After the United States started numbering highways, US Highway 93 and US Highway 95 passed through downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street. However, as the Interstate Freeway system expanded, highway traffic was rerouted onto Interstate 515; thus, bypassing the downtown area.
To attract visitors to the historic casinos, in 1994 a five-block section of Fremont Street was closed to vehicular traffic and converted into a pedestrian mall. The mall was covered with a 1,375-foot long canopy that contained 2.1 million electric light bulbs. Each light bulb contained four different colored filaments that were computer controlled to present night-time light shows.
The light shows were difficult to see and lacked clarity, so in 2004 the light bulbs were replaced with 12.5-million LED lamps that could display more color combinations and patterns. Stage shows were added at several locations under the canopy and other performing artist were provided spaces along the pedestrian mall to demonstrate their talents. Over 60% of all Las Vegas visitors now visit Fremont Street to see the performers and light shows.
Fremont Street is known for a number of firsts in Las Vegas: location of first establishment to have indoor plumbing (1905), first hotel (1906), first telephone (1907), first paved street (1925), first gaming license, traffic light and elevator (1932), first high-rise hotel (1956), first carpeting in a casino, and first building designed as a casino. Most early photographs of Las Vegas featured Fremont Street, which became known as "Glitter Gulch" because of the number of large neon signs on the casino fronts. Two of the most famous signs were "Vegas Vic" and "Sassy Sally." They were so popular that they actually held a wedding ceremony and married the two.
The Plaza Hotel & Casino is located at the west end of Fremont Street where it dead-ends at Main Street. Originally, this was the site of the Las Vegas Train Station.
In 1970 the train station was demolished and the Plaza Hotel/Casino was constructed in its place. Since Amtrak still needed a ticket window and passenger waiting area, the Plaza included an Amtrak facility within the casino, making it the only train station facility in the United States located in a casino.
The famous glass dome on top of the Plaza hotel is now home to award-winning Oscar's Steakhouse, which is named after Mayor Oscar Goodman. Before becoming Mayor of Las Vegas, Goodman was the famous mob attorney that defended Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal, Jamiel "Jimmy" Chagra, Anthony "Tony the Ant" Spilotro, Herbert "Fat Herbie" Blitzstein, Nicky Scarfo, Moe Dalitz, and many others. Not only was Oscar a great attorney for the mob, he was the greatest mayor Las Vegas has ever had. He and his wife Carolyn, who is now mayor, have promoted Las Vegas around the world as a major tourist destination. Everyone needs to visit Las Vegas at least once their lifetime!
For all of the Pickleball players, you should know that the Plaza contains 12 Pickleball courts and hosts the annual Las Vegas Pickleball Open each year in September.
Main Street Station Hotel/Casino is located just north of the Plaza and is connected to the California Hotel/Casino by an enclosed skywalk. The property was built in 1978 and has had numerous financial problems over the years. It is one of the few hotel/casinos in Las Vegas that went through a foreclosure and was owned by a bank.
History buffs like visiting Main Street Station because there is a self-guided tour of the property that includes a portion of the Berlin Wall, stained glass from the Lillian Russell Mansion, doors and facades from the Kuwait Royal Bank, doors from the George Pullman Mansion, the Louisa May Alcott Pullman Car, chandeliers from the Coco-Cola building and the Figaro Opera House, and various statues from around the world. The portion of the Berlin Wall is displayed in the men's restroom and is used as a backdrop for the urinals.
The California Hotel/Casino was built in 1975 by Boyd Gaming. They still own and operate the property, which is unusual for Las Vegas where gaming properties frequently change ownership. Entrance to the property is from Ogden Avenue that is one block north of Fremont Street.
The California Hotel/Casino caters to visitors from Hawaii and offers various vacation packages and subsidized air fares. Restaurants in the hotel offer Hawaiian food and other Island amenities. There is a large Hawaiian population in Las Vegas and Hawaiians often refer to Las Vegas as the "Ninth Island."
In 1989 Stanley Fujitake set a record in the casino by rolling craps dice three hours and six minutes without loosing (118 times). Fujitake's achievement started the term "Golden Arm" for anyone that has rolled dice for over one hour without loosing.
The casino also has a Platinum Arm Club honoring anyone who rolled dice for over 90 minutes without loosing, or for over 1 hour each on two different occasions. Fujitake's record held for 20 years and was then broken in 2009 by a person at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, who rolled without loosing 154 times over a period of 4 hours and 18 minutes.
The Golden Gate Hotel/Casino is located on the southeast corner of Fremont and Main Streets and has the distinction of having the address "One Fremont Street." It is the smallest and oldest hotel on Fremont Street.
When the property opened in 1931 it was named "Sal Sagev," which is "Las Vegas" spelled backward. However, in 1955 the property was rebranded with a San Francisco theme and became known for its cheap Shrimp Cocktails. I'm not a seafood person, but I did like their Shrimp Coctails - maybe it was just the $0.99 price that I liked!
The Circa Resort & Casino is currently under construction and projected to be completed before the end of 2020. When completed there will be 777 hotel rooms and the casino will have the largest sports book in Ls Vegas.
The Golden Nugget Hotel/Casino is probably the most luxurious hotel on Fremont Street. It was built in 1946, but has been renovated and expanded numerous times. In 1973 Steve Wynn purchased a majority interest in the property and became the youngest casino owner in Las Vegas.
The property gets its name from the gold nuggets on display in the hotel lobby, including the World's Largest Gold Nugget ("The Hand of Faith") that weighs 960 ounces and is 18 inches in length. The nugget was found near Kingower, Victoria, Australia.
Kids like staying at the property because of the large swimming pools and aquariums. One of the aquariums contains full grown sharks and one of the swimming pool slides goes through the shark tank in an enclosed tube.
The story of the Golden Nugget Hotel/Casino was the basis for "The Casino" television series that first aired in 2004.
Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel was built in 1951 and named for its founder Benny Binion. The property was built with a frontier theme that had a historic riverboat-styled casino with low ceilings, velvet wallpaper, and sawdust floors.
Shortly after the property opened, Benny lost his gaming license and served time in Leavenworth Penitentiary from 1953-57 for tax evasion. While Benny was in prison, his kids obtained a gaming license and with the help of Benny's friends they ran the property until he was released. After Benny was released from prison he was considered to be a felon, so he could never again obtain a gaming license; but in reality, Benny ran the operation as a "consultant."
Until 2004 Binion's was a family run property. The events that happened after Benny's death are so bizarre that numerous books, movies, and television shows have been based on the family's interactions with each other.
Ted probably gained the most notoriety because of his drug use and mob connections that eventually banned him from even entering the property. After Ted was removed from the casino, he hid a stash of silver bars and other valuables in a desert vault, then died under unusual circumstances. His girlfriend and her lover were found guilty of murdering Ted, but on a retrial they were acquitted. A large part of Ted's "treasure" still remains unclaimed and it is believed that some of his hiding places have not even been discovered. Many people have searched for his "lost treasure" in hope of becoming rich!
The Binions were very progressive when managing the property and they had many firsts in Las Vegas - first casino to replace sawdust-covered floor with carpeting; first to offer comps to all gamblers; first to eliminate table limits; and founder of the "World Series of Poker. All of these items were big hits with gamblers. Because Binion's was a family held business, they did not have to disclose financial statements, but people familiar with the property said that it was the most profitable casino in Las Vegas.
For years one of the main attractions at Binion's Casino was a display of $1 million, consisting of 100 $10,000 bills. Anyone that stopped by the casino could have a free picture taken with the display. The display was sold in 2004 as part of a cost cutting measure, but people were mad about the sale and they quit going to the casino. Since the $10,000 bills could not be repurchased, a $1 million display was recreated using 2,700 $100 bills, 34,300 $20 bills, and 42,000 $1 bills. Free pictures with the million dollar display are once again offered to casino visitors.
Room 400 in Binion's hotel is reported to be one of the most haunted places in Las Vegas. Psychics have studied the room to a great extents and say that the room is a meeting place for spirits. I have never visited the room, but I have seen pictures and videos taken in the room that makes one wonder what is really happening.
The Fremont Hotel/Casino was built in 1956 and was the tallest building in the State of Nevada when it opened. It also had one of City's first vertical parking garages.
The property is part of the original "Four Corners," which included Binion's, 4 Queens, Golden Nugget, and Fremont Hotels/Casinos. Casino Center Boulevard passes between the four properties in a north-south direction and is the only street to pass under the Fremont Street Experience canopy. During light shows the street is blocked to through traffic to eliminate the possibility of an accident.
In 1956 Wayne Newton made his Las Vegas debut at the Fremont Carnival Lounge and then went on to become known as "Mr. Las Vegas."
The 690-room 4 Queens Hotel/Casino was constructed in 1966 and named after the builder's four daughters (Faith, Hope, Benita, Michele). Over the years there have been numerous expansions and the property now encompasses the entire south side of Fremont street between Casino Center (2nd Street) and 3rd Street. The 4 Queens casino was the first to offer Blackjack Switch in Las Vegas.
The D Las Vegas Hotel/Casino was constructed in 1980 on land that was owned by Moe Dalitz, an organized Crime figure. At the time of completion, the hotel was the tallest building on Fremont Street.
Dalitz could not obtain a gaming license because of his criminal record, so a gaming license was issued to his associates. However, in 1984 the associates were charged with skimming money from the casino, so the property was sold and rebranded as Fitzgeralds Hotel/Casino
Fitzgeralds had a "luck of the Irish" theme with shamrocks and a large leprechaun on the outside of the building facing Fremont Street. A restaurant in the hotel featured a prime rib dinners for $1.95. Since my office was within walking distance of the property, I frequented the restaurant often.
I remember one time I was standing in line to be seated and a casino employee came in and gave everyone standing in line a scratch card with 25 covered squares. We were informed that there were five car pictures on the card and if anyone could correctly uncover just the five car pictures they would win a new Lexus. The first square I uncovered was a car picture. And so were the second and third squares. When I uncovered the fourth car picture my heart was really beating. Then, I started analyzing the possibilities based on the locations of the previous four pictures. In my mind I finally eliminated all but three squares, so I figured that I had a one-in-three chance of winning a car. Unfortunately, I uncovered the wrong square. That was the closest I ever came to winning a new car in Las Vegas.
In 2012 Fitzgeralds sold the property and the Irish theme was removed. The new owners rebranded the property with a "Vintage Vegas" theme and called the property "The D". We are told that the "D" stands for "downtown," but the letter may also have other connotations. At the time of rebranding, casino expansions included additions of the only Sigma Derby game in Las Vegas and "The World's Largest Keno Board."
Neonopolis is a 250,000-square-foot open-air shopping mall and entertainment complex that starts just east of the Fremont Street Experience canopy. The shopping mall gets its name from the three miles of neon lights used in construction of the property.
When first constructed, the property had a hard time attracting visitors and many of the original tenants went out of business, including my favorite race car themed restaurant. In addition to retail and restaurant tenants, Neonopolis now contains a marijuana-themed museum with the "World's Largest Bong" and the "Heart Attack Grill" that features the "World's Highest-Calorie Burger." (My cardiologist has prohibited me from ever patronizing the establishment.)
The Fremont East District starts just east of Neonopolis and has not changed much since the 1960s. Located within the East District is the El Cortez Hotel/Casino and a number of well-recognized historic neon signs.
The El Cortez Hotel/Casino was built in 1941, making it one of the oldest hotel/casino properties in Las Vegas. At the time of construction, the site was about three blocks east of the Fremont casino district, so many people anticipated that the property would not be able to draw enough gamblers to be profitable. However, once opened the property became very popular and almost immediately became one of the highest grossing casinos in Las Vegas. The high revenues generated at the casino attracted a number of investors, so in 1945 the property was purchased by Bugsy Siegel and three other organized crime figures. This was a mob-run property for a number of years. Bugsy Siegel and other mob memorabilia are still on display throughout the hotel/casino.
There is so much history associated with the El Cortez that the property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only a few hotel/casinos in Las Vegas that has never changed the exterior facade on the buildings and has retained the same signage for over seventy years.
Bonus Pictures Of "Downtown Las Vegas" - By Kolohe
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