A Complete Photo History of Las Vegas Strip Casinos

In 1931 the Anthony Cornero family took the initiative to build the first, all-new casino property from the ground up. They chose
a location at the intersection of Fremont and Charleston Street. Though it was located about one mile from the train depot and
the other small casinos near Main Street, its operation was intended to draw gambling patrons who drove into the downtown
area from Boulder Highway. At the time, Boulder Highway was the most heavily used road into Las Vegas; especially used
most by the construction workers building Boulder Dam and only had a few barn-like, roadhouses along its five mile length.

The Meadows Casino was a unique and trendsetting establishment due to its car oriented design and its complete use as an
all-in-one casino complex. The Meadows was the first gaming establishment to combine casino space with a cabaret,
showroom, restaurant, plus fifty hotel rooms. It was plush, sophisticated and popular with its Red Room Cabaret
and its Gold Ballroom. From the time of its May 2, 1932 opening, it was a great success.

After the 1935 completion of Boulder Dam, the construction workers left the Las Vegas area and The Meadows lost a major
portion of its customer base. It closed in 1936 and the building later caught fire and the entire complex was demolished.

Although the 1905 Arizona Club provided the first Las Vegas casino-hotel...The Meadows holds the distinction
of being the first (post-1931 gaming legalization)casino-hotel complex in Las Vegas.

The car-oriented placement of The Meadows, near the major highway of the time, set the template for what would later be done by
the El Rancho hotel-casino complex and its placement on the Los Angeles-Arrowhead Highway five years after The Meadows shut
down. Though the 1941 El Rancho was the first major casino-hotel complex built on The Strip - The Meadows was the very first
gaming-complex ever built it Las Vegas. 5 years after its closing, the next Downtown casino-hotel to open was the El Cortez.

The Meadows originator and owner, Tony Cornero would later go on to operate gaming-boats (such as the S. S. Rex) off the shores
of California until anti-gaming laws took effect in the early 1940s. Cornero arrived back in Las Vegas in 1945 to open his S.S. Rex
Casino in the ground floor of the Apache Hotel. As a major player in Las Vegas his name should not be forgotten. It was his close
friendship with the top L.A. Sunset Strip, nightclub owner Billy Wilkerson - that led to the building of the Flamingo in 1945.

Tony Cornero would later go on to start construction of his final dream-casino, The Starlite. He passed away
before its completion and it finally opened (with a name change) as The Stardust, in 1958.

In actuality, the roots of the current Las Vegas Strip lead back to the once opulent Meadows Casino and the visions of Tony Cornero.

By comparing these ramshakle roadhouses to the well designed architectural beauty of The Meadows Casino, the vast differences
between the different types of 1930s entertainment facilities is easily seen. What they did have in common was plenty of room for
easy parking. This would be what the later Strip would be able to provide, as opposed to the pedestrian Downtown properties.

Two of the largest roadhouses, near The Meadows Casino are seen above. Notice the slogan above the The Black Cat Roadhouse,
which announces "All Night Long". The other roadhouse (seen at left) was named The Red Windmill, which had a large windmill-sign
over its front entrance. In 1941, the Los Angeles Highway-Strip would have a similar windmill-sign set in place at the new El Rancho
Vegas Motel-Casino complex...although this one would be outlined in modern neon. Though coincidentally similar, the El Rancho
windmill design was a key-element in its chain of 1930s California motels (such as was installed at the 1939 El Rancho Fresno).

With the 1909 creation of the Ford Model T, auto production and ownership changed dramatically. The Ford Model T became the world's
most influential car of the twentieth century. Automobile ownership and use grew steadily. After the end of World War One, U.S. auto
production reached 750,000 cars built in 1918. By 1920 annual auto production reached 2 million. By the 1920s, the price of Ford cars
had dropped to $300 equivalent to $3,200 today By 1923, 3 million. Car production increased steadily until 1929 when over 4 million cars
were manufactured in a single year. When the Great Depression struck, auto production dropped to 950,000 cars produced in 1932. Due to
the Depression and World War Two, it would take until 1949 before the 1929, 4 miilion mark would be surpassed.

Never before had so much prosperity and technological changes been placed upon a nation. The inventions of radio and electrical
appliances, along with the increased availability of the telephone and home electricity, brought tremendous advancements to the
American way of life during the heydays of the Roaring Twenties. The impact of car use caused a ripple-effect of subsequent changes.

The free auto-camps and public toilets, of the early 1920s, led to development of more suitable travel stops known as auto
and motor courts. These commerical, tourist courts were composed of fenced-off land containing roughly 20-40 small cabins
and cottages with individual driveways for overnight car parking. Unlike pedestrian oriented downtown hotels, early 1920s
auto-courts were automobile-friendly, allowing quick and easy parking and fun and clean havens to spend the night. Filling
stations and diners were available nearby or on-site. This centralization of auto-travel facilities marked
the beginning of what is now know as Roadside Architecture.

Auto-courts would usually incorporate their unique local landmarks and geographic attractions into the design of their
motorist campgrounds. In Kentucky, a person could find wigwam-cabins (cement tee-pees) . In New England they could
sleep in Colonial styled cabins. In the Southwest, they could sleep in mini-adobe huts. Entire chains of motor-courts
developed over the years with names like 'Kozy Kottages' of Wigwam Village'.

The concept of road-art, where motor-courts and roadside-cafes used eye-catching signs and themed buildings
would develop for over two decades before it became used on the highways leading to Downtown Las Vegas.

The difference between an auto-court and a motel was that the motel would provide private bathrooms in each room, as opposed
to the common, group bathrooms/showers of the early auto-courts. His motel plan was to provide a restaurant, laundy and grocery
store at each motel location. The first motel in his planned chain opened under the name of the Milestone Motel. It was located
mid-way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, near Avila Beach.

Although his first motel was a commercial success, The Great Depression of 1929 delayed his plan to eastablish a motel chain.
The name Mo-Tel soon after became a generic term, used for any 'roadside-hotel' that built rooms under a single roof (instead
of using the individual cottage layout of auto-courts. Heinman's Motel still stands next to the Apple Farm Inn. It operated for
approximately 60 years under the name Motel Inn and was a favorite place for 1930s movie stars traveling to Hearst Castle.

The architect hired to design Agua Caliente was an astoundingly young nineteen year old named Wayne McAllister. After designing
Agua Caliente, McAllister gained fame for designing nightclubs and restaurants in Southern California. MacAllister was the creator
of the circular drive-in restaurants in So Cal such as the 'Pig 'n' Whistle', Simon's, Herberts, and Van De Kamps. He also
designed Lawry's Restaurant, the Cinegrill, and the Biltmore Bowl auditorium (an early location used for the Academy Award
Ceremonies. McAllister also designed the 1949 Bob's Big Boy Restaurant and the drive-ins in its chain.

Most importantly, Wayne McAllister would later go on to play an important role in Las Vegas development thru his knowledge of
roadside architecture and casino design. McAllister would design the first Strip casino-motel ever built (the El Rancho) in 1940.
That same year he designed Downtown Las vegas' El Cortez Hotel. In 1949 he created plans for the most modern casino in
Las Vegas (The Desert Inn) and two years later designed the Sands. In 1955, he was again hired to create the
Downtown Vegas' first high-rise hotel, the Fremont Hotel and Casino.

With the 1928 Auga Caliente, Wayne McAllister designed a hotel-casino complex that set the prototype that Las Vegas Strip casinos
would follow thru the 40s, 50s, 60s, up to this very day. Auga Caliente was a lavish resort. Just as Las Vegas took its name from
a watering spring, so did Auga Caliente.

The resort was a rarity in architectural design for public entertainment. While Hearst Castle was being built in the 1920s for use as
a private residential party-spot for Hollywood celebraties...Auga Calitene opened as the one of the most lavish, public entertainment
facilities of its time. Auga Caliente included a casino, luxurious guest bungalows a spa, Turkish baths and two ballrooms, all designed
in a combination of Mexican Colonial, California Mission stylings. The resort an airstrip, championship golf and tennis facilities.

Two years after the casino opened, McAllister designed the $2.5 million dollar Auga Caliente Racetrack. The racetrack hosted the
world's richest race with its $140,000 grand prize and was known throughout the world for being the home for some of the most
famous horse races in history with Phar Lap and Sea Biscuit. The racetrack opened four years before Southern California's
Santa Anita Racetrack and was considered the most important track in the west.

Meanwhile. In the quiet, sleepy railroad-stop called Las Vegas - gambling had just become legal with the 1931 ban against
gambling lifted. It wouldn't be long until the visions of architect Wayne McAllister were brought to Las Vegas to create
similar plush resorts on a barren strip of road in the Nevada desert.

Strip History

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LAS VEGAS STRIP - CASINO HISTORY

The EL Rancho concept was followed by the 1942 Last Frontier, the 1946 Flamingo, the 1948 Thunderbird,
the 1950 Desert Inn, the 1952 Sands casino and the 1952 Sahara. In 1955, the Last Frontier built its
New Frontier casino, the Royal Nevada opened, the Dunes was completed and the Strip's first high-rise
(the Riviera) opened. In 1956 the Hacienda opened - followed by the 1957 Tropicana & the 1958 Stardust.

Although the Landmark casino began construction in 1962, it wasn't completed until 1969 and wasn't
located on the Strip. In 1964, the Dunes and the Sands both completed new tower hotel additions.
The Aladdin and Caesars opened in 1966, Circus Circus in 1968, the Bonanza in 1969 and the original
MGM Grand in 1973.

There were no new, major casinos built on the Strip for 16 years until the opening of Steve Wynn's Mirage
which brought Las Vegas into its present era.