Las Vegas Then and Now

by Su Kim Chung

A photographic journey through the history of one of America's most distinctive towns, Las Vegas. Part of the highly successful Then & Now series, each spread shows an image of Las Vegas as it was, and how it is currently.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Photography, Architecture, Travel

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Captures Las Vegas at a moment in time, twelve years ago now. It's too far out of date to be useful to the 21st century traveller, but there is some interesting historical information about the city and its past. Because Las Vegas seems to do a complete makeover every twenty years or so, an online version would be much more interesting.
It would also be more complete if all the photos were taken at exactly the same location at intervals, say every ten or twenty years. It's hard to even place the locations of some of the older photos, even with the "now" photo on the facing page.

[Abby Wu · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who has lived in Vegas for almost 10 years, this book is very interesting! It was written in 2007 and already much has changed. It's fascinating to look back on the historical photos and examine the past, as well as look at the newer photos which are also in the past for me now. Some other reviewers want an updated version but I quite enjoyed seeing photos from before I became a resident.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 2002 and full of historical images

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book at a gift shop in Wisconsin (naturally) and then was shocked to discover my (Wisconsin) library had a copy. It scratches a weird itch that I have for Las Vegas architecture and its constantly changing (and growing) forms. The back and forth between 40s Vegas and 90s Vegas is a fascinating look at money, tourism, and cultural changes over time.

(Also, because the book was published in 2002, there's 20 years of new build that's not documented. That said, the photos of 90s architecture are a lot of fun: everything was either sterile and taupe or absolutely outrageous.)

[Robert Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fascinating to see how the city’s changed over the last hundred years or so. And it’s remarkable to see what’s improved and what’s gone the wrong way. The replacement of some old rundown casinos with the modern spectacular resorts seems like quite the accomplishment. On the other hand, the replacement of some charming historic buildings with…well, with more casinos seems like quite a loss indeed. Either way, it’s not the most educational book in the world, but it’s at least interesting to see.

[Keith Carmona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book with corresponding before and relatively current photographs of Las Vegas. Narrative aspects are straightforward and compliment the photography. An easy, and must, read for anyone interested in the architectural beginnings and changes of this desert wonderland.

[Kayla Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great photos and memorable comparisons.

[Arthur Salyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice picture type book of Las Vegas old and new. Interesting history of the town from the start to recently. Fun to look at in

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun tour of the sites and how they've changed. To full appreciate it, you'd have to have spent some time off the Strip.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Needs a more recent update, but still great historical information.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Las Vegas Then and Now" is a picture-based history of various buildings in Las Vegas. The author described the history of the various buildings on each spot (what was built by whom and why) beneath pictures of the buildings being talked about. This book mainly covered Hoover Dam, the Fremont Street area, and the Strip. The text about future or recent projects sometimes read like a paid promotion, but it was not so noticeable as to take away from my enjoyment of the book. The book covered all the areas I was interested in except the current airport.

The pictures were very nice and gave a good sense of the development of Las Vegas. I sometimes would have liked a map, though (since I'm not a native to the area) to show where the buildings currently stand in relation to each other. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who think it sounds interesting. I should mention, though, that this book was released in 2007 so it's already starting to be out-of-date about the latest changes in this ever-changing city. I was more interested in the past than the present, so this didn't bother me.

[Justus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got the paperback version which is pretty small (8"x7") but its a fun read quick read. The writer comes off as a shill at times, but I guess that's in part because the publisher wants to make a series of these books and it would be more attractive to other cities to help them out if they saw positive things written in the book. With Vegas its hard to keep up with things, but it seems that they did a very good job keeping up with the latest news in 2007.

But in the end its all about the pictures. And because of the before and after photos nature of the book I think it must be one of the better pictorial overviews of the city. Things have changed so much so quickly at times, its useful to have a visual reference that tie all the different pieces together.

[aCupcakeBlonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love photo history books. When I can see pictures from back in the day the history is that much more enjoyable for me. I can relate to what happened then in a better way. This book sparked my interest because, having lived in Las Vegas for the last 8 years I have seen how different the city has changed. So seeing the side by side comparison pictures from when the city was first settled to over a hundred years later were fascinating and fun when I could pick out landmarks still around. I would love to find more books like this one for other cities.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good photographic history of then and now Las Vegas. More has been changed since this book. We went to the now closed museum in The Tropicana and it had an excellent display of photos and things from the Old Las Vegas. Then the theme hotels were built and they seem to be over that phase and are now building towers which I hate. It takes the charm out of Las Vegas looking at all that glass.

[Jason Gusman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book has a lot of interesting pictures and descriptions of the pictures that take you from the beginning of Las Vegas to the early 2000's. I enjoyed reading this and seeing how drastically things changed over the years. Definitely interesting. The only problem: Then and Now is no longer Now. This is a perfect book to update every decade or so to show us the ever changing landscape of Las Vegas and The Strip.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic book! The author posts images from then and now next to each other so you can really see the progress of the city. This book is specific to hotels on the strip and over on Fremont.

I'd definitely recommend this for those interested on local history.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only does this book offer some fantastic photos of locations in Las Vegas - then and now..... it also provides a fascinating history of how the started as an outpost in the 1850s and grew into a major resort.

[Kim Silarski]

Our best Vegas souvenirs were books, including this excellent photo essay.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Macht Fernweh.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice photographic history of Las Vegas, detailing its growth and evolution from a tiny Western outpost into the Sin City we all know and love.