In this year of celebrating the first 100 years of Las Vegas as a city, residents should reacquaint themselves with their own town. Many residents of the greater Las Vegas Valley never go downtown. Those that trouble to do so find historic destinations, arts and antiques districts and self-guided tours in the original heart of the city.

Although growth overtook much of the town and erased a lot of it, significant buildings and neighborhoods remain. A determined Mayor Oscar Goodman, dedicated preservationists and enlightened developers continue to reshape the old city center. Head for downtown and take a look at what is happening. The years ahead promise a revitalized historic heart of Las Vegas.

Wherever local information is available, pick up a "Guide to Historic Las Vegas," a brochure produced by the City of Las Vegas with the assistance of the Preservation Association of Clark County. Download the same information from the organization's Web site at www.pacc.info, including tour map, pictures and short histories. The printed guide points out a couple of dozen buildings and locations significant in Las Vegas history. Some lie within walking distance of each other, while others require driving to tour them.

Start with a visit to the Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Park on Las Vegas Boulevard North at Washington Avenue. The fort includes a portion of the original 1855 building, thought to be the oldest structure in the state. Located along the overland route called the Old Spanish Trail, the fort housed early Mormon colonists, then became part of the old Gass Ranch, later the Stewart Ranch. Old-timers remember swimming in the warm water pool at the old ranch.

This week, the park celebrates its first 150 years with the opening of its new visitor center and museum June 11. Park entrance will be free that day. The park opens at 9 a.m. Bring the family for a day of special activities, food and festivities and learn about your city's roots.

Even in the heart of the gaming district, a couple of early 20th century buildings survive. Part of the first two floors of the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino opened in 1906 as the Nevada Hotel on the corner of Main and Fremont streets. Just three blocks south on Main Street, the Victory Hotel retains its Mission-style exterior, little changed from when it opened as the Lincoln Hotel in 1910.

Soon after the auction of downtown lots in 1905, the railroad began construction of 65 bungalows intended to house workers and their families. Seven of these cottages survive in the 600 block of Casino Center Boulevard. Another may be seen restored at the Clark County Museum's street of historic dwellings and buildings. Surrounding old downtown streets contain many early dwellings not specifically mentioned in the tour guide.

Several public buildings survive from early Las Vegas in the downtown area. The handsome neo-classical federal building and post office at 301 Stewart Ave. was a grand addition to the young town in 1932. Early schools include the 1922 Mission-style Westside School at 300 W. Washington Ave., the Fifth Street School in the Mission-style built in 1936 and the striking Art Deco-styled Old Las Vegas High School built in 1930 at 315 S. Seventh St. Be sure to drive east of the school's outdoor areas to see a handsome early LDS chapel.

The neighborhood south of the high school extending to Charleston Boulevard, once the most gentile in town, boasts several beautiful homes constructed in a variety of styles in the 1930s. Other neighborhoods worth cruising in the vicinity include old Mayfair on 15th, 16th and 17th streets and the old Huntridge district taking in several streets east and west of Maryland Parkway, just south of Charleston Boulevard. Both developed in the early 1940s as the city's first planned subdivisions.

The wedding industry figured in the town's early prosperity. Look for a 1925 adobe house turned wedding chapel still in operation at 231 South Las Vegas Blvd. Off the tour map, a beautiful chapel built of wood in the early 1940s, the Little Church of the West, survives a couple of relocations at the south end of the Strip.

Margo Bartlett Pesek's Trip of the Week column appears on Sundays.