Q:
Starting from one end of the Strip to the other, would it be possible to match up the casinos of today with the casinos that used to be at that location in the past, say in the '60s, '70s, or '80s? For example, what casino did Bellagio replace, or the Cosmopolitan, etc.? (Even mentioning the name changes would be great, e.g., the Aladdin was renamed Planet Hollywood.)
A:
This is an interesting query that has been posed to QoD before, and we're glad we already did most of the legwork the first time around, since it turned out to be a major sleuthing operation that required us to consult and cross-reference with multiple (at times conflicting) sources, including UNLV's Special Collections, lvstriphistory.com, Wikipedia, and Anthony Curtis' Bargain City.
We're pretty sure we arrived at an accurate account the last time, but that was back on August 16, 2011, and there have been some significant changes in the interim. So, taking first the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard South and then the west, and starting at the north and working our way south, below we list the current hotel-casino in bold, with previous incarnations/names at the same site following, working backward chronologically from left to right.
The Strip, East Side:
- SLS Las Vegas: Sahara, Club Bingo
- Fountainebleau (unfinished): El Rancho; Silverbird; Thunderbird
- Riviera: no previous casino/hotel
- Encore no previous casino/hotel
- Wynn: Desert Inn
- Palazzo: Tam O'Shanter (motel)
- Venetian: Sands
- Casino Royale: Nob Hill Casino; Joey's New Yorker Night Club; Frank Musso's Restaurant
- Harrah's: Holiday Casino; Pyramids Motel; Tumbleweed Motel
- The Quad: Imperial Palace, Flamingo Capri
- O'Sheas: no previous casino; temporarily closed and now incorporated as a "casino-within-a-casino" in The Quad
- Flamingo: no previous casino/hotel
- The Cromwell: Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon; Barbary Coast; Desert Villa
- Bally's: Bally Grand; MGM Grand; New Bonanza Hotel and Casino, Three Coins Motel; Bonanza Hotel and Casino
- Paris: Little Caesar's; Galaxy Motel
- Planet Hollywood: Aladdin (two separate incarnations); King's Crown; Tally-Ho
- MGM Grand: Marina Hotel & Casino/Tropicana Country Club
- Tropicana: no previous casino/hotel
The Strip, West Side:
- Circus Circus: no previous casino/hotel
- Slots-A-Fun: no previous casino/hotel
- Resorts World Las Vegas (pending): Echelon Place (unfinished); Stardust
- Trump Hotel Las Vegas: built partially on the site of what was formerly The New Frontier (again); The Frontier; the New Frontier; Hotel Last Frontier; 91 Club; The Ambassador Night Club; Pair-O-Dice
- Treasure Island: no previous casino/hotel
- Mirage: Castaways; Sans Souci; Gracie Hayes Lodge; The Rendezvous; The Patio; Hi Ho Club; Red Rooster (and other incarnations too numerous to mention)
- Caesars Palace: no previous casino/hotel
- Bellagio: Dunes
- The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas: no previous casino/hotel
- CityCenter: Boardwalk; Holiday Inn; Holiday Queen
- Monte Carlo: Desert Rose Motel
- New York-New York: Roadway Inn/Lone Palm Motel
- Excalibur: no previous casino/hotel
- Luxor: no previous casino/hotel
- Mandalay Bay: Hacienda
Off-Strip Notables:
- Stratosphere: Vegas World
- Palace Station: Bingo Palace
- Clarion: Greek Isles; Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Hotel; Paddlewheel; Royal Americana
- LVH: Las Vegas Hilton; International; Las Vegas Race Track
- Westin Casuarina: Maxim Hotel and Casino
- Hooters: Hotel San Remo; Pacifica Polynesian; Treasury; 20th Century Hotel; Ho Jo Paradise; Howard Johnson Hotel
- Wild Wild West: King 8 Motel
- Silverton: Boomtown
Images appear courtesy of UNLV Special Collections and the Las Vegas Historical Society. For more historic hotel images, check out the Las Vegas History Images gallery in UNLV's Special Collections.
Strip map 1950
Strip map 1960
Strip '68
Strip '70s
Strip '80s
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