'The Little Church of the West' in Las Vegas.....
It was the chapel where Betty Grable, and band leader Harry James said their marriage vows in 1943, and where singer Judy Garland said “I do”, to Mark Herron, in 1965. It was also the same place, in the film ‘Viva Las Vegas’, where we saw Elvis Presley slip a wedding ring on the lovely Ann-Margaret’s finger, in the year 1964.
From a marriage register signed by over 10,000 couples, these celebrities are just a few of many, from all over the world, that were wed at ‘The Little Church of the West’, the first, and oldest structure in Las Vegas, to be built as a Wedding Chapel.
For over sixty years, ‘The Little Church of the West’ stood on the famous Sunset Strip, originally in the grounds of ‘The Last Frontier Hotel’, and later, for a further 17 years, on the grounds of ‘The Hacienda’. One New Years Eve not long ago, ‘The Hacienda’ was re-vamped to make way for a 4,000 room ‘Circus Circus’ resort, but what do you think became of ‘The Little Church of the West?’
Well one Wednesday, they moved it South, just two - tenths of a mile, to the east side of Sunset Strip, at Russell Road. Gregg Smith who had owned the church since 1983, tells what happened: “We hired a moving company to move the building in one piece, chapel and everything. After 13 years of wonderful memories, I decided not to get sentimental”.
‘Circus Circus’ officials had previously offered him a lease package to let the church stay where it was, at ‘The Hacienda’ site, but he declined their offer, saying: “I didn’t feel like operating in the black, under the proposed terms, we would always have been at the mercy of the landlord”. The new site was to be on a one acre plot, owned by the Smith family.
The chapel, the dream child of William Moore, who was one of the operators of ‘The Last Frontier’, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places’, the only one at that time, to be so. Gregg Smith tells how Moore came up with the concept of the church, and is always regarded as the original owner. The story goes that it was a photographer in Las Vegas, who thought the chapel would be a nice touch to add to the Sunset Strip, and so it was built.
The building consists of a redwood interior, and a cedar wood exterior, and stands as the most photographed buildings in Las Vegas, and certainly is the most recognisable landmark! Some other celebrities taking their vows have been Zsa Zsa Gabor, Robert Goulet, Mel Torme, Mickey Rooney, Sir Bob Geldof, and the late Dudley Moore. The chapel opened again for business later that year, with better positioning , and some beautiful landscaping, to become yet again, a part of the wonder that is Las Vegas.
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