A young scout named Rafael Rivera was the first person of European ancestry to look upon the valley in 1829. He discovered a valley with abundant wild grasses growing and a plentiful water supply that eliminated the need to go around the desert. The valley is named Las Vegas, Spanish for "The Meadows." In 1844, John C. Fremont arrived in Las Vegas and kept a journal describing the two springs he found. These writings were very popular and lured many individuals to the area. Members of the Mormon Church choose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort in 1855, halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. Abandoned two years later, the remains of the Mormon Fort  can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue.

The first successful settler, Octavius Decatur Gass, established a ranch that flourished throughout the rest of the nineteenth century. Nevada was admitted as the 36th state in 1864, and gold and silver were discovered shortly after. The mining brought the railroads to the area, and the availability of water made Las Vegas an important stop for the trains. Las Vegas was founded in 1905, when the railroad auctioned off 110 acres of land in 700 plots. In 1931, two things happened that caused the young town to begin a phenomenal streak of growth. The first was the legalization of gambling in the state of Nevada, and the second was the start of construction on the Hoover Dam.

The outbreak of World War II brought the defense industry to the valley. The isolated location, along with plentiful water and inexpensive energy, made Las Vegas an ideal site for military and defense related industries. The site for Nellis Air Force Base is located in the northeast, and the Basic Management Complex, providers of raw materials, is located in the southeastern suburb of Henderson. The defense industry continues to employ a significant number of valley residents today. Following World War II, lavishly decorated resort hotels and gambling casinos offering top-name entertainment were built and tourism and entertainment took over as the largest employer in the valley.