Las Vegas: Fremont Street and the Strip

[I Heart Gambling Online]

Glitter Gulch
A return to old school Vegas: Fremont Street

April 24, 2008

By Leah Bailly
Bodog Nation Contributing Writer

There is a revival occurring in Vegas, a return to Glitter Gulch. Local hipsters refer to it as the renaissance of the "neon neighborhood," the real Vegas, downtown Vegas. We all know Las Vegas Boulevard for its cavernous hotels and theme park casinos humming under fake cerulean skies. Sure, there's that flashy upscale-for-everyone culture on the Strip, with its roller coasters, circus acts and celebrity chefs, but locals agree that the overpriced nightclubs and faux gourmet meals on the Strip soon wear thin.

True Vegas aficionados tend towards the classic joints, the older downtown joints with history and charm, so you may run into your landlord's wife breathing into an oxygen machine, dropping dollars into a dodgy Keno game. At least you know that the casinos on Fremont have seen real winners and losers, have weathered the mob days, the Elvis days, the dirty 1980s and even the megopolis resorts of the new millennium. The old neon signs, the classic carpet joints. Old Fremont Street, now known as the "Fremont Street Experience," remains true to its cheap drinking and heavy gambling roots.

Olden Times in the Gulch

Home to Nevada's first hotel (now the Golden Gate), Fremont Street has been the heart of Las Vegas' gaming culture since the 1920’s Depression. What started as a two block stretch of prostitution and penny slots, Freemont drew crowds of men working on the Boulder Dam project and later at military camps in the area. At the time, Vegas was barely a railway stop between Salt Lake and Los Angeles, but there was deregulated gambling and cheap booze to take the edge off that desert sun. The boys flocked to Fremont, risking most of their paychecks on Blackjack and cheap thrills.

Times changed. By the 1930s, gone were the legalized prostitutes and dusty road. Fremont Street was the first in Vegas to be paved in 1925, but it retained that rugged cowboy feel thanks to its sawdust saloons. By the time the mob arrived in Vegas near the end of World War II, Fremont was a cluster of gritty (but legal) gaming joints, the perfect environment for a big bankroll lacking moral values. The syndicate brought a touch of class to the downtown casinos, introducing carpets and lounge entertainment to the rough Reno crowd.

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