In 1855, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward. The remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, at Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park.
In 1864, Nevada became the nation’s 36th state, following West Virginia (#35, 1863), and before Nebraska (#36, 1867).
In 1905, Las Vegas was founded as a city. At the time its size was only 110 acres of land.
In 1911, on June 1, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city.
In 1922, the Historic Westside School was built in Historic West Las Vegas. It was the first grammar school in West Las Vegas and remains today as the oldest remaining schoolhouse in Las Vegas. The city’s population was around 5,000.
In 1931, construction of the Hoover Dam began. Between 10,000 and 20,000 unemployed men descended on Las Vegas looking for work. The dam was opened in 1936.
In 1941, the Las Vegas Army Air Field (now Nellis) was built. Also, the El Rancho Vegas hotel‐casino became the first themed resort on the Strip. This was followed by the Last Frontier (1942), Flamingo (1946, on December 26) and Thunderbird (1948).
In 1947, Buddy Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills.
In 1950, the Las Vegas Army Air Field was renamed in honor of 1st Lieutenant William Harrell Nellis who died during the Battle of the Bulge when his P-47 Thunderbolt crashed grown up in nearby Searchlight NV and in Las Vegas.
In the mid-1980s the population exploded, averaging a growth rate of about 7% annually. From 1985 to 1995, the population nearly doubled from 186,000 to 368,00.
Today, Las Vegas has a population of 635,000. Neighboring Henderson has a population of over 300,000.