Las Vegas Downtown Centennial Plan - City of Las Vegas

B. OVERALL HISTORY OF DOWNTOWN5On May 15, 1905, the Union-Pacific Railroad founded Las Vegas as acommercial real estate venture. The railroads’ realtor laid out an originalgrid of 40 blocks, each 300 by 400 feet, long-wise along the eastside of thetrain tracks, and sold off lots via an auction. A 20-foot wide alley broke mostblocks in half, and the halves were generally sub-divided into 16, 25-foot lots,each 140 feet deep (32 lots to the block maximum) (Graphic 1). The railroadstation sat proudly in a park on the west side of Main Street and at the headof Fremont Street (the site of today’s Union Plaza Hotel/Casino). The railroads’employees were the first occupants of the new town. Fremont Streetwas parceled up to be the main commercial street, running east-west againstthe grid. North-south streets ran parallel to Main and number First, Second,Third, and so on moving eastward. However, Fifth Street has since becomeLas Vegas Boulevard, extending “The Strip” northward into Downtown LasVegas. East-west streets were named for famous folks who were influential inthe founding of Nevada (Map 1). A mix of residential and commercial uses,including gambling halls and saloons quickly sprung up in this bare, dustydesert town. The City was incorporated under State of Nevada Statutes in 1911.LAS VEGAS DOWNTOWNCENTENNIAL PLANV I S I O NGRAPHIC 1: ORIGINAL DOWNTOWN BLOCK PATTERN AND SMALL PARCEL LAYOUTLAS VEGAS DOWNTOWN CENTENNIAL PLANPD-0012-08-2012RS