Gaming and Tourism

Vernacular Architecture in Nevada

Vernacular architecture is a term encompassing a range of building forms, types, and styles. In the past, the term referred to folk or traditional building by people with no formal architectural training. Today, scholars define the term more broadly to include the architecture of specific regions or popular, ordinary buildings, such as shopping malls, even if designed by trained architects. Vernacular architecture can also refer to an approach to architectural studies that examines the relationships between everyday life and people.

Virginia and Truckee Railroad

The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is one of the most famous short lines in American history. It was incorporated on March 5, 1868 by the "Bank Crowd" to serve the mines of the Comstock.

Virginia City and Early Nevada Mining

Virginia City and the Comstock Lode played a crucial role in the development of the region and the nation. The news of its importance has reverberated throughout the world for nearly 150 years. The wealth of the Comstock's fabulously rich mines affected presidential politics and gave Nevada international fame. Immigrants arrived from every continent, attracted by legendary amounts of gold and silver, which poured into the economy during the crisis of the Civil War.

Virginia City and Gold Hill

Virginia City was known as the Queen of the Comstock, the internationally famous mining district. Founded in 1859, the settlement was the focus of a gold rush and within a year, it became the region's largest community, a status it maintained in Nevada into the 1890s. Virginia City was incorporated under the Utah Territory in 1861.

Liberace

Fanciful costumes, a rhinestone-studded grand piano, and glowing candelabras were only some of the over-the-top stage props that helped earn Liberace the moniker of "Mr. Showmanship" during a four-decade run in Nevada resort showrooms. The flamboyant pianist with the beaming smile might open a show by flying in on wires, or exit in a bejeweled Rolls Royce while wearing a floor-length fur cape and matching czar's hat.

Virginia Street Bridge

The Virginia Street Bridge gained its fame during Reno's heyday as the divorce capital of the nation. Lore had it that immediately after receiving their decree, women would march to the center of the bridge and, in an emphatic good-riddance, throw their wedding rings into the Truckee River (less satisfying but safer than tossing the ex-husband over the rail).

Waddie Mitchell

Waddie Mitchell has become an icon of Nevada, of buckaroo culture (cowboys of the Great Basin), and of cowboy poetry. Born in 1950 on a ranch in Elko County, he grew up to be a working cowboy. After the popularity of the first Cowboy Poetry Gathering in 1985—of which he was one of the founders—he realized the impact he had on audiences. He also saw that making day wages as a cowboy, he would never buy the ranch he dreamed of owning. So Mitchell became a professional cowboy poet and entertainer with worldwide tours, logging over 200 days on the road in 2006.

Last Frontier Hotel

The Last Frontier Hotel is best known as the second resort built on the fledgling Las Vegas Strip, located along historic Highway 91. Built several miles south of downtown Las Vegas, the Last Frontier was completed in 1942, a year after the debut of its neighbor, the El Rancho Vegas.

Las Vegas Upscale Dining

The Las Vegas megaresort boom that began in the 1990s and continues today has benefited from and encouraged the arrival of celebrity chefs operating fine-dining eateries. Each new resort competes for brand-name chefs to move west and set up shop in hotel-casinos to create fine dining experiences for patrons.

Las Vegas Styled Production Shows

The modern-day Las Vegas production show originated with the tried-but-true formula of women dancing in provocative costumes, magicians and jugglers dazzling audiences with seemingly impossible feats, plus singers belting out popular tunes. Nevada-based producers combined these elements with over-the-top staging and elaborate special effects to create the uniquely Las Vegas-styled production show. The genre is instantly recognizable yet open to change as evidenced by the Cirque du Soleil shows, which are contemporary versions of the traditional circus.

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