history

1950s Map of Las Vegas

1950s Map of Las Vegas From our map collection, we have this map of Las Vegas, from the late 1950s, captures the Strip at a unique time. The map shows the Royal Nevada, the Dunes and the Riviera, all of which opened in 1955 to varying degrees of success. The Royal Nevada would eventually close […]

1991 Cartoon Map of Las Vegas

1991 Cartoon Map of Las Vegas From our map collection, this cartoon styled map of Las Vegas was produced in 1991. Some of the landmarks depicted are still around today, such as the Excalibur, Tropicana and Ethel M., and the Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas when it was at its old location in Lorenzi Park. […]

Anderson Field opened in 1920

On November 25, 1920 the Anderson Airfield opened located near where the Sahara Hotel and Casino parking lot is today. It was the first airport to service Las Vegas. It had an ‘L’ shaped runway that allowed pilots to land according to different wind directions and was designed and operated by Robert Hausler, an army […]

El Cortez opening in 1941

On November 7th 1941 the El Cortez Hotel and Casino opened it doors. It promoted itself as “The new Uptown Hotel in the heart of Downtown Las Vegas,” and the city’s largest and most fashionable resort, playing a vital role in the economic development of Fremont Street. Originally constructed for $325,000, the Spanish Ranch style […]

Bertha B. Ronzone

On November 5th 1969, founder and owner of the Ronzone’s chain of department stores that date back to the 1910s, Bertha B. ‘Mom’ Ronzone, passed away at the age of 84 years. Born Bertha Bishop in 1885 in Iowa, Bertha married her husband, Attilio Ronzone, in 1901.  They moved to Nevada two years later and […]

Kay Starr

On November 3rd 2016, singer and dancer Kay Starr passed away. An occasional performer at the Las Vegas Strip casinos, Kay also sang at Harry S. Truman’s presidential inauguration in 1945. She went on to achieve gold with her signature song ‘Wheel of Fortune’. Kay could tackle almost every genre of song, from pop to rock […]

Bones…

Bones excavated from Cathedral Gorge in 2010 were originally thought to be bison, however on closer inspection they were found to be domestic cow with evidence that there were several different aged cows as well as other animals present.  So, the museum called on colleague Virginia Lucas, archaeologist specializing in animal bone identification (zooarchaeology) at the […]