Vegas' -and Nevada's- first shopping mall had humble beginnings as the strip plaza seen here. It included a small enclosed shopping concourse.
Photo from University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries / Bill Willard Photograph Collection

The first phase of CHARLESTON PLAZA encompassed approximately 111,000 leasable square feet. Its first store, a combo Thriftimart grocery and Skaggs Drug Center, welcomed first shoppers in September 1959. A block of inline stores, and S.S. Kresge 5 & 10, had been added by 1962.