įrom 1952 to 1957, through money and institutional lending provided by the Teamsters Union and some Mormon bankers, they built the Sahara, the Sands, the New Frontier, the Royal Nevada, the Showboat, the Riviera, the Fremont, Binion's Horseshoe, and finally the Tropicana. The population grew dramatically from 8,422 during World War II to over 45,000. Over 8 million people were visiting Las Vegas annually in 1954, pumping $200 million into casinos, which consolidated its image as 'wild, full of late-night, exotic entertainment'. By the 1950s, there were 44,600 living in the Las Vegas Valley. The 1950s was a time of considerable change for Las Vegas.