Las Vegas aviation pioneers George and Peg Crockett with the airport "crashwagon," a 1956 Thunderbird, in front of Crockett's airport office, c. 1956. Photo courtesy Howard W. Cannon Airport Museum

Nevada Aviation

The impact of the postwar travel boom in the United States was nowhere more pronounced than in southern Nevada. Blessed with an excess of money and leisure time, vacationers flocked to the blossoming resort town of Las Vegas. The airlines and hotel-casinos capitalized on the American public's appetite for the town's "fun in the sun" offerings. Both industries heavily advertised with joint campaigns of individual tourist packages between specific carriers and hotels. Since 1960, air travel to Las Vegas and Clark County has increased continually, reflecting the link between the community's growth as a tourist destination and the importance of aviation to that growth. It is this history that the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum presents in exhibits at McCarran International Airport and North Las Vegas Airport, as well as a traveling exhibit, a web site, videotapes, and publications.

Originally submitted by: Harry Reid, Senator Richard H. Bryan, Senator Shelley Berkeley, Representative (1st District) & Jim Gibbons, Representative (2nd District).

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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.