Southeast of Las Vegas, US-93 joins courses with US-95 along Nevada’s newest freeway, I-515, which connects Las Vegas with the rapidly growing industrial city of Henderson. Henderson itself is relatively young, even by Nevada standards. In 1941, the War Department selected this site, due to its proximity to unlimited electricity generated by the then-six-year-old Hoover Dam, for a giant factory to process magnesium, needed for bombs and airplane components. Within six months, 10,000 workers arrived, and the plant and a town for 5,000 people had been built. After the war ended, the factory was subdivided for private industry, and since then, Henderson has grown to be the third-largest city in Nevada, behind Las Vegas and Reno—the only three population centers in Nevada with more than 100,000 residents.

  Though it doesn’t even try to compete with the attractions of Las Vegas, Henderson does have a number of casinos (including the world’s largest bingo parlor), a Ritz-Carlton hotel, and the very good Clark County Heritage Museum (daily; $1.50; 702/455-7955), located two miles south of town at 1830 S. Boulder Highway.

  South of Henderson, US-93/95 climbs up and over 2,367-foot Railroad Pass, and just beyond is the junction where US-95 cuts south, heading along the Colorado River to Laughlin, Nevada; Needles, California; and Yuma, Arizona. US-93 continues east, and a little north, to Boulder City.