American Built explores the structural beginnings of Sin City’s hotel, restaurant, and casino.
They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but how did the gambling mecca become the motherland of kept secrets?
“American Built” by FOX Business explored the structural beginnings of the Las Vegas Strip, beginning with the construction of the railroad in 1905. Las Vegas, translated as “The Meadows” in Spanish, was halfway through the refueling of the Union Pacific.
When Nevada’s law became lenient to gambling, two blocks of casinos and bars were set up, attracting travelers.
The construction of the Hoover Dam in 1931 was an even greater boon to the city after the Great Depression, attributed to Mark Hall-Patton of the Clark County Museum System of “essentially saving” the city. The project brought electrical power and added about 20,000 more to the population.
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Nevada soon legalized gambling and the Northern Club on Fremont Street was the first casino to open its doors. University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor David Schwartz stated that the early gambling halls were “very basic,” aside from the flood of neon signs used to attract visitors.
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The end of Prohibition was another boost to Vegas fortunes and Fremont Street filled up quickly, so developers began expanding the Strip elsewhere.
“It was cheaper to build outside of the Las Vegas city limits than to build inside of Las Vegas,” said Hall-Patton.
Hotel founders built new foundations along Highway 91 and developer Thomas Hull was the first to set up his motel in El Rancho Vegas. Texas theater owner RE Griffith became Hull’s first competitor and broke ground at The Last Frontier Lodge on the road.
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The market stoked up competition and “The Hollywood Reporter” founder Billy Wilkerson, who founded the Flamingo Hotel, soon got involved. But American gangster Bugsy Siegel was quick to wrest the deal from Wilkerson in old mob fashion – with money from the organized crime firm Murder Inc. and a threat.
The Flamingo’s grand opening was rushed by Siegel wrapped in mob debt, and the hotel was infiltrated by colleagues from Murder Inc. shortly afterwards. Unlike Flamingo’s Flop, the newest hotel to follow, Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn, hosted a star-studded grand opening – a two-day gala featuring big celebrities and a credit limit of up to $ 10,000 for VIPs.
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As the Strip’s hotel scene began offering nuclear test tours, architect Wayne McAllister blew up the market with the Sands Hotel.
“The Sands was the casino that took all of the elements floating around Las Vegas and really perfected them,” said Schwartz.
The architect and author Alan Hess described the Sands as “sophisticated” with intricate lights and carpets and above all a glamorous 20 meter high neon sign. This triggered the beginning of the neon light lifestyle in Las Vegas.
In the 1950s, the Sands continued its cool reputation, often hosting A-listers like Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra and was famous for The Rat Pack.
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The Strip was home to 18 hotels until 1953 when the pressure to build bigger landmarks increased. The Stardust became the newest Vegas travel destination in the late 1950s, catering to the average American tourist and setting the scene for decades to come.
When Las Vegas’ modern staples like MGM, Caesars Palace and Treasure Island took over the landscape, Sin City’s original foundations like Sands, Desert Inn and Stardust were sacrificed to rebuild. The only exception: Bugsy Siegel’s Flamingo, which was transformed into a Vegas mega-hotel today.
