Fremont Street is the second most famous street in Las Vegas, Nevada. Named after explorer John Charles Fremont, the first anti-slavery Republican Party candidate, it forms part of the city’s downtown strip and is home to many well-known casinos including the Golden Nugget, the Mint and the Eldorado Club. It is also the location of many iconic movies, including Elvis’s 1964 film “Viva Las Vegas”, the 1971 James Bond movie “Diamonds Are Forever”, and the 2013 comedy “Last Vegas”, with Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, Robert De Niro and Michael Douglas.
In 1994, the city added more excitement to this famous street by introducing the Fremont Street Experience, an astonishing multi-media display of over 12.5 million synchronised LED lights accompanying a 550,000-watt sound system. The domed roof covering five whole blocks of Fremont Street shows various animation displays that change every hour of every evening.
McCarran International Airport is the main airport serving Las Vegas, flying many local and international carriers in and out of the city. Various bus lines offer services to several points across the state and into Mexico. Major freeways lead into the city amidst the stunning scenery provided by the surrounding desert area. Shuttle buses, car hires, limousines and taxis are readily available in the city, in addition to the Deuce, a London-style double-decker bus that runs every 10 minutes from the Fremont Street Experience all the way to the Mandalay Bay.
Fremont Street came into existence in 1905, when Las Vegas itself was established. In 1925, it became the city’s first paved street, and also received the first traffic light in 1931. Other firsts include displaying the shields of U.S. Routes 93, 95 and 466 before interstate construction. One of the first of six Nevada gambling licenses were awarded to Freemont Street’s Northern Club, which operated from 1920 to 1945 and is now the Bayou Casino.