Fremont Street

Fremont Street 1952

Fremont Street is a street in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is the second most famous street in the Las Vegas metropolitan area after the Las Vegas Strip. Named in honor of explorer John Charles Frémont and located in the heart of the downtown casino corridor, Fremont Street is (or was) the address for many famous casinos such as Binion's Horseshoe, Eldorado Club, Fremont Hotel and Casino, Golden Gate Hotel & Casino, Golden Nugget, The Mint, and the Pioneer Club.

Prior to the construction of the Fremont Street Experience, the western end of Fremont Street was the picture of Las Vegas that was included in virtually every television show and movie that wanted to display the lights of Las Vegas. The abundance of neon signs, like cowboy Vegas Vic, earned the street the nickname of Glitter Gulch.

History

Fremont Street's illuminated "Space Frame"

Fremont Street dates back to 1905, when Las Vegas itself was founded. Fremont Street was the first paved street in Las Vegas in 1925 and received the city's first traffic light in 1931. Fremont Street also carried the shields of U.S. 95, U.S. 93, and U.S. 466 before the construction of the interstates.

While gambling was well established prior to being legalized, the Northern Club in 1931 received one of the first 6 gambling licenses issued in Nevada and the first one for Fremont Street. It's interesting to note that Nevada reluctantly was the last western state to outlaw gaming. This occurred at midnight, Oct. 1, 1910, when a strict anti-gambling law became effective in Nevada. It even forbid the western custom of flipping a coin for the price of a drink.

Glitter Gulch was closed to vehicle traffic in September, 1994 to begin construction on the Fremont Street Experience.

Film and media history

The Golden Nugget and Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel casinos at night

• The 1964 Elvis Presley film Viva Las Vegas featured nighttime footage of Fremont Street during the opening credits.
• The 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever featured a chase scene in which James Bond, running from Las Vegas police, side-rolls a car through an alley exiting onto Fremont Street.
• The 1987 music video for the song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2 was filmed on Fremont Street and featured the band members wandering around, while The Edge played an acoustic guitar.
• The second season of the NBC show "Crime Story" (1986-1988) featured Fremont Street in its opening credits, and nearly all the action took place there, as opposed to the Strip.
• 1998's Very Bad Things featured Fremont Street in the movie.
• 1992's Honey, I Blew Up the Kid prominently featured Fremont Street in the movie.
• 1992's Cool World showed all the animation coming out of the Plaza hotel and going down Fremont Street.
• In 1994, Glitter Gulch was featured prominently in the TV Miniseries The Stand.
• The 1997 comedy Vegas Vacation includes a few scenes on Fremont Street.
• In the 2004 movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Steve the Pirate is seen along the Plaza near the Fremont Street Experience.
• In a 2005 release, Panic! at the Disco released a song about cheap motels on Fremont Street called "Build God, Then We'll Talk".
• Fremont Street appears in the 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as "The Old Las Venturas Strip".
• The 2007 film Next, has Nicolas Cage's character entering the Golden Nugget from the Fremont Street Experience.
• Ice Cube's music video for Chrome and Paint took place on Fremont Street, with Ice Cube in a lowrider.
• In Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas, Logan Keller, and his teammates Jung, and Michael infiltrate Fremont Street to find a news van, which they find by going through the maintenance tunnels under the Sirocco Casino, the game's version of the Binion Hotel and Gambling Hall.
• Heavily referenced in the Tom Waits song "Mr. Siegal".
• Featured at the beginning of the TV series - CSI season 7 finale episode 24.
• Featured in the opening credits of the TV series Vega$.
• Magician & illusionist, Criss Angel, has done many demonstrations there.
• Fremont Street appears in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas as Freeside.
• Featured in The Real World: Las Vegas (2011). Several cast members ziplined across the Fremont Street Experience in an episode.

Fremont East

Fremont East sign.

In 2006 the city revealed plans to redevelop Fremont Street east of the Experience as an entertainment district. Detailed plans for the redevelopment were released early in 2007 and included 4 street scape neon signs. The $5.5 million plan is part of an effort to revitalize the downtown area.

A three block section of Fremont Street, just east of the Fremont Street Experience, opened on August 24, 2007 as the Fremont East district. The area is intended to increase the draw of downtown Las Vegas by offering a compact entertainment area of bars and clubs.

External links

• VegasTodayAndTomorrow
• Fremont East
• Living in Las Vegas Podcast review of Fremont East District