updated May 31, 2023
In the early days of statehood, something was needed to counter the inhospitable terrain to encourage settlers, so Nevada established itself as a renegade state that permitted certain activities other states would not.
Prostitution became legal in the mid-19th century. Nevada gained national attention when it hosted a handful of heavyweight-championship boxing matches when prizefights were banned in most other states. But divorce, rather than either of the above or even the inception of legalized wide-open gambling a few decades later, put the Silver State on the map as a truly scandalous place, with Reno, rather than Las Vegas, being the original "sin" city.
Prior to the 20th century, divorce statutes in most states were extremely strict (in South Carolina, it wasn't permitted at all), with residency requirements measured in years and even severe physical and sexual abuse not always considered adequate grounds for dissolving a union. Hence, couples either chose to endure the misery of an unhappy marriage or were forced to make pilgrimages to one of the few states with more lenient laws, including Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, and Nevada, which vied for the lucrative migratory divorce trade by lowering their residency requirements.
Nevada's marriage and divorce laws were established by the first territorial legislature in 1861 and carried over with little change when Nevada became a state in 1864. The residency period necessary to become a bona fide citizen was set at six months, while seven grounds for divorce were allowed.
In 1906, a society lawyer in New York, where divorce was permitted only on the grounds of adultery — which had to be proven in open court — hit on remote Nevada as the perfect place for his high-profile clients to dissolve their marriages (get "Reno-vated," as the saying went) away from the public spotlight. Overnight, Reno went full-on into the marriage-dissolution business, with hoteliers, brothels, and private homeowners cashing in by providing temporary lodging to those waiting out the residency requirement.
In 1927, the state legislature lowered the residency requirement to an unheard-of three months and in 1931, the same year that gambling was legalized in response to the economic impact of the Great Depression, the requirement was lowered again to what elsewhere was considered an outrageous and scandalous six weeks -- making it the most lenient divorce law in the U.S. During the 1930s, more than 30,000 divorces were granted at the Washoe County Courthouse in downtown Reno.
Today, the residency requirement to apply for divorce remains at six weeks; it becomes final after another six. In addition, Nevada is a no-fault divorce state, making the law that much more liberal and non-intrusive.
Las Vegas has long eclipsed Reno as the state's divorce mecca.