A man of firsts — first automobile dealership, first community celebration, first highway to Las Vegas — found humor in almost every situation.
A visionary, whose El Rancho gave one of the more famous streets in the world its start, began a trend in hotel-casinos in Las Vegas.
The man who would build the biggest magnesium plant in the world during World War II took on the big job despite considerable obstacles.
Female workers flourished during the war years in positions initially thought of as too difficult for women.
A member of a pioneer Mormon family, who found himself thrust into a national office after a key official died, returned to the city he loved and made himself and his family proud.
The Silver State’s champion who served as a Nevada Supreme Court justice found himself on the losing side of many an election until he was able to win a seat in the U.S. Senate.
A radio man with a gift for promotion, KENO’s first owner proved to the rest of Las Vegas that publicity is everything.
The mobster with the movie star looks and the certifiable paranoia brought Las Vegas much more attention after his death than he did during his short life.
A father of six with a flair for lettering found his niche in the neon-bathed streets of a fledgling gambling town called Las Vegas.
A wealthy man who wanted to make his own way in the world brought Southern Nevada into the commuter aviation age by developing its own scheduled airline.
A female flier when soaring through the clouds was a man’s domain, she helped put Las Vegas on the aviation map and bring commercial air travel to the valley.
Publicity played a big part in Las Vegas’ formative years as a resort destination, and one publicist used every cornball stunt he could think of to get hotels’ showgirls global exposure.
Shady dealings did little to dull the luster that this private man brought to the city of glitz
Despite having little authority, this tax collector had enough bluff and bluster to force the likes of Bugsy Siegel to pay his gaming fees, thus paving the way for Nevada’s control over the industry.
A developer, who did much more than just build houses, will continue to have an impact on Las Vegas well into the next millennium.
With his no-nonsense approach, former Las Vegas Mayor C.D. Baker helped bring the city’s dilapidated infrastructure out of the Depression and into the modern era.
Taking his cue from Howard Hughes, a Southern Californian found the land on the west side of Las Vegas to be a bountiful construction spot for thousands of houses.
Not willing to bet his town’s future on a roll of the dice, a county commissioner pushed and received backing for an unconventional idea amid all this gaming
With a lilting Irish brogue and a head for business, a not-so-wealthy young man found his calling in a vast wasteland.
A dentist whose mother was horsewhipped by the Ku Klux Klan found the Mississippi of the West had its own share of prejudice
A businessman, who got into politics to stop a few crooked police officers from robbing him blind, became one of the city’s more well-regarded leaders.
A civil rights supporter who brought the Black Book to Nevada casinos, the man from Elko took on the Kennedy brothers and the FBI to protect gaming in the Silver State.
A singer who worked with Count Basie and at the Moulin Rouge would not be silenced in his fight against segregation.
He began his battle against injustice in Southern Nevada in the 1960s and is still fighting against those who would deny blacks and others their inalienable rights.
A lawyer who fought for civil rights when it was not popular to do so was his own man regardless of who his influential friends might be.
A banker who was not afraid to loan money to casinos rode the wave of development within the gaming industry.
Agent extraordinaire, who began his career as a hoofer with chutzpah, virtually invented the lounge show and brought everyone from Mae West to Elvis to Las Vegas.