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West Las Vegas


West Las Vegas is a historic neighborhood in Las Vegas, Nevada. This 3.5 sq mi (9.1 km2) area is located northwest of the Las Vegas Strip and the "Spaghetti Bowl" interchange of I-15 and US 95. It is also known as Historic West Las Vegas and more simply, the Westside. The area is roughly bounded by Carey Avenue, Bonanza Road, I-15 and Rancho Drive.

This is about the specific historic area. In many uses, West Las Vegas can mean any portion of the area west of I-15.

In the 1920s no segregation laws on the books barred black citizens from participating in community life, but with legalization of gambling (1931), repeal of prohibition (1933) and completion of the Boulder Dam (1935) and with tourism on the rise, casino owners began restricting their patrons to whites only. Blacks were allowed to entertain or work in casinos, but they were not allowed to attend shows, live in the casino district, or obtain or renew business licenses. In response to the segregation, blacks in effect created their own Las Vegas that offered everything the real city did. The area even had its own version of the Las Vegas Strip, the Black Strip in an area around Jackson Avenue. In 1942, when Sarann Knight-Preddy moved to Las Vegas, the only club on the west side was the Harlem Club. It was followed by the Brown Derby (1944) and later that same year, the Cotton Club.

By 1947, four black-owned clubs were found on Jackson Street: the Brown Derby, the Chickadee (sometimes styled as the Chic-A Dee Club), the Cotton Club, and the Ebony Club. In addition to black-owned clubs, clubs owned by Chinese immigrants targeted black customers and did not have discriminatory hiring practices. Chinese-owned clubs included the Chickadee (later known as Zee Louie's Chickadee Club and even later as the Louisiana Club); the Westside Club; and the Town Tavern.


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