What is the oldest building on the Strip?

Just a quick question for all Vegas historians on the board.

By "oldest," I mean the actual structure itself, or a major part of it. I.E. The Flamingo is the oldest "name" on the Strip, but very little if any of Bugsy Siegel's original building still exists, so it's out.

I don't know enough about the Sahara or Riviera to say whether any of the original construction is buried underneath all the new facades and towers that they've added over the years...any ideas? I've seen some pictures of the "old" Riviera that suggest they might still be there, but I can't say for sure.

If they're out, I would guess Caesars Palace as the next most likely candidate.

I have heard it is the Little Church of the West. It's a wedding chapel a bit south of Mandalay. Wikipedia confirms this, for what that's worth. Since 1942. As far as original casino building, I'm not sure.

El Cortez.

Edit: Oops.

Quote: dudestupid

I have heard it is the Little Church of the West. It's a wedding chapel a bit south of Mandalay. Wikipedia confirms this, for what that's worth. Since 1942. As far as original casino building, I'm not sure.

It started on the grounds of the Last Frontier.

Quote: OneAngryDwarf

I've seen some pictures of the "old" Riviera that suggest they might still be there, but I can't say for sure.

Yeah, the two Riviera pics on this page suggest that as well. The 1953 construction picture shows the beginnings of a right-angled building that looks like the north and back wings of the hotel complex in the 1974 pic (left side of the picture, where the entrance canopy is).

Conversely, this page on the Sahara suggests that the original room there are gone. The photo history has an overhead shot from 1968 that shows the old motel-style rooms enclosing the pool area in front of the Tunis and Alexandria towers. The overhead shot with the remodel plans shows that that whole area doesn't exist anymore; it looks like they built the current casino in that area.

Or you can look at this page that shows the plans (not official, but reasonably accurate) for the expanded casino and possible new tower (never built) where the old motel rooms and pool area were. Either way.

So yeah, it looks like the Riviera has the oldest surviving C/H structure on the Strip.

10 of the original bungalows from the El Rancho were relocated to various locations some of these locations were apparently on the strip. Some of these buildings could still exist/or not. The bungalows were built starting in the late 40's and moved in the 60's several years after the main casino burnt down.

The original buildings of the Flamingo were completely destroyed. Not a brick exists. I don't think there is anything left that was not built before the '70s.

Some of the original Sahara buildings still exist, so they are the oldest casino buildings on the strip. Sahara is older than the Riviera.
I somehow doubt if the bungalows from El Rancho are still in existence.

In downtown, El Cortez is the oldest purpose built casino with rooms. The Bayou was one of the four original licenses in 1931, and I assume the building is still the same (but completely remodelled). It is a very small slot club now, but they had card games originally.

In 1940 Las Vegas' population has grown to 8,422.

Didn't one of the newer resorts (MGM maybe?) keep the hotel that was on location and just add a facade, and build up around it?

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Didn't one of the newer resorts (MGM maybe?) keep the hotel that was on location and just add a facade, and build up around it?

I think you are thinking of Bally's, which used to be the MGM Grand. But it's not as old as the Sahara or Riviera.

This page is pretty useful.
http://library.nevada.edu/arch/casinosbytime.html

The MGM Grand incorporated the Marina hotel into it when it was built it is now the west wing. The Marina was built in 1975 so not all that old.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Didn't one of the newer resorts (MGM maybe?) keep the hotel that was on location and just add a facade, and build up around it?

I forget where I read it, but I think the MGM did just that. The Marina hotel if memory serves.

Quote: kenarman

The MGM Grand incorporated the Marina hotel into it when it was built it is now the west wing. The Marina was built in 1975 so not all that old.

So it doesn't qualify as old enough. That's fine. At least I got the MGM part right.

Funny you should ask. I also go with the Little Church of the West, where my wife and I got married. Just today I walked past it and remarked about it.

OK who has the oldest active gaming license in NV?
No (Google) peeking

Quote: kenarman

The MGM Grand incorporated the Marina hotel into it when it was built it is now the west wing. The Marina was built in 1975 so not all that old.

That's the current MGM Grand. The first MGM Grand was built in 1973, and turned into Bally's in 1986. But still, not all that old.

Quote: Wavy70

OK who has the oldest active gaming license in NV?
No (Google) peeking

My first guess would be the Golden Gate, and my next guess would be the El Cortez.

Quote: mkl654321

My first guess would be the Golden Gate, and my next guess would be the El Cortez.

Nope. Get on 95 South.

Quote: Wavy70

Nope. Get on 95 South.

Railroad Pass?? Hacienda??

Quote: mkl654321

Railroad Pass?? Hacienda??

Yes the Pass. Lic # like 001 or 002 if me brain serves me well.
Post your address and the years supply of Rice-a-Roni will be sent shortly.

Taught my wife craps on the $1 table there. I think I may have taught the dealers some of the rules too.
Went to play $1 craps at the Western a few weeks ago but the tables were closed. So we just went to the High Limit room and dranke rose'

Railroad Pass is license #4, but I think 7 licenses were given out the first day in 1931. I just don't know how old the buildings are.

The La Bayou at #15 Fremont Street was another one of the original licenses. For most of it's life it was the Northern Club.

But before it became the Northern Club, in the 1900s it was the Las Vegas Coffee House. In 1920, Mayme Stocker opened the Northern Club on the property. Originally it was a soft drink emporium but Northern was code, back in the day, for miners and veterans of mining camps and they knew it was a place, despite Prohibition, where they could not only get a real drink to wet their whistle but also take a chance at Lady Luck. Mayme was the owner of record. Her husband, Oscar, worked for the Union Pacific which seriously frowned on their employees having outside interests.

Despite the anti-gambling law, their were five games of chance that could be played in Las Vegas back then: stud, draw and lowball poker, 500 and bridge, according to Mayme's son, Harold. Harold had quite a colorful childhood moving with his mother between Montana and Las Vegas and then to Los Angeles when the Grammer School burned down. One summer, Harold went down to Tijuana and got a job learning to deal. He was only 17 years old. After WWI, Harold returned to Las Vegas and got a job, like his father and brothers, working for the Railroad.

The Northern was said to be a stand up place that didn't cater in women. That was for Block 16, the red-light district, just off Fremont Street. Harold, ever the entrepreneur, however invested in a few brothels on Block 16,

In 1931, with the anti-gambling law repealed, Mayme Stocker applied for and was awarded the first gaming license in Las Vegas. Harold's older brother Lester was a professional gambler and according to Harold, was largely responsible for getting the anti-gambling law repealed. The $10,000 that the Stocker family helped raise to fight the anti-gambling law probably didn't hurt either.

After Lester and Oscar died, Mayme retired from the Northern Club, letting others handle the daily operations of the place. In 1945 she leased the place to Wilbur Clark who promptly renamed it the Monte Carlo Club. Clarence Stocker continued to run the Northern Hotel on the second floor.

Harold built and operated the Chief Autel Court, the largest apartment building in the State in its day. It was a brick building located at Fremont Street and Maryland Parkway.

Clarence died in 1952, Mayme died in 1972 at the age of 97 and Harold died in 1983 at the age of 82.

In the late 1970s, the Coin Castle with its giant King atop the building, opened on the site. The Coin Castle closed shortly after the turn of the century. The King's head and his body are in the Neon Museum boneyard

Here is a link so everybody can stop guessing!

http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/

Quote: superrick

Here is a link so everybody can stop guessing!

http://www.lasvegassun.com/history/

We're not guessing.

Well here is some info on a 100 year old motel in downtown Las Vegas. A little known 100 year old Las Vegas landmark still standing:. Also according tocounty records the Diamond Inn motel was built in 1940, making it the oldest building on Las Vegas Blvd. It was probably a private residence that got added on to and there is what appears to be a very small old home in the back of the property