History

#OnThisDay in 1966 Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino opened with a lavish launch party that reportedly cost $1,000,000!

At the time Caesars Palace was the largest hotel ever built as a single unified project in Nevada.  It had 700 rooms across 14 crescent-shaped floors, although some […]

This Spring through a combination of the UNLV Regent’s Service Program, and the generous donation following the 2020 Fall silent

auction by the Friends of NSMLV, the museum acquired a special record player and we embarked upon a new project – digitizing record albums!

Our history collection contains many vinyl […]

On June 2nd 1966 the Four Queens Hotel & Casino opened on Fremont Street, downtown Las Vegas. The casino was named after the four daughters of the founder and president Ben Goffstein. In turn, they were named after a queen from a pack of cards: Michele (the eldest) was the Queen of Spades, Benita […]

On 24 May 1955 the Moulin Rouge Hotel and Casino opened.  It was located at at 900, Bonanza Road on the west side of Las Vegas; becoming what the promoters called “the nation’s first major interracial hotel”.

Opening to standing-room only mixed crowds, the night stage show included the stage show an all African American […]

On 23 May 1955 the Dunes Hotel and Casino opened – the 10th resort on the Strip, and Las Vegas was booming! Two other casinos had opened in the previous month, the Riviera and Royal Nevada, and the off-Strip Moulin Rouge was planned for the following day.
The Dunes was themed on the stories of […]

On May 3rd, 1999, the Venetian Hotel and casino opened its doors to the sounds of trumpets and singing gondoliers!

The Venetian is located where the Sands Hotel and Casino used to stand. Construction started in 1997 and the final building comprised of […]

On 30th April 1947, the 80th Congress passed legislation to officially designate the dam, previously known as Boulder Dam, to be “Hoover Dam” in honor of President Herbert Hoover.  The name of the dam that spans banks of the Colorado River flowing in between Nevada […]

Exterior of the Desert Inn ca. 1950s
On April 24th 1950, Wilbur Clark’s Desert Inn opened its doors and became the fifth major resort on the Strip. While it had taken a couple of years to complete the construction due to money troubles, the final building was a place of luxury […]

On April 18th 2006, Red Rock Resort in Summerlin opened its doors. Named after the local Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, it was built at a cost of $925 million.

It has a contemporary design involving a desert-themed influence, although there are touches […]

On April 12th 1959, the Las Vegas Convention Center hosted its very first convention: The World Congress of Flight, which gave the public the opportunity to see space and aviation progress across the globe. It was accompanied by a […]