What Is the History of Laughlin?

Your answer on how Laughlin is doing during the pandemic got me to thinking about when and why Laughlin was founded and how it managed to grow into such a major gambling destination, especially in a spot where you can fry eggs on the sidewalk all summer long.

Few people would have looked at the arid riverbank that’s now Laughlin, Nev., and foreseen prosperity. Little more than a wide bend in the Colorado River, it was a scorched and inhospitable place. True, many nomadic bands of Indians had managed to eke out a living in what was to become the southern Nevada region known as "South Pointe." But by the mid-19th century, the incursions of white men were pushing the aboriginal people deeper into the desert.

In 1852, Fort Mojave (on the Arizona bank) was a favored port of call for sternwheelers paddling up the Colorado or heading southward en route to to San Francisco round the horn of Baja California. Overland travelers found shelter beneath the fort’s guns and, for a time, an experimental camel-borne system of mail delivery was based there. (Nowadays, it only seems like the mail travels via camel train.)

Settlers spurned the Nevada side of the river, even when the construction of Davis Dam (1942-53) brought a large — if temporary — populace to the area. Upon the ashes of the 19th century river port of Hardyville rose Bullhead City, home to thousands of people engaged in creating Lake Mojave. When they left, Bullhead City remained, albeit as a laid-back community of bait shops, bars, and travel-trailer parks.

Even as the Davis Dam workforce was dispersing, South Pointe’s commercial savior was establishing himself in Nevada, having fled here from the frozen north. Born in Owatonna, Minn., in 1931, Don Laughlin clearly wasn’t cut out for Midwestern conformity. While attending junior high in the proverbial one-room schoolhouse, he discovered a "gray market" in slot machines that — though illegal — dotted the Minnesota countryside as long as law enforcement turned a blind eye.

Charmed by slot machines since childhood, the 14-year-old entrepreneur bought one by mail, using money he earned trapping muskrat and mink in the Minnesota woods. Within a year, the teenager had a flourishing slot-and-pinball business going, raking in $26,000 annually … a lot of money in those Depression-plagued days. (His story is a lot like another Nevada pioneer, Si Redd.)

Such buccaneering didn’t sit too well with Laughlin’s high school principal, who issued an ultimatum: Give up the machines or get out of school. Since Laughlin was making more money than his principal, it was a no-brainer. He kept at the slot routes until 1952, when a nationwide crackdown on gambling devices spurred him westward. When he reached the promised land of Las Vegas, Laughlin tended bar by day and attended dealers’ school at night. By 1954, he’d made enough money to acquire the 101 Club in North Las Vegas.

Over the next decade or so, Laughlin realized the limitation of being a small fish in the big Las Vegas pond. He was never going to capture a major piece of the casino action. Where better to go, he reasoned, than somewhere on the border? There, at least 90% of the action would be from people coming expressly to gamble.

Laughlin, an avid amateur pilot, was making an aerial reconnaissance of the South Pointe area and spotted a promising (and near-empty) stretch of land on the river opposite Bullhead City. Superficially, the site didn’t offer much save abundant water and close proximity to the Arizona and California borders, but that was enough for the early-30s pioneer.

In 1964, the wheeler-dealer parlayed $165,000 from the sale of the 101 Club into the purchase of the Riverside Bait Shop, a defunct eight-room motel, and 6.5 acres of land. By 1966, Laughlin had reopened the old motel and diner as the first incarnation of the Riverside Casino. Starting with four motel rooms (Laughlin’s family lived in the other four), two table games, 12 slots, and a 98-cent buffet, Laughlin built up a business that has grown into the 1,400-room Don Laughlin’s Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino.

His success drew competition. In 1968, the Bobcat Club opened, followed by the Monte Carlo in 1971. In 1972, Oddie Lopp bought and remade the Bobcat Club as the Nevada Club (forerunner of the present Golden Nugget). He emulated Laughlin by offering ferryboat service to the Arizona side of the river. During the go-go Eighties, market dynamics changed. Small operators were elbowed out by large corporations. Circus Circus snapped up the Edgewater in 1983 and proceeded to build its riverboat-themed Colorado Belle. Steve Wynn arrived in 1988, the same year that Harrah’s Entertainment snatched up the town’s only stretch of beach sand.

This gaggle of shoreline casino-hotels was baptized "Laughlin." In 1968, legend has it, the Postal Service wanted to bring mail delivery closer than Searchlight. A postal inspector asked Don Laughlin for possible names for his burg. The latter offered "Riverside" and "Casino," but the inspector — supposedly named O’Neill — countered with the "good Irish name" of Laughlin.

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Adam Cohen Mar-06-2021

Need to visit

I keep saying I am going to visit it someday but have not made the trip. Maybe this summer.  Do they have good Blackjack

Jackie Mar-06-2021

@ Adam Cohen

You haven't missed much but the next time you are in Las Vegas there are casino bus trips from Las Vegas to Laughlin.  It's a one hour trip with a six hour layover to do "The Laughlin Strip".

Of course if you brought your own car or rented one it's an easy, can't get lost drive.
That doesn't mean if you happen to yawn as you hit Laughlin you will find yourself in Bullhead City wondering where did it go.

Enjoy!

Kevin Rough Mar-06-2021

I like Laughlin

After a few days in Las Vegas, a side trip to Laughlin is always enjoyed.  With the exception of Harrah's, there is no 6-5 blackjack.  The pools are less crowded than those on the strip.  And we always cross the bridge to Bullhead City before we come home since gas is usually anywhere from 25 to 50 cents less expensive per gallon.

melman Mar-06-2021

Not what it once was

I frequented Laughlin in the 90's when all the casinos were new.  For low stakes BJ, there was no reason to drive the extra hour to LV.  In the early 2000's I played and stayed in Downtown LV, before it turned into the loud mess that it is now.  I tried to return to Laughlin but it never recovered from the 2008 recession.  It's a shabby relic of what it used to be.

O2bnVegas Mar-06-2021

no help

And the Covid-19 virus didn't help anybody.  However, we still enjoy Laughlin.  Staff all super friendly. Rooms and suites have been updated, though of course nothing like the fancier places in Vegas.  It is most enjoyable when the weather is sunny and mild.

Candy

Kevin Lewis Mar-06-2021

What they're not telling you

An alien spaceship crashed while on its way to the spaceport now known as Area 51. They couldn't get parts or a tow truck back then, so they made the remnants of their ship into a casino. They called the town that grew up around it "Fun For Humans." They sold out to Don Laughlin when the Area 51 mothership came for them.

The government doesn't want you to know all this, of course.

Reno Faoro Mar-06-2021

ah yes , free trip

enjoyable  place , no glitter like  "MOMMA VEGAS ", credit to don laughlin , it is still open for business, 58 years later . 4 of us found the bacon in the breakfast buffet to be 'VERY ENJOYABLE'

gaattc2001 Mar-06-2021

Laughlin has had its ups and downs,

but we've been going there off-and-on for twenty years--the last ten of those from Phoenix, and it's a whole hour closer than Las Vegas. I won't mention any names but if you shop around you can find playable Blackjack (but watch out for 6-5!) and VP. The best poker room closed two years ago, but there are still two left. There used to be other gaming attractions such as a very nice Blackjack tournament every two or three months; but that's gone now, or at least on indefinite hold. 
Most places have resort fees, but they're generally lower than in Las Vegas. Parking is mostly if not entirely free. Play some not-too-bad $1 VP and comp offers appear in the mail. We were there New Years' Eve and had a great view of the fireworks.
One downside is that it's often a long hike in from the parking lot/deck, and they have had some muggings and robberies. Plus of course the heat in the summer. But all that's certainly not unique to Laughlin.

Mark Hancock Mar-06-2021

the rest of the story

As the Answer of the Day states in the 80's Laughlin was a growth machine. But it stopped dead in its tracks after the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. After its enactment there were other gambling options than Reno, Vegas and AC. Native American casinos began to dominate the regional casino market and Laughlin became an afterthought. I'm happy that it has done relatively well in the pandemic era.

Eric Forman Mar-06-2021

Still don't want to go there...

... but I'd love to see that story turned into a movie.

Tal2 Mar-06-2021

Thank you

I really enjoyed reading this article. I love Laughlin. Too bad about the muggings and robberies. I’ll be more careful the next time I visit.

AL Mar-06-2021

Time correction

I'm not sure why so many folks are saying that Laughlin is only one hour from Vegas. It's much more than that. From downtown LV, it's 95 miles. I drove it many times in 2000's (I had a car back then. It's now all freeway or big divided highway from downtown LV to Searchlight, but after that it's slower. You have to slow down to 25mph while driving through Searchlight, and then it's a 3-lane highway down to the intersection of the north/sough Highway 95 and the east/west Highway 163, which is a windy road on which you should not drive the speed limit. The trip from downtown LV or the Strip will take, on average, 1 hour and 45 minutes, less if from Henderson but more if from the west-side locals' casinos. Personally, I would rent a car for 1 day instead of go on a bus trip because I wouldn't want to be limited to 6 hours or take a change that something would make me miss the bus back. I would want to gamble and walk around as long as I want and then dine in relaxation.

AL Mar-06-2021

Laughlin thoughts

Consider actually staying & playing in Laughlin for a couple days instead of just doing a day trip. If you stay high up in the east tower of the Tropicana Laughlin in a room facing east, you'll have a fantastic view of all the riverfront casinos at night, and there's usually a deal that gets you a room for $22-$25 (before a low resort fee of $13.50, after tax). Otherwise, all hotel/casinos are next to the river. The Riverside may not have good video poker but it has a bowling alley, a 6-plex theater and a good choice of restaurants. Some hotel/casinos have got the walk from the parking lot to inside totally covered to protect from the sun. If you have a car, there's a better overall choice of restaurants across the river in Bullhead City, including the Black Bear Diner for breakfast or Southern food, and ethnic joints. The thing "everybody" does is walk the paved path from one casino to the next, called Riverfront Walk. The whole town is just more relaxing and less hept-up than Vegas.

IdahoPat Mar-06-2021

Bumbleberry Flats ...

... inside the Pioneer has one of the more diverse menus I can remember seeing, especially for breakfast.

melman Mar-08-2021

One hour difference

AL, for those of us coming from Phoenix, from the 68/93 junction outside of Kingman, it's about 90 minutes to LV, or 30 minutes to Laughlin.  Laughlin is an hour closer.

Question of the Day - 06 March 2021

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