In 100 years much has changed in Las Vegas
Happy birthday, Las Vegas!
On May 15, 1905, hundreds of people gathered around a rail car near what is now downtown Las Vegas for a land auction to create the city that would become an oasis of pleasure no one could have imagined 100 years ago.
A city that thrives on excess, Las Vegas has been holding birthday events of one form or another since January.
But in a place where the emphasis is constantly on the newest, biggest, brightest, it’s hard to find the city’s actual roots. So here’s a centennial guide to experiencing the historic in the neon capital of the world:
For starters, it’s helpful to know what no longer exists. Elvis fans who want to genuflect at the site where The King married Priscilla in 1967 will be disappointed. The wedding chapel, part of the original Aladdin, is gone, as are all parts of the old hotel.
Fascinated by the oddball legend of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who checked into the Desert Inn and decided to buy a sizable chunk of the Strip? Well, Hughes’ suite is gone, as is the Desert Inn, replaced by the newly minted Wynn Las Vegas.
Of the early Vegas landmarks, few bear any resemblance to their beginnings.
Consider the Flamingo Hilton. It opened in 1946 as just the Flamingo, the dream project of gangster Bugsy Siegel, who modeled the pink paradise after Miami Beach resorts. But Bugsy didn’t get to enjoy the success. He was gunned down in a mob hit at the Los Angeles home of girlfriend Virginia Hill.
Visitors in search of some mob history won’t find it at the Flamingo Hilton. The last remnants of the fortress-like “Bugsy Suite” and his bullet-proof office were razed in 1993.
Fans of the flesh who want to see the place where bare breasts made a showroom debut will have to settle for all the other topless shows that still thrive in Vegas. The Dunes hotel, where the topless girls of Minsky’s Follies debuted in 1957, is long gone.
Among the survivors:
•Neon Museum: History buffs would do well to start their centennial search at the Neon Museum near downtown and its two junkyard lots – known as the Boneyard – where many of the famed neon signs from demolished landmarks reside in dusty, nonworking repose.
Tours are by appointment only, but 11 of the classic signs are restored and functioning at downtown’s Fremont Street Experience, and the Lied Discovery Children’s Museum has borrowed 30 unrestored pieces from the Boneyard for an exhibit called Neon Unplugged, which is running through July.
•Historic casino: The oldest casino that has maintained much of its look and ambience is downtown’s El Cortez, which opened in 1941. Inside there’s the musty feel of age as well, along with low-stakes gaming minimums – 25-cent craps – not found in the newer casinos.
•Oldest hotel: Then there’s the city’s oldest hotel, the Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, which opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada. Although it has been renovated several times, it still offers patrons an Old Vegas bargain: a 99-cent shrimp cocktail.
•Liberace Museum: Tributes to entertainers who made Las Vegas famous – Elvis, Sinatra and his Rat Pack – can be found in shows at many resorts today, but to get a real feel for the days of rhinestone wildness a visit to the Liberace Museum is a must.
Set in a nondescript shopping center well off the Strip, the museum is in two single-story buildings that contain his glittering cars, pianos and outrageous costumes. It is staffed by dedicated docents who know all manner of details about the flamboyant piano man who was known as Mr. Showmanship from the 1950s through the mid 1980s.
When he opened at the Riviera Hotel in 1955, he was the highest-paid entertainer in Vegas. But it has been more than 20 years since Liberace – who died in 1987 – was a headliner, and many of today’s Vegas visitors don’t know him.