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Las Vegas the city that never sleeps is probably one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Back in 1994 when I lived there the city was at about one half of a million people and today its up to a few million from what I heard. At one time what was a tourist area has become the home to many of the living and the dead. Rather then go into this in depth history I am going to just cover the basic history of Vegas. I never knew any of this history while living here perhaps even I took the area for granted like most do but really the area has quite a past to it. Now when we say we investigated Las Vegas what I mean is basically investigating the oldest parts of downtown and the strip. But I do hope eventually to investigate some of the more haunted hotels with future visits. Our first investigation your not going to see fancy ghost photos but I wanted to give our members a perspective at learning the history, Haunting's, and seeing some photos. We will return believe me and when we do we just might get the ghost of Elvis on camera someday and so lets talk about the history a little bit. Back in the early 1700s there were Spanish Traders en route to Los Angeles along the Spanish Trail which actually cuts through the Las Vegas Valley. The Spaniards often called this route "jornada de muerte" meaning journey of death . This journey was difficult in the desert and the natives did not make it any easier. A young explorer named Rafael Rivera was one of the first Europeans to visit the valley. He discovered it was abundant with wild grasses growing and a large water supply. He called this valley Las Vegas which is Spanish for "The Meadows" if you also read in an early prologue the Spaniards slaughtered the Indians near Nelson out of greed for its gold. In 1844 a famed explorer named Captain John Fremont wrote about Las Vegas which brought the valley some attention besides the Spanish Missionaries and the Indians who populated the area. One of the oldest casinos downtown is named the Fremont Street and well I visited the Fremont Experience photos are below. In 1855 Brigham Young assigns 30 Mormon missionaries to built a fort in the valley. The fort would be the first non-Indian settlement in the region. If you were to drive on Washington and Las Vegas Blvd you would still see it today. The non Indian settlers would teach the Paiute Indians how to farm and this fort was raided till it became abandoned a few years later. The State Land Act of 1885 offers sections of land at around $1.25 an acre. Of course farmers moved in and made agriculture a big industry till about 1905. Most of the area would be used by ranchers and cattle farmers. Also In the later 1800s the area became known for its precious minerals like gold, silver, copper etc and the mining industry grew. One of those mining towns was Nelson which we visited many years ago. That mine produced over 250 million in minerals. Around this time the completion of the railroad came to the area which linked Southern California with Salt Lake City and of course Las Vegas began as a railroad town. Up in Boulder City one can visit one of the old train stations from back in the day. Las Vegas was abundant with water so travelers could use it as a refueling point and rest stop. The next 25 years the industry here would be railroading. But with a railroad it would make it easier to export these minerals and goods that farmers produced. In 1905 Las Vegas is founded as a city which was only about the size of 110 acres which was auctioned off. It actually looked like a wild west town. At one time Las Vegas Blvd was known as 5th street and of course main street has always remained the same. Just four years later Vegas becomes the county seat for Clark County but back then it was part of Lincoln County. In 1911 Las Vegas becomes incorporated as a city and adopts its first charter. The city in the charter is roughly a little over 19 miles. At that time the city had grown to about 800 people which was less then 1 percent of the state population for NV. At that time the county had almost 3,500 people. So Vegas was quite small. During that same year gambling is legalized in the State of NV. The city was issued 6 gambling licenses. Also during that same year divorce laws were liberalized making residency easier to attain here. A quick divorce could be attained if you resided 6 weeks in the state. These short term residents would stay at Dude Ranches which today would be your typical strip hotels. By 1930 Vegas had grown to a population of 5000 people which brought the construction of the nearby Hoover Dam in 1931. Many construction workers relocated to the valley which helped boost the economy during the great depression. The dam was finished around 1935 and I visited it many years ago its quite a site. In 1940 the Las Vegas Population had grown to over 8,000 people. Many defense industries were started in the valley due to World War II. With the isolation of the mountains, plentiful water, and inexpensive energy made the area an ideal site for military and defense related industries. The Nellis Airforce base was built which would employ many airforce men who resided in the valley. The airforce base today is known for its UFO sightings, strange test craft in the desert and of course the famous area 51 located north of the base. In 1945 resort hotels and gambling casinos were in operation offering entertainment to the locals and for tourist. Tourism and entertainment took over as the largest employer to the area with the end of the war. Then in 1955 the Gaming Board is created and Moulin Rouge Las Vegas's first racially integrated hotel opened its doors. In 1956 Las Vegas annexed a one square mile parcel of land in 45 years. In 1957 Topless Show Girls had its debut on the strip with "Minsky's Follies" perhaps this led to Las Vegas opening up so many topless and nude cabarets. I have visited a few and I must say some of the prettiest girls I have ever seen have been in Las Vegas. In 1959 a sign was created by Betty Willis that said "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" you can see see it today as you enter the valley. In 1960 the population had grown to about 65,000 and encompassed about 25 square miles. Las Vegas grows to 22 percent of the states population on less then .02 of Nevada's land. Clark county grows to a population of 127,000 people and Las Vegas host its first boxing match. The 1960s Howard Hughes comes to the area where corporations were building, buying hotel and casino properties. They made the casino industry attractive and gambling becomes gaming and starts to turn into a legitimate business. At the end of the 1960s Elvis Presley Opens at the International Hotel today known as the Las Vegas Hilton. Sometimes people do see the ghost of Elvis here lots of stories about that being told. Then in the 1970s corporations started to invest in the hotels and casinos. Gaming becomes a legitimate business and some properties have stock on the market. During these years Vegas was growing before there was even a strip there was only downtown where casinos like the golden nugget, Fremont street, lady luck etc were booming. By 1980 Vegas was no longer a place for tourist to visit it was home to 165,000 residents and the population of Clark county was a half of million. About 1985 Vegas started to grow at a rapid rate growing 7 percent a year. The population went from almost 200,000 to 400,000 by 1995. Vegas surpassed building a city larger then Reno in just 10 years. Population in Clark Count surpassed one million people. In the 1990s many of the older hotels were torn down to make bigger and better ones like the Dunes which was imploded. By the later 1990s the US Census reported a population of almost 500,000 people over a land area of 113 square miles. There were over 500 churches and synagogues, 799 acres of park, 12 radio stations, 7 TV stations and Vegas becomes the largest metropolitan city in the country that was founded in the 20th century. In 2005 the city celebrated its 100th anniversary. The event was celebrated on the 110 acres where the first parcel of land was auctioned downtown and the first foundation was laid. It is almost hard to believe that at one time I lived out here. I did not appreciate it for what it was back then though and now that I have done further research I have found so much more to the town then just gaming. Back many years ago when I was in my teenage years my mother threw me out so I took a train here. Living in a run down roach infested apartment with hookers at every street corner and drug dealers I began to only see the dark side of this town. Perhaps that is why I moved in the first place. One could enjoy a nice steak dinner and night of gambling only to walk out back and see a run down shack behind it full of homeless. What makes the city odd is that its also a place of many people involved with the occult. There are quite a few occult and psychic shops located here. There are alot of trailer parks on the outskirt of town involved with magickal practices, vortexes etc I have been told by many that on the out skirts of town in many of the caves one might find candlewax, unknown symbols, and sometimes even blood or bones. So Vegas does have its dark side. So many people come here to get rich and come back empty. Some throw there money away ending up selling there homes, cars and life savings. Some of those people kill themselves. Once when I was living there I remember seeing a man die on the street from a motorcycle wreck right in front of my apartment. Another time a block away a taxi cab driver hit a man and another person drove there car right over his head killing him instantly. So its also a place of alot of horrible deaths. Many of the people in the city do not have licenses unfortunately and so many end up dying from car wrecks. So one can fathom the idea that some Haunting's or energy are related to this. Aside from that it was the Mob that ran the city. Have any of you seen the movie goodfellas? Well the honest truth is that before the city really expanded when a hit was put on somebody the best way to get rid of the body would be to bury it out in the desert. Killings over 50 years ago were quite frequent some of the men would be buried in the concrete of swimming pools. Some of the houses built here were built over dead bodies without knowing. Hell even in northwest Vegas that area was all desert when I lived out here now today its thousands of homes and communities. So if you live in Vegas and your house is haunted now you know why. So we hope that this gives others a little bit of incite here. Also I heard from an ex government agent who use to be a friend of mine that there are rumors of catacombs below the city perhaps made by aliens? But for a fact I do know a few places I heard of that have secret caverns untouched by man. Area 51 is located only 100 miles north of Vegas and UFO sightings are quite frequent on the outskirts of the city which many of my friends back then had sightings. But the town is also known for its ghost for example Red Foxx's ghost haunts the house he once lived in from Sanford and Son. I once read a story about the Liberace museum being haunted as well. Then there is a ghost of a little girl who died in the MGM Grand fire along with many other ghost who perished in that fire. That building is now currently Bally's and the new MGM was built further away. Then the Luxor is haunted by two construction workers who died while building this pyramid which contains 1000s of rooms and its light can be seen from outer space. Then at the Flamingo people have seen the ghost of Bugsy Segal an infamous mobster who was the founder of this older casino. So that is just to name a few. But out of all the places I have traveled none have ever been as characteristic like Las Vegas. They have the Belagio which has a man made lake out front of it, the Luxor which is this giant pyramid, the Paris which has the Eiffel Tower. Then you got New York NY where a giant roller coaster goes all the way around it, Mandalay bay which has a shark tank, and circus circus which has a theme park inside. I use to love visiting Treasure Island to watch the pirate show or the Mirage which has spewing flames out front. Its one of the only places you can get a giant breakfast for just a few bucks. I was their when the Stratosphere Tower was being built which has the fast elevator in the world. Its just one of these places that you never forget. Aside from its beauty the city is cursed many people come here only to become homeless, heartbroken, poor or even deceased. It has a sad energy in some areas. Not that I can say its all totally bad when I was on vacation I had the intimate company of a lady from Asia lol we will not get into that part ha but next time someone says Vegas is no more then desert and gambling think again! I hope over the years to visit Las Vegas and bring some ultimate investigations to our fans and uncover its secrets! © By Rick-LordOfThyNight In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is being distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational or criticism purposes only. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phone records or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement. Anotherwards a few photos are borrowed we do not make any profit off pictures mainly they are used for historical, criticism, theories and other educational purposes therefore we can use them as long as we do not claim them as our own or get paid for those photos specifically.
Stupid
Las Vegas Facts
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