El Rancho Vegas was a hotel and casino at the north end of the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. It opened in 1941, as the first resort on the Strip, known then as part of Highway 91. It was located at what is now the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue. The El Rancho Vegas was conceived by Thomas Hull, who owned several hotels in California and wanted to expand his operations to Las Vegas. He decided to build his new resort along Highway 91, on desert land located just outside of city limits. Hull intended to target motorists traveling from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, although his remote location was met with skepticism.
The El Rancho Vegas was designed by Wayne McAllister, and originally included 65 rooms, located in cottage bungalows spread across the hotel's property. The El Rancho opened on April 3, 1941, with an Old West theme. It proved to be a success, which prompted the opening of other resorts on Highway 91, eventually transforming it into the Las Vegas Strip. The El Rancho underwent several ownership changes and was leased in 1948 to a group that included Jake Katleman. When he died in 1950, his nephew, Beldon Katleman, took over ownership. The El Rancho added an all-you-can-eat buffet in the 1940s, popularizing the buffet concept in Las Vegas. The El Rancho property was also home to the KENO radio station in the 1940s, and the KSHO-TV television station in the 1950s.
On June 17, 1960, a fire destroyed the El Rancho's main building, which housed the casino, restaurants, and showroom. The cause of the fire was never determined. The El Rancho closed as a result of the incident, although the cottages were left unharmed, leaving 222 rooms intact. In the early 1960s, the Thunderbird resort, located across the street, leased 88 of the El Rancho's rooms and operated them under the name Thunderbird West. The cottages were then leased in 1964 to another company, which rebranded them as El Rancho Vegas Motor Inn. It struggled as a non-gaming motel, and Katleman put the property up for sale in the late 1960s, eventually selling it to businessman Howard Hughes in 1970. Most of the remaining bungalows were demolished by the end of the decade, although a few were relocated to Old Vegas, an amusement park near Henderson, Nevada. Another El Rancho guest bungalow was moved to Pahrump, Nevada.
The former El Rancho Vegas property sat vacant for several decades after the Hughes purchase, eventually becoming one of the last large, undeveloped parcels on the Las Vegas Strip. Numerous projects were proposed for the land but did not materialize. A timeshare resort, the Hilton Grand Vacations Club, eventually opened on the southern edge of the property in 2004. MGM Mirage purchased the remaining acreage in 2007, and eventually opened its Festival Grounds on the property in 2015.
The Thunderbird was eventually renamed as the El Rancho Hotel and Casino in 1982, after the original El Rancho resort.
History Thomas Hull operated several California lodging establishments in the 1930s, including two motel properties that used the "El Rancho" name. In 1939, Hull bought the property for El Rancho Vegas from the estate of Leigh Hunt, owner of thousands of acres in Las Vegas, including what would become the upper Las Vegas Strip. Since the opening of U.S. Route 91, connecting Southern California and Las Vegas, the road had become increasingly busy with tourist traffic. Hull selected this site after scouting other locations in and around Las Vegas.
The property was located at what would later become the southwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, an area that would mark the northern end of the future Las Vegas Strip. The land was just outside of Las Vegas, allowing Hull to avoid the city's taxes, and it was also cheaper than sites located within the city. The property was owned by Jessie Hunt, who had tried for years to sell it, but had no luck because it was viewed as an undesirable location.
Design and opening Hull purchased the site and hired architect Wayne McAllister to design the new resort. They had previously worked together on a renovation of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, one of Hull's properties. Hull wanted the Las Vegas project to resemble a scaled-down version of Tijuana's Aqua Caliente resort, which McAllister had also designed. Unable to raise the financing for this project, Hull had McAllister design a smaller resort. Hull was not a gambler, and he initially had no plans to add a casino, until his Las Vegas friends convinced him to do so. The final project was financed mostly by the First National Bank of Las Vegas. Construction was initially set to commence in April 1939, but it had yet to begin as of November 1940; at that time, the start of construction had been delayed because of a lack of lumber during World War II. Construction was underway in February 1941, and work proceeded on a rapid schedule.
After nearly three years of planning, the El Rancho Vegas held a preview opening on April 1, 1941. It was attended by 300 businessmen from out of state. The public opening came on the evening of April 3, 1941. Bankers, businessmen, and other people from California and Nevada attended the grand opening, along with acting couple Rex Bell and Clara Bow. Work on the resort was still ongoing at the time of the opening, with full completion expected in six to eight weeks, in time for the busy tourist season. Landscaping was among the finishing touches, with grass and trees being planted to give the appearance of an oasis in the desert.
The El Rancho Vegas offered a vacation experience to its guests. Formal clothing was not required at the resort. According to the Los Angeles Times, the El Rancho Vegas "combines the charm and open-handed hospitality of the Old West with the convenience of today". The El Rancho was considered a combination casino/motor court/dude ranch. The Old West theme was prominent throughout the resort, with a Spanish-style exterior and a cowboy/frontier-styled interior. El Rancho Vegas offered horseback riding, the Round-Up Room dinner theater, and a large swimming pool, the latter located along Highway 91 to entice motorists. Hull intended to capitalize on the large number of motorists traveling into Las Vegas from Los Angeles. The resort featured a 50-foot neon windmill, and advertisements encouraged visitors to "stop at the sign of the windmill".
The casino, considered small by later standards, offered four table games: two blackjack tables, one roulette table, and one craps table—and seventy slot machines. The resort had 65 rooms, which included kitchen facilities. The rooms were housed in duplex and fourplex cottages scattered around the property. The one-story cottages were made of wood, and they resembled a residential subdivision, with private lawns and porches, and paved streets. The El Rancho Vegas also offered the Stage Door Steak House, the Nugget Nell lounge, a barbershop, a health club, and retailers such as clothing stores. For its high rollers, the casino offered yacht rides on Lake Mead.
Although the El Rancho was a luxury resort, Hull did not want it to be abundantly fancy, out of fear that this would turn off locals. The resort offered a higher level of luxury compared to its counterparts near Fremont Street, but it was otherwise unremarkable. The gaming area was not particularly large, and western themes were common in Nevada casinos at the time. However, the El Rancho Vegas was notable for its location outside of city limits, and for its concept of a main casino building with restaurants and a theater, surrounded by lodging facilities. Architect Alan Hess later wrote that the El Rancho "set the pattern of the large highway resort hotel. With its opening, the builders of Las Vegas varied the motel archetype a bit: the sign was expanded, the lobby was enlarged to include a casino, and the room wings were surrounded by recreational facilities and lush planting. A bigger budget, a slightly different program but a motel nonetheless."
El Rancho Vegas was the first resort to be built on the Las Vegas Strip, still known then as part of Highway 91. Hull and the El Rancho are credited with the creation of the Strip, as the property's unexpected success prompted other developers to open resorts in the vicinity, eventually transforming Highway 91 into the Strip. Such resorts would re-use the El Rancho's concept of a central casino building. The Strip's second resort, the Hotel Last Frontier, opened in 1942.
Early years During World War II, the establishment of the Las Vegas Army Airfield and a nearby magnesium plant helped contribute to the El Rancho's success. Shortly after the opening, Hull announced plans for an adjacent housing community. This consisted of cottage homes, built by the government as recreational space for military personnel returning overseas during World War II. These homes were eventually sold to the El Rancho Vegas after the war ended.
At the end of 1941, Hull had the radio station KENO relocated to the northeastern end of the El Rancho property, where it occupied more than an acre of land. He allowed the station to operate rent-free on the condition that it regularly promote the El Rancho as its broadcasting location. KENO operated on the site for the remainder of the 1940s.
The El Rancho Vegas underwent several ownership changes. In July 1943, Hull sold the resort – along with the housing project located directly north – to Joseph W. Drown. Hull had found it difficult to operate the resort from his hometown of Los Angeles. In June 1944, Drown sold the resort for $1.2 million to Wilbur Clark, a San Diego businessman, and Clayton Smith, a Los Angeles hotel man.
In 1945, Clark partnered with two California businessmen, Joseph and Walter Guzzardi; they would operate the hotel and restaurant portions, while Clark would continue operating the casino. Later that year, Clark accused the Guzzardis of mishandling the resort's finances. As a result, Clark had the El Rancho Vegas placed into receivership, with approval by judge George E. Marshall. In response, the Guzzardis filed a suit against Clark, alleging malicious prosecution with the intent of defrauding them. They alleged that placing the resort into receivership was done in order to make the mortgage payment come due. The Guzzardis ultimately had to sell their shares to Drown at a steep loss. They also alleged that Marshall was a close friend of Clark, and that his gambling debt at the El Rancho Vegas was forgiven in exchange for approving the receivership. Marshall denied the allegations. With the resort still in receivership, Drown agreed to take over ownership again, doing so in February 1946, after the resort exited bankruptcy. It was then briefly leased to several corporations, led by Sanford Adler.
Herb McDonald, the director of entertainment and publicity for the resort, added an all-you-can-eat buffet in 1946. The idea was conceived late one night after he laid out ingredients on a bar to make a sandwich, attracting the attention of hungry gamblers. The buffet was known at various points as the Midnight Chuck Wagon and as the Buckaroo Buffet. It proved to be a success, popularizing the buffet concept in Las Vegas that would become common in other resorts there.
In 1947, American Hotel Association named it as the nation's "ideal western hotel". At the time, the casino floor featured "the only gambling horse in the world." The horse, named Lucky Silver, would nudge chips into place on a roulette table.
Katleman family