The Little Church of the West

Infobox_nrhp | name = Little Church of the West

---

caption =
location = 4617 Las Vegas Blvd S.
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 36
lat_minutes = 5
lat_seconds = 10
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 115
long_minutes = 10
long_seconds = 20
long_direction = W
built = 1942
architect = William J. Moore
architecture = Late Gothic Revival
added = September 14, 1992
refnum = 92001161
governing_body = Little Church of Las Vegas, Inc.

The Little Church of the West is a wedding chapel on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada that is listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places. Built of California redwood, it was intended to be a replica of a typical pioneer town church.

History

The Little Church of the West opened its doors in 1942 on what would become the The Strip. The chapel was originally built as part of the Last Frontier Hotel complex on the Las Vegas Strip. The chapel was moved from the north side of the hotel to the south side in 1954. In 1979, to make way for the Fashion Show Mall, the chapel was moved onto the grounds of the Hacienda. In 1996, when the Hacienda was closed and demolished, the chapel moved again to its current location on the east side of the strip south of the Mandalay Bay.

The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 1992.

In 2002, the Little Church of the West celebrated its 60th anniversary and remains the oldest existing structure on the Las Vegas Strip.

Film history

Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret recited their vows in the movie "Viva Las Vegas", filmed at the Little Church of the West.

Notable weddings

*Betty Grable and Harry James (the first celebrity wedding in 1943)
*Zsa Zsa Gabor and George Sanders
*Judy Garland
*Mickey Rooney
*Dudley Moore
*Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford
*Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie
*David Cassidy and Kay Lenz
*Red Foxx
*Bob Geldof
*Robert Goulet
*Buck Owens
*David Sanborn
*Telly Savalas
*Heather Thomas
*Mel Tormé
*Dinah Washington
*Margaret Whiting

External links

* [http://www.littlechurchlv.com/ Little Church of the West website]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Little+Church+of+the+West,+Las+Vegas,+Nevada&ie=UTF8&om=1&t=k&ll=36.085987,-115.17184&spn=0.001632,0.003567 Satellite view of the grounds]
* [http://www.library.unlv.edu/arch/lasvegas/southlv05.html#011 UNLV Architecture Studies Library Tour (South Las Vegas)]