--- title: Las Vegas: Photos From the Gambling Capital of the World in 1955 description: Photos of Vegas in the mid-1950s -- when the high-stakes mecca was in the midst of a building boom that would redefine it forever. canonical: https://time.com/3879776/las-vegas-photos-from-the-gambling-capital-of-the-world-in-1955/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-08T11:00:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:47:34.486Z og:title: Las Vegas: Photos From the Gambling Capital of the World in 1955 og:description: Photos of Vegas in the mid-1950s -- when the high-stakes mecca was in the midst of a building boom that would redefine it forever. og:url: https://time.com/3879776/las-vegas-photos-from-the-gambling-capital-of-the-world-in-1955/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf10f4cb2322c0c1d/6988471335ba6f2bdbc0c4a1/22_1140432.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Las Vegas, Nevada 1955 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Las Vegas: Photos From the Gambling Capital of the World in 1955 twitter:description: Photos of Vegas in the mid-1950s -- when the high-stakes mecca was in the midst of a building boom that would redefine it forever. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf10f4cb2322c0c1d/6988471335ba6f2bdbc0c4a1/22_1140432.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Vintage Vegas: Scenes From a Desert Boomtown > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 8, 2014 11:00 AM UTC  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955.Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove May 8, 2014 11:00 AM UTC Of all the major destination towns in the U.S., [Las Vegas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las%5FVegas) might be the most perfectly, unashamedly transparent. No other city in North America, after all — and perhaps no other city in the world — has for so long been so identified with one pursuit: namely, the heart-pounding, more-often-than-not-futile hunt for the improbable, near-mythic Big Score. And the fact that Las Vegas resembles a gaudy neon mirage in the desert? Well, surely no more apt an image could apply to a place where dreams — of riches, and occasionally of romance — go to die. But Las Vegas is also a place where dreams, large and small, are just as frequently born. Hotel and casino owners dream of founding (or furthering) their financial empires. Singers, dancers, comedians and magicians dream of performing night after night before rapt crowds. The unemployed from all over the U.S. dream of finding work. After all, in the first decade of the 21st century, only one or two American cities grew at a faster pace than Las Vegas. And while the foreclosure crisis of the past few years has hammered Nevada’s biggest city, the bright lights and (seemingly) endless stream of cash are still powerful lures for visitors and would-be Las Vegans alike. In 1955, 50 years after Las Vegas was founded, LIFE magazine took a rather skeptical look at the boomtown and its prospects for growth in a cover story titled “Gambling Town Pushes Its Luck.” The Loomis Dean pictures in this gallery, meanwhile — many of which were never published in LIFE — provide some wonderful visual reminders of just how raw a place Las Vegas was in the mid-’50s, before the Rat Pack made the city its home away from home and decades before it would begin to reinvent itself as a family-friendly mecca. Some of the pictures appeared in the June 20, 1955, issue of LIFE, in an article that described the city as “set for its biggest boom,” with some caveats: --- > “” --- --- > “” --- --- > “” --- That question, of course, has come up repeatedly over the years, as the desert city has steadily grown from a 100-acre (40 hectare) railroad town in 1905 to a sprawling metropolis of close to 2 million people today. But no matter the odds, Las Vegas always seems to have one more ace in the hole, one more trick up its sleeve to keep the lights on, the casino floors humming and the dreamers, the players and the suckers coming back over and over again. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955\. A little-used pool at one of the city's newest hotels. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Billboard for the under-construction El Morocco Hotel, Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Billboard for the under-construction Tropicana, Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955\. A prop slot machine backstage at the Royal Nevada Hotel and Casino. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955 Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas casino, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption that accompanied image in LIFE in 1955: "Idling croupiers (in shirtsleeves) dawdled behind their roulette tables because few customers were placing bets in The Dunes two weeks after opening night." Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE: "Crap tables at Dunes were tried by Jake Freedman (center), owner of rival Sands club. He lost $10,000 before deciding his luck was off that night." Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. Loomis Dean—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images  Not published in LIFE. Las Vegas, 1955. 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