THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE LAS VEGAS

STRIP

LAS VEGAS TODAY

This is the kind of excitement you expect to find in modern Vegas:

*Neon-lit mega-casinos *Grand Canyon helicopter tours *Cruising the Las Vegas Strip

However, not everybody is familiar with the modest beginnings of that legendary Strip…

THE STORY BEHIND THE STRIP

Three key events in 1931 helped give birth to the Las Vegas Strip:

1. Gambling was legalized in Nevada.

2. Casinos sprang up everywhere to support this now-legal pastime.

3. One of these casinos was the famous 91 Club, opened by Guy McAfee on Highway 91,

the road that later became known as the Strip.

THE MAN WHO NAMED THE

STRIP

Guy McAfee:

*He was a former Los Angeles Vice Squad commander

who turned to casino development.

*He didn’t want to pay taxes to the city of Las Vegas, so

he founded a town called Paradise just beyond the

Vegas city limits.

*He renamed the section of Highway 91 that passes

through Paradise “The Strip,” after the Sunset Strip in

his hometown of LA.

BIGGER AND BETTER

More ambitious hotel/casino projects soon sprang up along the Strip.

*1941: El Rancho Vegas

*1942: Hotel Last Frontier in 1942

*1946: The Flamingo (of Bugsy Siegel fame)

*1950: The Desert Inn

THE MEGA-CASINOS

*1950s: Vegas was still a far cry from the

Vegas we know today.

*Late 1960s: Mogul Kirk Kerkorian built the

1512-room International Hotel, the first Vegas

skyscraper hotel.

*1973: Even more massive was the MGM

Grand Hotel and Casino, boasting more than

2000 rooms.

PAPILLON LAS VEGAS HELICOPTER TOURS

A Papillon helicopter tour offers:

*unforgettable aerial views of the Strip and the other famous sights of Vegas

*year-round tours of Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon

*excursions to other memorable sights throughout the Southwest

WHY TO TAKE A PAPILLON GRAND CANYON TOUR:

*The Grand Canyon is only a short flight from the Strip.

*Papillon offers the best Grand Canyon tours in the business.

*Seeing the Canyon at sunset is a memory you’ll never forget.

CONTACT US

Domestic Reservations

Toll Free: 1.888.635.7272

Local: 1.702.736.7243

International Toll Free

United Kingdom: 0-808-189-0325

Germany: 0800-187-3676

Spain: 900-991730

France: 0800-910944

…or visit us at papillon.com