LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — You can't tell the story of Las Vegas without addressing the influence of the mob.
They turned Las Vegas into a gambling paradise — and the place we now call home.
That one-of-a-kind legacy is memorialized at The Mob Museum, which is celebrating its 12-year anniversary this week.
"We were born fro the mob. No other city in history was born from the mob," said former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who was instrumental in developing The Mob Museum.
From the 1940s through the 1980s, the mob had a grip on the Neon City, turning this once small railroad stop into a casino mecca built in pursuit of power and profit.
"The mob did play somewhat of a positive role in the development of Las Vegas," said Geoff Schumacher, vice president of exhibits at The Mob Museum. "Part of that was creating this mystique about Las Vegas, right? Creating this notion that if you are going on vacation to Las Vegas, you are doing something a little bit dangerous, something a little bit devious."
As locals well know, Las Vegas goes beyond the neon lights and iconic entertainers.
Schumacher says it was a dangerous time if you got in the way of the mob's profits.
"It was not better back in the day. If you crossed the mob back in the day, something very bad could happen to you," Schumacher said.
Eventually, they would be forced out by local watchdogs and the FBI in the 1980s and early 1990s.
But the mob era remains an important part of Las Vegas history — and one that has since been immortalized at The Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas.
The museum will soon celebrate its 12-year anniversary this Valentine's Day. As part of the celebration, the museum is offering free admission for Nevada residents. Non-residents can take advantage of a buy one, get one free admission deal that day.
The Mob Museum's director of education, Claire White, says it's vital to learn about the history of Las Vegas.
"It's really easy to see the shiny neon veneer of Las Vegas and see the positive things and not think very critically about how we got there," White said. "Especially here, where so many of us aren't natives, it's important for all of us to have that baseline knowledge of the community we now call home — and for Las Vegas, that includes mob history."
You can dive deeper into Las Vegas' organized crime roots in our recent series, "Tough Little Town."
