page_title: History of Nevada
section_title: Gambling
hierarchical_section_title: History of Nevada / Twentieth century / Gambling
caption_attribution_description: English: I shot the picture myself from the 108th floor of the en:Stratosphere Tower. The picture is showing the en:Las Vegas Strip facing south. Visible landmarks include Wynn, en:Fashion Show Mall, The Venetian, Treasure Island, Bally's, Paris, Flamingo, en:The Mirage, en:Caesars Palace, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Luxor, THEhotel and Mandalay Bay.
context_page_description: Nevada became the 36th state on October 31, 1864, after telegraphing the Constitution of Nevada to the Congress days before the November 8 presidential election. Statehood was rushed to help ensure three electoral votes for Abraham Lincoln's reelection and add to the Republican congressional majorities.
  Nevada's harsh but rich environment shaped its history and culture. Before 1858 small Mormon settlements existed along the border of Utah, with the western part stumbling along until the great silver strikes beginning in 1858 created boom towns and fabulous fortunes. After the beginning of the 20th century, profits declined while Progressive reformers sought to curb capitalism. They imagined a civilized Nevada of universities, lofty idealism, and social reform. But an economic bust during the 1910s and disillusionment from failures at social reform and a population decline of nearly one-fourth meant that by 1920 Nevada had degenerated into a "beautiful desert of buried hopes."
context_section_description: Because of hostility from miners and their sympathizers, Nevada's territorial and state antigambling laws were mostly unenforced from 1859 until the Comstock Lode mining booms collapsed in the 1870s. After 1881, the state attempted to restrict gambling through licensing and other statutory controls. Opponents of gambling and prostitution became organized and in the Progressive Era at last persuaded state legislators to prohibit gambling statewide in 1910 as part of a nationwide anti-gaming crusade.
  During the Great Depression in the United States, Nevada legalized gambling—terming it "gaming"—in 1931; (the Northern Club received the first license). At the time, the leading proponents of gambling expected that it would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, re-outlawing gambling has never been seriously considered since, and the industry has become Nevada's primary source of revenue today. Gambling taxes account for 34% of state revenue.
  Also in 1931 the residence requirement for divorce was reduced to six weeks, making Reno a famous mecca for the quickie divorce and people from all over the country to "take the cure." In the 1930s, Reno's Bank Club was the state's largest employer. It was also the largest casino in the world until Harold's Club surpassed it in the 1950s.
  The Second World War was very good to Reno as local bases and those in Northern California helped boost the economy. In the late 1940s "Bugsy" Siegel helped get Las Vegas on the map by first building the most expensive casino in the world, the Flamingo, and then by being gunned down in his Beverly Hills home.
  Las Vegas casinos of the 1950s were mostly low-rise building taking advantage of the wide-open spaces that Reno didn't offer in the downtown area of Virginia Street. However, Las Vegas boomed with new luxurious hotels in the 1960s and the city's gambling casinos drew players from all over the world, and away from Reno and Lake Tahoe. Gambling is what Nevada is famous for. The 1931 gambling law enabled the explosive growth of the Las Vegas area, where the population grew from 5 thousand in 1930 to 1.9 million in 2008.
caption: The 1931 gambling law enabled the explosive growth of the Las Vegas area, where the population grew from 5 thousand in 1930 to 1.9 million in 2008.
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