El Rancho Vegas

El Rancho Vegas was the very first hotel on the Las Vegas Strip (US 91). It was located at 2500 Las Vegas Boulevard, at the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara, [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= MGM Mirage purchase includes El Rancho site |url= |work= Las Vegas Review-Journal | page= 3B|publisher= |date= |accessdate=2007-04-22 ] and opened on April 3, 1941. Up until 1942, it was the largest hotel in Las Vegas with 110 rooms. The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1960. In 1982 the former Thunderbird Hotel was rebranded "El Rancho." Two hotels using the name "El Rancho" has created some confusion.

History

When Thomas Hull opened the El Rancho on April 3, 1941, it was part of his "El Rancho" chain, including similar hotels in Sacramento, California, and Bakersfield, California. El Rancho Vegas was the first resort on what would become the Las Vegas Strip. It was designed by architect Wayne McAllister and offered horseback riding, a large swimming pool and top shows in the "Round Up Room" (Later the "Opera House" theater). In December 1944, William Wilkerson leased the El Rancho Vegas from then owner Joe Drown for six months. Wilkerson paid Drown $50,000 for the six month lease. Wilkerson would later go on to build The Flamingo Hotel. The resort went through several changes of ownership before Beldon Katleman, who received a share of ownership upon the untimely death of his uncle, Jake Katleman, in 1950, bought out the remaining shareholders and became the proprietor of record. [http://gaming.unlv.edu/ElRanchoVegas/story.html]

The legendary stripper Candy Barr was headlining at El Rancho Vegas in 1959 when she was arrested by the FBI after her appeal on a Texas marijuana conviction, and prison sentence, was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Harry James and Betty Grable were performing a late show on stage when the hotel was destroyed by a fire on June 17, 1960. [http://fire.co.clark.nv.us/(opccq0ulm20zgtbnjaiiczy5)/El%20Rancho.aspx]

Despite vows to rebuild the El Rancho Vegas after the fire, the plans never materialized. In 1970, billionaire Howard Hughes purchased 60 acres (243,000 m²) of the land. In 1978, the remnants of the old resort were demolished. The site is currently a vacant lot.

Other uses of this name

The El Rancho was also the name of the former Thunderbird resort, which adopted that name in 1982 until its closing in 1992. For many years there were plans to develop on the land, but many of the proposed projects fell through or not approved. Finally, in 2001, part of the vacant lot was purchased by the Hilton Hotels Corporation to build a timeshare, which opened in 2004.

External links

* [http://gaming.unlv.edu/ElRanchoVegas/story.html The El Rancho Vegas Story]
* [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1999/Dec-01-Wed-1999/news/12461936.html The El Rancho is Haunted]

References