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Residential A rea s: Las V egas, the principal residential area and trading center, is the county seat of Clark County. T h e city was incorporated M arch 16, 1911. Las V egas covers an area o f about 18 square miles and has an estimated population of 41,000. Residences in Las V ega s are o f better than average quality, and the m ajority are of recent construction. N orth Las V egas, incorporated June 29, 1946, is prim arily a residential suburb of Las V egas. N orth Las V egas has an area o f about 2j/j square miles and has an estimated population o f 6,000. H enderson, the city built adjacent to the large Basic M anagem ent, Inc., industrial area, covers an area of about 2 square miles and has an estimated population of 10,000. T h e tow nsite originally consisted o f about 1,000 low cost rental units, practically all of w hich w ere purchased b y B .M .I. and resold to the residents. There are now about 2,000 additional hom es built or building. H ender­son was incorporated A pril 16, 1953. T he largest unincorporated residential areas are (a) those surrounding Las V egas, particularly the area south o f Nellis A ir F orce Base and east of N orth Las V egas, and (b ) a 175 dw elling unit area on N ellis A ir F orce Base and a “ W h erry A c t” housing area of 400 units near Nellis. (C onstruction of 400 additional units is scheduled to start A pril 15, 1954.) In addition, on the highw ays radiating from Las V egas there are a great many hotels and m otels, including the seven fam ous luxury hotels o f the “ Strip,” a tw o-m ile section on U . S. H igh w ay 9 1 — 466 im m ediately south o f the Las V egas city limits. P op u la tion : Year Clark County Las Vegas 1910................................ 3,321 800 1920............................................................................................................... 4,859 . 2,304 .........8,532 5,165 1940............................. ........... :................................................................ 16,414 8,422 1950..................................I...................................................... ............ 48,289 24,624 Las Vegas Clark North Valley County Las Vegas Las Vegas Henderson Water District 1950 Census............. ................. 48,289 24,624 3,838 5,324 40,000 (estim ated) Jan., 1954 (estim ated)...... 76,000 41,000 6,000 10,000 66,000 In addition to the permanent population it is estim ated by the Las V egas Chamber of C om ­m erce that there are upwards o f 12,000 visitors on the average in Las V egas daily. G row th : T h e trem endous grow th o f Las V egas and Clark County since 1940 is largely due t o : (1 ) Con­struction o f H oover Dam , w ith the resultant cheap electric pow er and water supply; (2) G overn­ment installations; (3) T ourist tra vel; and (4) T h e trend tow ard desert living, made attractive by air-conditioning. 1. E lectric pow er from H oover Dam , plus the water available from Lake Mead, makes possible the developm ent of large tracts o f land for industrial and residential use. T h e electric p ow er from H oover Dam is n ow fully contracted for, but tw o m ajor im provem ents to the pow er supply are the fo llo w in g : (a ) A pipe line to bring natural gas from the El Paso Natural Gas C om pany’s line near N eedles to H enderson and Las V egas was recently com pleted. This 10-inch line will alleviate the potential pow er shortage and permit new industrial developm ent, (b ) A steam generating plant has been planned for construction in the near future by the Southern N evada P ow er Com pany. T h e plant w ill cost $5,500,000 and w ill have an initial capacity o f 30,000 kw, w ith design for ultimate capacity of 120,000 kw . T he plant w ill use one m illion gallons of water per day when it is com pleted in early 1956, and w ill ultim ately use four m illion gallons per day. It is not expected that the D istrict w ill serve w ater to this plant. 2. Governm ent installation of Basic M agnesium , Inc., during the last war resulted in a ready­made industrial area when hostilities ceased. Nellis A ir F orce Base, a new ammunition dump im m ediately east of Nellis-, and the A tom ic E nergy C om m ission’s proving grounds at Frenchm an’s Flat (about 70 miles north of Las V ega s) represent a huge investment. These, installations are responsible, directly and indirectly, for a sizable am ount of em ploym ent in Clark County. 3 A 3. Las V egas, the natural stopping point between L os A ngeles and Salt Lake City, accom m o­dates through its hotels, restaurants, service stations and retail stores practically every autom obile traveller on this route and m ost o f the annual throngs of visitors to H oover Dam . (A s o f January, 1954, a total of 18,361,364 visitors had been counted at H oover D am and pow er station since the opening in 1937.) 4. T h e trend tow ard the desert is a phenom enon o f many desert areas o f the W est— for exam ple P hoenix and T ucson, A rizona and Palm Springs, California. T h e dry climate, hot days, and cool nights attract both permanent residents and vacationers. T a x advantages of living in Nevada, where there is no state incom e tax, inheritance tax, sales tax or tax on intangibles, has also aided in attracting residents. Practically every building in Las V egas is air-conditioned. T h e develop­m ent o f satisfactory air conditioning units has been an im portant factor. G R O W T H S T A T IS T IC S City o f Las V egas Building Perm its Year Residential Commercial Total Family Units 1948...................... .................. $ 2,996,850 $2,156,300 $ 5,153,150 478 1949...................... .................. 3,040,800 1,283,213 4,334,013 432 1950...................... ................. 6,533,000 2,284,410 8,817,410 855; ' 1951...................... ................. 5,851,266 2,713,696 8,564,962 816 1952...................... .................. 9,564,962 5,057,766 14,622,728 1,110 1953...................... ........... . 21,125,681 7,407,915 28,533,596 2,650 C ity o f Las V egas R etail Sales 1940........................................... ....................................................... $ 9,457,000 ....? • 75,277,965 1951...... 79,534,755 1952.. ..1..:,........ .1............................ !.......!......... .’............................ 87,396,180 19534:.„.......H .):fc::............................................................ 111,590,040 Motor Vehicles Electric Meter (Clark County) Connections School Enrollment* Bank Deposits 1942...................... . 14,903 5,459 3,467 ' $11,816,508 1947 ............... 16,481 9,114 4,719 28,743,782 1952.. ......... 32,144 14,662 8,183 58,286,877 1953.f„;.',,,................. 36,150 19,031 9,254 67,897,143 * Las Vegas Elementary and High School District; does not include Henderson or private schools. C ity o f Las V egas P ost Office R eceipts 1929-:,..,...:....,^................................... $"33,496 1940.............. 76,627 1942.. .^.....:........... ......:..LL.:..............ifc .......................... ......214,276 ; 231,512 1948 ........ .................................- ........................ ............................. ........ 246,492 1949.'........................................:............................................... ................ 281,800 1950.. .!............................................. 339,405 1951............... 436,622 1952.. .....1....................... ........................... .......................... ................ . 553,127 ? 1953.?:.!............i;l::...l.M .....!:!:.!........................... ...................- - - l i t ! 674,165 4