History
The first non native americans to settle in the area what would become Las Vegas were a group of Mormons who arrived from Utah in 1855. They constructed a fort located in the current downtown area but would abandon it a few years later. Eventually, other settlers would continue to arrive, taking advantage of the nearby springs as a source of water for agriculture. This water made the area an important water stop and was instrumental in the building of a railroad through the area around 1905. On May 15, 1905, the city of Las Vegas was founded on about 110 acres of land comprising what is now downtown.
Read more about this topic: Downtown Las Vegas
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)
“All history and art are against us, but we still expect happiness in love.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)