FUN WITH MAPS – ISSUE 2023-92  DAILY FEATURE:

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (May 15, 2023) – In today’s edition of Fun with Maps from Steve Kovacs, we visit the history of a boomtown in the meadow.

The Meadows

Test your knowledge of Spanish and translate “the meadows.”

The town so named was founded on 110 acres, next to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks on May 15, 1905.

The sleepy place boomed all of the sudden in 1931 when Nevada reduced residency requirements to six weeks for divorce.  Also, the nearby Hoover Dam’s construction commenced.  Oh, and Nevada legalized gambling in certain counties, including Clark, the home of this humble little place.

The meadows translate in English to either Las Vegas or more funnily, lost wages.

The city mushroomed over the past nearly 100 years to 2.3 million living in the metro area currently.  It has 150,000 hotel rooms.

Gambling and tourism are the main industries, but it has Zappos headquarters there too.  Plus, until 1963, one could see mushroom clouds from nuclear bomb testing about 50 miles away.

This Mitchell map of Nevada and Utah is from 1877.  Las Vegas is located in the bottom of the map.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps.

Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Steve Kovacs: Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.