When I first left Honolulu for California in 1958, our state population was 650,000.   Metro Las Vegas only had 75,000 people.  Today, Hawaii has 1.43 million people and Greater Las Vegas is twice our size, soon to hit 3 million people.   While Hawaii will soon top out at 10 million visitors/year, Las Vegas has historically received 40 million annual tourists. The city of Las Vegas has a population of 660,00, while Henderson, 16 miles away ( and part of greater Las Vegas ), has 330,000, making it the second largest city in the state.  Reno, not part of Greater Las Vegas, has 269,000 people and is #3. Some history: People began living in this general area from over 10,000 years ago, with Paiutes coming around 700 AD. Mexican scout  Rafel Rivera  in 1829 was the first non-native American visitor, and soon thereafter, this site was named Las Vegas, Spanish for meadows. The Battle of the Alamo for Texas independence from Mexico occurred in 1836, leading to our ...