Las Vegas was an important waypoint on the Santa Fe Trail, and later on the railroad across the Southwest. There are over 900 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the central area of town, it seems almost every single building you see is significant in some way. Walking tour guides are available. Here are some of the highlights:The Plaza, where Las Vegas was founded in 1835. Today it is a shady park with a gazebo, surrounded by historic structures. On the north side of the plaza is the Plaza Hotel, a railroad-era hotel which remains a fine place to spend the night in Las Vegas. Across the street from the southeast corner of the plaza is the old First National Bank.Railroad District, where the Las Vegas train station is and so much of the city's growth centered around it. The Mission Revival La Castaneda Hotel, an old Harvey House hotel, is definitely worth a look.Lincoln Park, a local park surrounded by lots of beautiful old homes.Douglas/6th Street District, once the central business area of Las Vegas, today there's plenty of interesting buildings here like the Bank of Las Vegas, the Old City Hall, and the Masonic Temple.Carnegie Park, an area of town centered around Carnegie Park, which has a Carnegie Library that was modeled after Thomas Jefferson's home, the Monticello. The surrounding blocks are filled with old Victorian homes.
City of Las Vegas Museum & Rough Rider Memorial
727 Grand Avenue, +1 505 454-1401, (http://www.lasvegasmuseum.org/). Tu-Sa 10AM-4PM 10AM-4PM Sundays May-September. Exhibits on local history, the Santa Fe Trail, and Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, who held reunions in Las Vegas. Free.North of Las Vegas on SR-65 Hot Springs Blvd is the town of Montezuma and the Armand Hammer United World College of the American West. On the campus is the gorgeous Montezuma Castle (http://www.uwc-usa.org/tours), which was built as a railroad hotel and served a number of purposes before becoming part of the United World College campus. It is open for free tours, which start at 1PM on certain Saturdays and are led by students of the college. But even if you don't get inside the building, it's worth the drive up to at least see it.
