Tourist mecca Las Vegas, Nevada, with its larger-than-life hotels, casinos, and neon lights, earns its title as “the most fun city in America.” Despite also being the unhealthiest city in America, this wildly popular vacation destination attracts more than 40 million visitors yearly. Sin City has enticed travelers for decades, which raises the question: Which is the oldest casino?
Las Vegas as we know it began in 1906 when the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino (then known as the Hotel Nevada) opened at the corner of Fremont and Main Street on land purchased for $1,750, with room and board costing a mere $1. The country’s railroad boom was a boon for business until gambling was outlawed in the state in 1910, putting a kibosh on those roulette and poker tables until gambling was legalized again in 1931.
The Prohibition era, beginning in 1920, could also have doomed the hotel. But those whiskey bottles never went away (and were later found in the Golden Gate’s walls) and came roaring back when Prohibition ended in 1933. Along with the installation of an electric sign — the city’s first — this new era prompted the hotel’s expansion and name change to Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backward)…