Today, state gambling taxes account for the lion’s share of Nevada’s overall tax revenues. A major wave of casino legalization by states occurred in the late 1980s. It remained the only state with that distinction until New Jersey's 1976 referendum that allowed commercial casinos, limited to Atlantic City. In the first few decades after the legalization of gambling, organized crime flourished in Las Vegas. In the early 1930s, Nevada became the first state to legalize commercial casinos. Established in 1905, Las Vegas, Nevada, has since become the gambling and entertainment capital of the world, famous for its casinos, nightclubs, and sporting events. In March 1931, Nevada’s state legislature responded to population flight by taking the drastic measure of legalizing gambling and, later in the year, divorce. Five years later, during the Civil War, Nevada was hastily made the 36th state in order to strengthen the Union.Īt the beginning of the Depression, Nevada’s mines were in decline, and its economy was in shambles. In 1859, the discovery of the “Comstock Lode” of gold and silver spurred the first substantial number of settlers into Nevada to exploit the territory’s mining opportunities.
Located in the Great Basin desert, few settlers chose to live in Nevada after the United States acquired the territory at the end of the Mexican War in 1848. In an attempt to lift the state out of the hard times of the Great Depression, the Nevada state legislature votes to legalize gambling.
