The Fremont Street Experience in Las Vegas. PR PhotoWhen gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931, Hearst newspapers described Fremont Street as an endless procession of construction workers, dealers in eyeshades, and gamblers amid the sound of hammers and the clink of money. New casino licenses were limited to a three-block downtown area, with the exception of the Meadows, a plush casino outside the city limits that caught fire in 1942.

The City of Las Vegas has created a walking tour of “Glitter Gulch,” as it came to be known. Important stops are included in a 22×17-inch fold-up Arts Map, available at all of the city’s cultural and community centers and at most Clark County libraries. The map will be featured on artslasvegas.org, which will have instructions on how to request a map by mail.

The Fremont Street Walking Tour takes you on a journey through classic Las Vegas. Like most things Vegas, downtown shows best at night, when the Fremont Street Experience and the Fremont East District light up. The tour takes from one to four hours—depending on interest, libations, and distractions. There’s complimentary validated parking at most hotel/casinos and street-metered parking. Fremont Street Experience Garage and the Neonopolis garage, both with entrances on Fourth, require a fee or validation.

Attractions range from the Main Street Station, which includes a refurbished Pullman parlor car, to the Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, which opened January 13, 1906, under the name Hotel Nevada, when room and board was $1 per day. You’ll see Sassy Sally, Glitter Gulch’s neon cowgirl, whose name changed to Vegas Vicky as a tribute to Vegas Vic, one of the oldest, and certainly the best known, of the city’s giant neon signs.

Fremont Street Experience, located on Fremont Street from Main to Fourth streets, blends vintage Las Vegas with high-tech, live entertainment. A giant LED screen canopy towers 90 feet above a pedestrian mall and is home to Viva Vision with more than 12 million lights. Shows appear nightly on the hour beginning at dusk and are free.

For more details on the Fremont Street Walking Tour, check out “Footprints Through History” at nevadamagazine.com.—ANN HENDERSON