All of the original large casinos were managed or at least funded under mob figures Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and Meyer Lansky.[4]

The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos was augmented by a new source of federal money. This money came from the establishment of what is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of military personnel and casino job-hunters helped start a land building boom which still goes on today.

Although the city’s gambling economy continues to expand, in 2006 gambling revenues in the Macau Special Administrative Region in the People’s Republic of China surpassed those in Las Vegas, making Macau the largest gambling center in the world. With revenues in excess of $10 billion for 2007, Macau is poised to surpass the entire state of Nevada in gambling revenues. Due to the gambling boom in Macau, many traditional Las Vegas casino developers, such as Steve Wynn, are pursuing multi-billion dollar projects in its expanding market. There is no evidence as of yet to suggest that gambling growth in Macau is shifting growth away from Las Vegas.[5][6]

[edit] Geography
Typical desert scene in the Las Vegas area.
Typical desert scene in the Las Vegas area.

[edit] Topography

Las Vegas is located at [show location on an interactive map] 36°11′39″N, 115°13′19″W (36.194168, 115.222060)[7]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 131.3 square miles (340.0 km2), of which, 131.2 square miles (339.8 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26 km2) of it (0.04%) is water.

The city is located in an arid basin surrounded by mountains varying in color from pink to rust to gray. City elevation is around 2030 feet (620 m) above sea level. The Spring Mountains lie to the west. As befits a desert, much of the landscape is rocky and dusty. Within the city, however, there are a great deal of lawns, trees, and other greenery. Due to water resource issues, there is now a movement to encourage xeriscapes instead of lawns. Another part of the water conservation efforts include scheduled watering groups for watering residential landscaping.

[edit] Climate
Las Vegas
Las Vegas

Las Vegas’ climate is an arid desert climate (Koppen climate classification BWh) typical of the Mojave Desert, in which it is located, marked with very hot summers, mild winters, abundant sunshine year-round, and very little rainfall. Temperatures in the 90s °F (mid-30s °C) are common in the months of May, June, and September and temperatures normally exceed 100 °F (38 °C) most days in the months of July and August, but with very low humidity, frequently under 10%. The hottest temperature ever recorded is 117 °F (47 °C) set twice, on July 19, 2005, at McCarran International Airport and July 24, 1942, at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Winters are mild and usually are cool and windy, with the majority of Las Vegas’ annual 4.49 in (114 mm) of rainfall coming from January to March.[8] Winter daytime highs are normally around 60 °F (16 °C) and winter nighttime lows are usually around 40 °F (4 °C). The coldest temperature ever recorded is 8 °F (−13 °C) set on January 25, 1937, at present-day Nellis Air Force Base. Showers occur less frequently in the Spring or Autumn. July through September, the Mexican monsoon often brings enough moisture from the Gulf of California across Mexico and into the southwest to cause afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Although winter snow is usually visible from December to May on the mountains surrounding Las Vegas, it rarely snows in the city itself. Although temperature and precipitation records for Las Vegas date back to the early part of the 20th Century, official temperature and precipitation records for Las Vegas date back to 1937.
[hide]Weather averages for Las Vegas
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 57
(14) 63
(17) 69
(21) 78
(26) 88
(31) 99
(37) 104
(40) 102
(39) 94
(34) 81
(27) 66
(19) 57
(14) 79.8
(27)
Average low °F (°C) 37
(3) 41
(5) 47
(8) 54
(12) 63
(17) 72
(22) 78
(26) 77
(25) 69
(21) 57
(14) 44
(7) 37
(3) 56.3
(13)
Precipitation inches (mm) 0.6
(15.2) 0.5
(12.7) 0.5
(12.7) 0.2
(5.1) 0.2
(5.1) 0.1
(2.5) 0.4
(10.2) 0.5
(12.7) 0.3
(7.6) 0.2
(5.1) 0.4
(10.2) 0.4
(10.2) 4.1
(104.1)
Source: [9] September 2008

[edit] Environment

Las Vegas is situated on the arid floor within Clark County. Correspondingly, the surrounding environment is dominated by desert vegetation and some wildlife, and the area can be subject to torrential flash floods. Enabling the rapid population expansion was a major addition to the city’s sewage treatment capacity. The sewage treatment expansion resulted from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant funded 208 programs to analyze and forecast growth and environmental impacts through the year 2019.

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