The Little Church of the West

The Little Church of the West is a wedding chapel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The building was built in 1942 of pine and California redwood was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1992. The building materials were chosen so that it is reminiscent of a typical church in a pioneer town in the Wild West.

Description

The Little Church of the West is a building on the south side of Las Vegas Boulevard and is surrounded by a lawn and trees. A sign on a post in the building matching style names the type of business that is operated here. The building has a unique Las Vegas gable roof. At the time of his entry in the National Register, there were in addition to the Little Church only one more single standing facility of its kind on the Strip.

The building is not quite 13 feet long and nearly 6 meters wide. The outside consists mainly of pine wood, the interior is almost completely equipped with Redwoodholz. The beams that support the roof are visible on the ceiling and not disguised. The ten windows of the building, all of the same size are fitted with burglar bars. The main entrance is to the Strip back and consists of a covered double door. It sits a three-wing window for decorative purposes; it measures 150 cm in width and 180 cm in height. In addition, the chapel has a side door with a similar but smaller window above.

Inside there is a main room, an alcove serves the employees here. A well crafted from Redwood altar is located on the eastern wall. The chancel has a length of 4.3 m and a depth of 2.5 m. On the right side of the entrance is an antique organ that did not originate with the building, but was brought here from elsewhere to support the impression of the visitor. In the rear area of the building is a working Hammond organ. Five rows of pews stand on either side of the center aisle.

History

The Little Church of the West opened in 1942 on the road that became world known later as " The Strip ". The chapel was designed originally Strip by William J. Moore Jr. as part of the Last Frontier Hotel on the Las Vegas and then built. The growing importance of the wedding industry for Las Vegas made ​​the location on the strip attractive, since this was the approach road to the town of California forth. The building was the first of which was built specifically for the purpose of holding weddings. Other already existing wedding chapels were housed in previously existing buildings that have been converted.

Moore had before the construction visited numerous mining towns of Nevada and California and photos made ​​because he wanted to reflect on the past of Las Vegas as a mining town with the construction. He finally decided to go for the replica of a church in northern California, the place is however not known. With the authentic acting replica of a church in the western United States, the " Little Church of the West" was in Las Vegas unique.

Around 1900 Nevada had relatively liberal provisions for the implementation of a divorce. Between 1910 and 1931 the deadline was, had to live in someone in Nevada to get a divorce here several times shortened and lengthened again. A six-week period, it was decided in 1931. Thus the rise of Reno and Las Vegas began as divorce paradise. The number of weddings was in Clark County consistently higher than that of divorces; 1932 were processed and 7088 marriages divorces 3989.

Also, the method to a wedding was easier than in California in Nevada. Here there are no medical tests were required and there was no waiting period, as it was introduced to the west coast to avoid adopted in alcohol intoxication weddings. The only limitations were in terms of age of the wedding willing. Women had at least 16 years of age and men 18, and it required the consent of the parents, if the woman had not yet reached the age of 18 or the man was not yet 21 years old.

In addition to the gambling thus were divorces and marriages of the most important pillars on which rested the tourism in Las Vegas. The Chamber of Commerce of the city used the slightly disreputable image through advertising and press releases. Weddings of celebrities reinforced this effect, as have been reported nationwide over this.

The building was laid on June 9, 1954 from the north side of the hotel on the south side. When the church 1979, the Fashion Show Mall had to make room, she was transferred to the grounds of Hacienda little further south on the Strip. The integrity of the building remained there because it was loaded as a whole on heavy trucks and taken to the new location as well as the sites do not differ in their character.

The chapel has since its opening never served to something other than for holding weddings. However, it is not only important because their appearance is unique in town, but also because it has Las Vegas accompanied most of the time, favoring a significant industry in the Nevada uncomplicated marriage formalities.

The Hacienda closed in 1996 and subsequently blown up, and then the building for the third time was a new location. It now stands on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip south of Mandalay Bay and close to the famous welcome sign "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas ".

Film history

The movie wedding of Elvis Presley and Ann -Margret in Great nights in Las Vegas ( 1964) was shot in the Little Church of the West.

Celebrity Weddings

Betty Grable and Harry James were 1943, the first prominent couple who were in the church tied the knot. Other celebrities who got married here, include:

Civil marriage Paradise (Nevada) Reno (Nevada) Clark County (Nevada) Ann-Margret National Park Service
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