Published on: December 8, 2025, 07:21h.
Updated on: December 8, 2025, 12:47h.
While there is a town named Las Vegas in New Mexico, the notion that “what happens here stays here” is quite literal—unless you specify “NM” in your Google search for Las Vegas.
This small town in northern New Mexico—nestled between the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains—boasts several historic hotels, a dedicated museum, and its own airport, as well as a population of around 13,000 locals, affectionately known as Las Vegans.
However, Las Vegas, NM lacks the iconic welcome sign that has made the rounds on social media—this was merely an AI-generated prank.
“OMG…is that for real?” queried a user in one of the Las Vegas, NV Facebook groups on November 29, 2025.
“I’ve seen that sign and it’s legitimate,” responded another group member.
Viva Las Other Vegas
The residents of Las Vegas, NM are not amused by jokes that confuse them with the “real” Las Vegas.
For the last eight decades, they have endured taunts about the casinos they are supposedly near and frequent mix-ups with online orders.
Did you notice the AI-created sign used in this story? It amusingly starts with “Welcome to Welcome…”! (Looks like human jobs are safe…for now!)
The Original Sin City
The confusion is particularly sensitive since New Mexico’s Las Vegas was the original, dating back to its establishment as a key stop on the Santa Fe Trail in 1835.
This town received its railroad two decades before Nevada’s Las Vegas did, and it enjoyed prominence until 1945.
That year marked the rapid growth of Nevada’s Las Vegas, spurred by the Hoover Dam, while New Mexico’s growth stalled due to the 1908 Belen Cutoff rerouting the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.
The population of Las Vegas, NM has remained static since then.
This New Mexican gem was also the first to gain notoriety for nefarious activities. In 1879, notorious gunslinger Doc Holliday operated a saloon near the local brothels on Center Street, and outlaw Jesse James visited the town on two occasions.
During one trip, James supposedly met Billy the Kid at an old hotel known as the Old Adobe, considering a move for his train-robbing business to New Mexico, although it never materialized.
Las Vegas, NM can also lay claim to an intriguing relationship with pop culture and the gambling world.
Grand Avenue, their local strip, was the birthplace of the Maloof family, the founders of Las Vegas, NV’s Palms casino hotel in 2001.
In the early 20th century, Joseph George Maloof set up a general store after moving from Lebanon, which eventually led to a Pabst beer distribution and later a Coors distribution in New Mexico, eventually leading to the Sacramento Kings and “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”
When Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda were arrested for “parading without a permit” in the 1969 film “Easy Rider,” it was shot on Bridge Street. More recently, the Coen brothers filmed most of “No Country for Old Men” in the area.
Notably, Patrick Swayze loved the town so much during the filming of “Red Dawn” in 1984 that he purchased a 7,000-acre ranch about 15 miles north, where his ashes were spread after his death from pancreatic cancer in 2009.
Additionally, Val Kilmer owned a ranch approximately 25 miles west of the town from the 1990s until his sale in 2011.
If this doesn’t make you reconsider visiting Las Vegas, NM, perhaps this will: all guests leave here with their shirts intact!
Look for “Vegas Myths Busted” every Monday on Casino.org. For previously busted Vegas myths, head to VegasMythsBusted.com. Have a Vegas myth you’d like to bust? Email [email protected].