Be reminded when this site changes
(If you had submitted your e-mail address before January, 2004, please do it again. The new program I am using is using the page you signed up for as a direction page. Since that it never updated, you will not be notified).
Monitor page
for changes
You may see some strange things on this site while I convert it to a new format. I am doing this as it has become evident that this site is a prime target for others to claim as their own. You may see words repeated, loss of graphics, links not working and the like. I had a choice of either taking the entire site down and working on it leaving a "Under Construction" under this website address or work on it while it is up so you can at least enjoy the history of the Ladies on the Strip. I decided to leave it up so please excuse the problems while I convert it. |
Our very own Sam Melchionne who played in the Desert Inn's Sky Room and Sahara's Don The Beachcomber did some house cleaning and he is selling some of his Saharan magazines which was published by the Sahara. If you are interested in any of these, please e-mail Sam for cost, etc. Keep in mind some of these issues have Sam's picture in them. I haven't asked him but I'm sure he would autograph your purchase. They are as follows: November, 1964 Clint Eastwood on cover; January, 1965; March, 1965; May, 1965; June, 1965; July, 1965; September, 1965; October, 1965; November, 1965; December, 1965; March, 1966; August, 1966; November, 1966; February, 1967; and April, 1967.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
 |
 |
|||
THE INDUSTRY CARD's Troops Phone Home Campaign will enable our troops to hear the voices of their families & loved ones and allow you to send a personal message of greeting and gratitude with your gift. This program is our way to express our appreciation for their sacrifice. Rick Frazier, who is a personal friend of mine, is spearheading this program and I can assure you this is indeed a legitimate way to help the people who are risking their lives for us!
 |
Welcome to the most detailed history of the Las Vegas Strip on the internet today!
The Strip is a world of its own. Where else can you go to visit Egypt, New York, the Tropics, King and Queens, Rome/Greece, Hollywood, and much more all on one street? This is the street of lights, excitement, and dreams. Some dreams come true becoming great successes and others sadly die. The Strip is competitive and one only has to look down the street at night to see this. Each property has to not only keep up with the others, but to also attract and keep their visitors. All of this takes nerve, imagination, and creativity. Just take a good look at any of these structures. There is creativity all around them. The dreams of owners, architects, designers, interior decorators, and employees are all wrapped up into these architectural wonders.
Please keep in mind that if you have any questions, information, etc., regarding this site, DO NOT contact the casinos. They cannot help you. They volunteered to help but they assume no obligation or responsibility of the contents. The wording is mine and there is information contained in their pages that they did not give me. Please e-mail me with any problems you have with this site or the contents. You can send them e-mail or snail mail thanking them for caring enough to contribute though.
Many thanks to my webspace company American Web Hosting. Brian and Ryan definitely have a hands-on approach to their clients. They have helped me continuously with the growth of this site and the demands I never dreamed I needed from my webspace company. Many thanks to you both!)
This is the visionaries' site. From the individuals who looked at three miles of desert road and saw a dream, a street like no other - to the present dream weavers who see a better Strip, a prettier one, a bigger one. Sure, some of the dreams died or were replaced, but the point is they tried and to some extent or for some short period of time, they succeeded. Each of them bucked warnings and laughs, and some even gave their lives to make their dreams come true. Their message to you is the next time you see a vision, a dream, and people tell you you're crazy or it could never be done, come back to this site and visit these people and what they created. Picture a three mile desert road, and see it after the dream weavers arrived - castles, exploding volcanos, sultans, the old west, pirate fights, flamingos, animal habitats, dancing water, and cities such as New York, Paris and Venice. If they can see a dream and make it reality, so can you!
The following is arranged beginning with the first major hotel/casino resort or casino to the present. There may have been clubs, casinos, or motels on the properties before which is listed underneath the name. I have numbered the top ten as they held the pathway for the rest of the Strip.
The Strip Welcomes You To:
April 3, 1941 - Its first resort El Rancho opening with 63 rooms.
October 30, 1942 - Its second resort Hotel Last Frontier opening with 105 rooms.
1930 - Pair-O-Dice
1936 - Ambassador Night Club
1939 - 91 Club
April 4, 1955 - New Frontier
1967 - The Frontier
1999 - New Frontier
December 26, 1946 - Its third resort Flamingo Hotel opening with 105 rooms.
March 1, 1947 - Fabulous Flamingo
1971 - Flamingo Hilton
1999 - Flamingo Las Vegas
September 2, 1948 - Its fourth resort The Thunderbird opening with 76 rooms.
1977 - Silverbird
1982 - El Rancho
April 24, 1950 - Its fifth resort Desert Inn opening with 300 rooms.
???? - Players Club
September, 1950 - The Silver Slipper/Golden Slipper.
October 7, 1952 - Its sixth resort Sahara opening with 240 rooms.
April 8, 1947 - Club Bingo
December 15, 1952 - Its seventh resort Sands opening with 200 rooms.
???? - La Rue's
1988 - Sands MGM
May 3, 1999 - The Venetian opening with 3,036 rooms.
April 19, 1955 - Its eighth resort The Royal Nevada
April 20, 1955 - Its ninth resort Riviera opening with 300 rooms.
May 23, 1955 - Its tenth resort Dunes opening with 200 rooms.
October 15, 1998 - Bellagio opening with 3,026 rooms.
June 1956 - Hacienda opening with 256 rooms.
March 2, 1999 - Mandalay Bay opening with 3,309 rooms.
April 4, 1957 - Tropicana opening with 300 rooms.
July 2, 1958 - Stardust Resort & Casino opening with 1,000 rooms.
1960 - San Souci. This property was shared by two establishments. The Red Rooster "clan" was first, then the San Souci. The Red Rooster eventually disappeared. San Souci was then the evolving property.
1931 - Red Rooster Nite Club
1933 - The Red Rooster
1933 - Red Rooster
1941 - Alice Morris Red Rooster
1942 - Red Rooster Nite Club
1947 - Gracie Hayes Lodge
1948 - Red Rooster
1950 - Martello's Red Rooster
1951 - Red Rooster
1953 - Hi Ho Club
May 4, 1954 - The Patio Club
1954 - The Rendezvous
1956 - Gracie Hayes Lodge
Sharing the property with
1942 - San Souci Auto Court
1949 - San Souci Court
1950 - San Souci Auto & Trailer Court
1955 - Sans Souci Hotel, Inc.
1963 - Castaways
1967 - Oliver's New Castaways Casino
November 22, 1989 - The Mirage opening with 3,044 rooms
October 27, 1993 - Treasure Island opening with 2,891 rooms (this property was Mirage's parking lot)
June, 2000 - MGM Mirage
October, 2003 - TI
1963 - Its first "motel" resort Westward-Ho
April 1, 1966 - The Aladdin opening with 335 rooms.
1962 - The Tally Ho
1964 - King's Crown
August 18, 2000 - Aladdin opening with 2,567 rooms
August 5, 1966 - Caesars Palace opening with 700 rooms.
1972 - Circus Circus Hotel Casino Resort opening with 400 rooms.
October 18, 1968 - Circus Circus Casino
???? - El Morocco Motel
???? - Ginseng Korean and Japanese Bar-B-Q Restaurant
July 2, 1973 - Holiday Casino
1949 - Tumbleweed Motel
195? - The Pyramids Motel
1992 - Harrah's
19?? - River Boat Casino
July 1, 1967 - Bonanza Hotel and Casino opening with 160 rooms
1963 - Three Coins Motel
1969 - New Bonanza Hotel and Casino
December 23, 1973 - MGM Grand Hotel opening with 2,100 rooms
1986 - Bally Grand
1996 - Bally's
1973 - Riata Casino
1974 - Silver City Casino
1975 - Marina Hotel and Casino
December 18, 1993 - MGM Grand Hotel/Casino opening with 5,005 rooms.
March, 1979 - Barbary Coast opening with 150 rooms.
195? - Desert Villa
195? - Empey's Desert Villa
November 1, 1979 - Imperial Palace
19?? - Flamingo Capri
July 13, 1979 - Vegas World opening with 100 rooms.
???? - Todkill/Bill Hayden Lincoln Mercury Dealership
March 31, 1974 - Million Dollar Historic Gambling Museum
April 30, 1996 - Stratosphere opening with 1,500 rooms.
1979 - Slots-A-Fun
July 1, 1989 - O'Shea's
June 19, 1990 - Excalibur opening with 4,032 rooms.
January 1, 1992 - Casino Royale
???? - Joey's New Yorker Night Club
1979 - Nob Hill
October 15, 1993 - Luxor Las Vegas opening with 2,526 rooms.
1993 - Boardwalk Holiday Inn
1969 - Holiday Queen
February 13, 2002 - Boardwalk Hotel & Casino
June 21, 1996 - Monte Carlo - opening with 3,002 rooms.
1953 - Desert Rose Motel
January 3, 1997 - New York New York opening with 2,033 rooms.
195? - Lone Palm Motel
Sharing property with
1965 - Rodeway Inn
September 1, 1999 - Paris Las Vegas opening with 2,914 rooms.
19?? - Galaxy Motel
1970 - Little Caesar's
These ladies aren't on the Strip but had a direct impact on the Strip.
May 14, 1955 - Moulin Rouge
1957 - The Royal Inn Casino
???? - Americana Hotel
???? - Paddlewheel Hotel Casino
1993 - Miss Reynolds Hotel Casino aka Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino
1999 - World Wrestling Federation
July 20, 2001 - Greek Isles Hotel & Casino
July 1, 1969 - Landmark
July 2, 1969 - International
September 4, 1953 - Las Vegas Race Track
1970 - Las Vegas Hilton
There were plenty of little ma and pa type motels springing up on the Strip. The ones that evolved to resorts are already listed. This section is for the little girls. The visionaries who created motels that disappeared and replaced by items other than resorts or endured time and remain on the Strip today. Please click here to see the mini-dreams.
This section contains background information each of the dreamweavers, the visionaries who took a chance and placed the ultimate bets. Below each name is a list of the resorts they were either connected with or they created. Please click here to meet the visionaries.
Donation Plaque, Strip Maps and Pictures This section contains the names of individuals who were kind enough to make a monetary donation to keep this site going and free. This section also contains some maps and pictures for your enjoyment, as well as holiday wishes section which involves various ads taken out to wish everyone happy holidays.
Fun Facts and Information Some trivia, facts and information for your enjoyment.
Transportation on the Strip Need to get around the Strip? Here are some ideas.
Webrings and Links Since you're already in the virtual Las Vegas Strip, why don't you visit some other sites that I think are noteworthy!
Books and Appearances List This is a list of books and movie/TV appearances made by the ladies.
Awards We Won This site has won awards and we are proud to show them off.
Pictures/Ads General information regarding the your desire for scans of the pictures contained on this site.
Shopping On-Line Here are some unique shopping sites. I need money to keep this site up, running and updated. You can get some great things and I can continue to work on this site. A definite win-win situation! Remember, some of the sites you don't have to buy anything from. You can register at some of the joke/information sites, or just clicking on some of them will give me a few cents.
Miscellaneous Information, My Experiences/Other Sites I have recorded briefly my experiences on the Strip and auctions that "have gone bad" and well as other tales so you can learn from my mistakes. For you physicially handicapped Strip fans - there is a page here about accommodations at the ladies to make your stay for pleasurable. I have a poll on this site when I think of questions or someone volunteers something. The results of previous polls will be in this section for your review. I also have an obituary section of some of the entertainers who are gone but not forgotten. This will constantly be added to. This section also contains the other sites I work on when I'm not working on this one.
Pete & Chantel Rizzo's Old Vegas Chips Site This site belongs to Pete & Chantel Rizzo who have been invaluable to me for helping my readers assess chips and other Vegas items. I am not a collector so please do not e-mail me scans of your chips and/or items asking me what they are worth. Go to the experts - Pete & Chantel!
Update Section This is for repeat visitors. You can also click on the wording on the top of this page as well.
"I have a new idea about every 21 seconds. It's a talent, a characteristic I have. But an idea is one thing. Making it come alive in three-dimension reality is another". - Jay Sarno, creator of Caesars Palace and Circus Circus"What I love the most about this town is the terrific opportunity it presents to those with the imagination and daring to build new must-see properties. Where else could you find a pyramid next to Camelot, next to the Statue of Liberty and Monte Carlo, an Italian lake next to the Roman Empire. Here this madness is okay. Any place else they'd lock you up. The best is yet to come. The next five years will see a renaissance of entertainment here." - Steve Wynn, February 1, 2000 - creator of Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio
View My Guestbook
Sign My Guestbook
(Entries will appear within 24 hours of submitting them)
If you wish to advertise on this site, feel free to e-mail me.
This Site was last updated on Monday, April 19, 2004.
Copyright�1999 -, Deanna DeMatteo - All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced, translated, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without express written permission of the owner!
This site is owned, created and maintained by Deanna DeMatteo
This site is housed on American Web Hosting
