Award Date

5-1-2025

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

History

First Committee Member

Susan Johnson

Second Committee Member

Michael Green

Third Committee Member

Andrew Kirk

Fourth Committee Member

Maria Casas

Fifth Committee Member

Tanachai Mark Padoongpatt

Number of Pages

218

Abstract

Using Las Vegas and Los Angeles as case studies, this dissertation examines how aspects of the built environment have become emblematic of the cities where they reside, and more generally, of the modern American West. It explores how the public has interacted with and been affected by that urban built environment in the twentieth century. This history of the modern West examines how casino resorts and wedding chapels in southern Nevada and freeways and film studios in southern California became emblematic of an urban West. Drawing on urban, suburban, social, cultural, environmental, and public histories, this dissertation shows how these structures came to serve as monuments in their design, their size, their economic impact, and their place in popular culture and public memory. I argue that these structures are more accurate representations of historical processes than traditional monuments are. Still, like monuments, these structures have a more complex and compelling history than is outwardly visible to the public. This dissertation allows us to better understand the history of the modern urban West by revealing the ideological foundations on which these structures, and their host cities, were built. It examines how and why these structures were planned and constructed, the roles they have played in the growth and development of their respective metropolises, and the ways in which the public has known and interacted with them.

Keywords

Cultural history; Memory; Metropolis; Symbol; Tourism; West

Disciplines

History | United States History | Urban, Community and Regional Planning | Urban Studies | Urban Studies and Planning

File Format

pdf

File Size

5200 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Available for download on Monday, May 15, 2028


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