A paean to the old days, by Boulder Betsy.

O Vegas, what’s become of you?

Alas, the bean counters now rule…

How does this sound to you folks? 3,640 rooms, 174,000 square feet of casino space, 283,000 square feet of convention space, 2,000 slot machines, 212 table games, a theater of 6,265 square feet, a 5 acre pool and park complex, a music museum with 86,000 exhibits, and, to top it all off, a new hotel tower in the shape of a guitar. Is all of that large enough for you folks? It all will be constructed no sooner than 2024 by the Hard Rock Hotel group, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. I know they can afford anything they want. Why? They own the only gambling places in Florida, on tribal land. And, by the way, it is the only , repeat only, native American tribe that was never defeated and never signed a peace treaty with the U.S. Osceola died a long time ago (1838), and a lot of them were deported to Oklahoma Territory, but the few in Florida kept going, until, finally, the U.S. caved and left them be. (Image: Hard Rock International)

This photo shows the remaining rubble of once what was once the Fiesta. Once a locals’ favorite, what the Fiesta closed when the pandemic hit and never reopened. Bit by bit over the last few months the building was demolished, first the casino itself was removed, then the cladding from the high-rise hotel, and then, bit by bit, the concrete structure of the hotel was taken down starting at one end. Yesterday even the piles of concrete rubble had been removed and all that was left was the blue dumpsters. A few miles down I 215, the Durango resort is well on its way to completion.

About a month ago I was driving north on the Strip and turned right on Sands. This is what I saw in front of me, and I was a little taken aback. The MSG Sphere is an entertainment venue that has been under construction for about four years now but was delayed because of the pandemic. But here’s a very odd fact. I was looking at the historic aerials for that site, and right in the same place where the sphere is now, there used to be another circular building with about the same footprint. It was in the middle of an apartment complex, and although I lived right down the street, I don’t remember the complex. But I think it’s very interesting that the Sphere is replacing a round building that was practically in the same place that disappeared years ago. (Featured photo credit: SounderBruce, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Until now, one of the attractions of Las Vegas was there was plenty of parking and it was free.  These days, not only is parking getting hard because of the volume of visitors, but the casinos now CHARGE for you to park.  I guess it’s not good enough that you’re handing over your money once you get inside!  To be honest, you can get some of your parking validated if you do gamble or otherwise spend money.  But the concept of charging for parking rankles the locals, who need incentives to go to the Strip in the first place.  So has it been a success?  It’s been about a year now, and not only are they still charging, but some fees have recently gone up!  I guess it’s here to stay.  Another example of the MBA’s calling the shots and sucking every possible cent out of the consumer.

These newspapers are now long gone, yet their names linger on.

Agai Dicutta Yaduan, Schurz, 1975-1977. Schurz was the 13th Sec. of the Interior (3-12-1877/3-7-1881) and served under Garfield and Hayes. The town is still around, on the Walker River, pop. around 700. I could not find a definition for the phrase. If you know what it means send me the information.

The Knocker, Manhattan, yes, Nevada had one of those. July or Aug. 1911.
Gabbs Gabb, June 14, 1943/Aug. 25, 1944. The town of Gabbs is still around. It is in Nye County, and sports a population of less than three hundred, and falling. B.t.w., Nye County is the second largest in the lower 48 with about 20,000 sq.m.

Rochester Paycrack, before you get any ideas let me explain. The title refers to a rich ore vein. This paper had an interesting printer, a Joe T. Cramp. He was a tramp (itinerant) publisher who carried his equipment from mining camp to mining camp. He started at least seven papers between 1910 and 1920.

Potosi Nix Cum Rouscht, Feb. 1861, handwritten. Linguists at UNR tried to find a meaning of those words. They could not. It seems to be a mixture of Latin and German. Interestingly there are at least three mining towns by that name around the world. The one in the Nevada is close to Las Vegas. There is one in Spain and another in Bolivia. The latter one has the “Mountain of Silver”. It has been continuously mined for over three hundred years.

More of these odd facts can be found in my book”Nevada, A Strange Place”.
I illustrated the book with 134 drawings, all done by me.