Las Vegas keeps very little. The Strip's first resort opened in 1941. Of the resorts that opened there in the 1940s and 1950s, only the Flamingo (1946) and the Sahara (1952, closed and rebuilt in between) still operate; the Tropicana (1957) lasted until 2024. Implosion became a civic spectacle: the Dunes came down in 1993 to cannon fire from a pirate ship up the road. This timeline lists each place's openings, renamings, closings and implosions.
Still open Closed, building standing Gone
Show:
| Date | Place | Event | What happened |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 13, 1906 | Golden Gate Downtown |
Opened | The Hotel Nevada opens at 1 Fremont Street, months after the town site auction. |
| 1931 | Golden Gate Downtown |
Renamed | Expanded and renamed Sal Sagev, 'Las Vegas' backwards. |
| 1955 | Golden Gate Downtown |
Renamed | The Golden Gate casino opens on the ground floor; the whole property takes its name in 1974. |
| 1930 ? | Las Vegas Club Downtown |
Opened | The Las Vegas Club opens on Fremont Street (it moves across the street in the 1940s). |
| August 20, 2015 | Las Vegas Club Downtown |
Closed | The casino closes; the buildings are demolished from 2017. Now: Circa. |
| November 7, 1941 | El Cortez Downtown |
Opened | Opens on Fremont Street; one of the oldest casino-hotels still running. |
| April 3, 1941 | El Rancho Vegas North Strip |
Opened | The first resort on what became the Strip opens, on Highway 91. |
| June 17, 1960 | El Rancho Vegas North Strip |
Fire | Fire destroys the main building; it never reopens as a casino. |
| October 30, 1942 | New Frontier North Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Hotel Last Frontier, the Strip's second resort. |
| July 29, 1967 | New Frontier North Strip |
Reopened | A rebuilt resort opens as the Frontier. |
| 1998 | New Frontier North Strip |
Renamed | Renamed back to the New Frontier. |
| July 16, 2007 | New Frontier North Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| November 13, 2007 | New Frontier North Strip |
Imploded | The 16-story tower is imploded. Now: Vacant for years; site redevelopment plans changed several times. |
| April 10, 1942 | Pioneer Club Downtown |
Opened | Opens; its cowboy sign, Vegas Vic, arrives in 1951. |
| 1995 | Pioneer Club Downtown |
Closed | The casino closes; the building becomes a souvenir shop and Vic stays on the wall. |
| December 26, 1946 | Flamingo Center Strip |
Opened | Opens; it is the oldest resort still operating on the Strip. |
| August 30, 1946 | Golden Nugget Downtown |
Opened | Opens as a casino on Fremont Street; a hotel follows in the 1970s. |
| September 2, 1948 | Thunderbird / El Rancho North Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Thunderbird. |
| 1982 | Thunderbird / El Rancho North Strip |
Renamed | Renamed El Rancho, after the original El Rancho Vegas, following years as the Silverbird. |
| July 6, 1992 | Thunderbird / El Rancho North Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| October 3, 2000 | Thunderbird / El Rancho North Strip |
Imploded | The 13-story tower is imploded. Now: Fontainebleau Las Vegas. |
| April 24, 1950 | Desert Inn North Strip |
Opened | Wilbur Clark's Desert Inn opens; Howard Hughes later lives in its penthouse. |
| August 28, 2000 | Desert Inn North Strip |
Closed | Closes after its sale. |
| October 23, 2001 ? | Desert Inn North Strip |
Imploded | The Augusta tower is imploded. |
| 2004 | Desert Inn North Strip |
Imploded | The remaining towers are imploded. Now: Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. |
| September 1, 1950 | Silver Slipper North Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Golden Slipper; it is the Silver Slipper by the end of the year. |
| November 28, 1988 | Silver Slipper North Strip |
Closed | Closes; demolished soon after for parking. Its rotating slipper sign survives in the Neon Museum's collection. |
| August 14, 1951 | Binion's Downtown |
Opened | Benny Binion opens Binion's Horseshoe on Fremont Street. |
| 1988 | Binion's Downtown |
Renamed | Absorbs the Mint next door. |
| 2005 | Binion's Downtown |
Renamed | Renamed Binion's after a change of owner. |
| October 7, 1952 | Sahara North Strip |
Opened | Opens on the site of the Club Bingo. |
| May 16, 2011 | Sahara North Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| 2014 | Sahara North Strip |
Reopened | Reopens as SLS Las Vegas. |
| August 29, 2019 | Sahara North Strip |
Renamed | Renamed Sahara again. |
| December 15, 1952 | Sands Center Strip |
Opened | Opens; its Copa Room becomes the stage of the Rat Pack. |
| June 30, 1996 | Sands Center Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| November 26, 1996 | Sands Center Strip |
Imploded | Imploded. Now: The Venetian. |
| May 23, 1955 | Dunes Center Strip |
Opened | Opens with a giant sultan statue over the entrance. |
| January 26, 1993 | Dunes Center Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| October 27, 1993 | Dunes Center Strip |
Imploded | North tower imploded in a staged spectacle tied to the Treasure Island opening; about 200,000 people watch. |
| July 20, 1994 | Dunes Center Strip |
Imploded | The newer south tower comes down with little fanfare. Now: Bellagio. |
| May 24, 1955 | Moulin Rouge Off the Strip |
Opened | Opens in West Las Vegas as the first racially integrated resort in the city. |
| October 1955 | Moulin Rouge Off the Strip |
Closed | Closes after five months. A 1960 agreement to desegregate the Strip was signed there. |
| April 20, 1955 | Riviera North Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Strip's first high-rise, at nine stories. |
| May 4, 2015 | Riviera North Strip |
Closed | Closes; the land goes to the convention center. |
| June 14, 2016 | Riviera North Strip |
Imploded | The 24-story tower is imploded. |
| August 16, 2016 | Riviera North Strip |
Imploded | The remaining towers come down. Now: Las Vegas Convention Center expansion. |
| April 19, 1955 | Royal Nevada North Strip |
Opened | Opens beside the future Stardust site. |
| January 30, 1958 | Royal Nevada North Strip |
Closed | The casino closes for good; the buildings become part of the Stardust. |
| March 13, 2007 ? | Royal Nevada North Strip |
Imploded | Demolished with the Stardust. |
| May 18, 1956 | Fremont Downtown |
Opened | Opens on Fremont Street. |
| June 1956 | Hacienda South Strip |
Opened | The hotel opens at the far south end of the Strip; the casino follows on October 17, 1956. |
| December 1, 1996 | Hacienda South Strip |
Closed | Closes after forty years. |
| December 31, 1996 | Hacienda South Strip |
Imploded | Imploded on New Year's Eve in a televised special. Now: Mandalay Bay. |
| July 12, 1957 | The Mint Downtown |
Opened | Opens on Fremont Street next to the Horseshoe. |
| July 1, 1988 | The Mint Downtown |
Closed | Closes and becomes part of Binion's. |
| April 4, 1957 | Tropicana South Strip |
Opened | The 'Tiffany of the Strip' opens at Tropicana Avenue. |
| April 2, 2024 | Tropicana South Strip |
Closed | Closes to clear the site for a baseball stadium and a new resort. |
| October 9, 2024 | Tropicana South Strip |
Imploded | Its two hotel towers are imploded before dawn. Now: A planned baseball stadium and resort. |
| July 2, 1958 | Stardust North Strip |
Opened | Opens with more than 1,000 rooms and a sign of stars and planets across its facade. |
| November 1, 2006 | Stardust North Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| March 13, 2007 | Stardust North Strip |
Imploded | Both hotel towers are imploded. Now: Resorts World Las Vegas. |
| October 30, 1959 | The Linq Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Flamingo Capri motel. |
| November 1, 1979 | The Linq Center Strip |
Renamed | Becomes the Imperial Palace. |
| December 21, 2012 | The Linq Center Strip |
Renamed | Renamed The Quad. |
| October 30, 2014 | The Linq Center Strip |
Renamed | Renamed The Linq, after the promenade and observation wheel beside it. |
| 1961 | Downtown Grand Downtown |
Opened | Opens as Honest John's; renamed Lady Luck in 1968. |
| February 11, 2006 | Downtown Grand Downtown |
Closed | Lady Luck closes for what becomes a long renovation. |
| 2013 ? | Downtown Grand Downtown |
Reopened | Reopens as the Downtown Grand. |
| December 24, 1962 | Aladdin Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Tallyho, a hotel without a casino. |
| 1966 | Aladdin Center Strip |
Renamed | Reopens as the Aladdin after the King's Crown Tallyho years. |
| November 25, 1997 | Aladdin Center Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| April 27, 1998 | Aladdin Center Strip |
Imploded | Imploded to make room for a new Aladdin. Now: The new Aladdin, now Planet Hollywood. |
| 1963 | Westward Ho North Strip |
Opened | Opens beside the Stardust. |
| November 17, 2005 | Westward Ho North Strip |
Closed | Closes; demolished in 2006. |
| 1966 ? | Boardwalk Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as a Holiday Inn; later the Viscount, then the Boardwalk. |
| January 9, 2006 | Boardwalk Center Strip |
Closed | Closes to make way for CityCenter. |
| May 9, 2006 | Boardwalk Center Strip |
Imploded | Main tower imploded. Now: CityCenter (Aria and its neighbors). |
| August 5, 1966 | Caesars Palace Center Strip |
Opened | Opens with fountains, cypress trees and Roman statuary. |
| June 2, 1966 | Four Queens Downtown |
Opened | Opens on Fremont Street. |
| October 18, 1968 | Circus Circus North Strip |
Opened | Opens as a casino under a circus big top, with acts overhead. |
| July 1, 1969 | Landmark Off the Strip |
Opened | Opens, a mushroom-shaped tower east of the Strip, years after construction began. |
| August 8, 1990 | Landmark Off the Strip |
Closed | Closes. |
| November 7, 1995 | Landmark Off the Strip |
Imploded | Imploded; the site becomes convention center parking. Now: Las Vegas Convention Center parking. |
| July 2, 1969 | Westgate Off the Strip |
Opened | Opens as the International; Elvis Presley begins his residency there that summer. |
| 1971 | Westgate Off the Strip |
Renamed | Becomes the Las Vegas Hilton. |
| 2012 | Westgate Off the Strip |
Renamed | Renamed LVH. |
| 2014 | Westgate Off the Strip |
Renamed | Renamed Westgate. |
| July 2, 1971 | Plaza Downtown |
Opened | Opens as the Union Plaza, at the head of Fremont Street on the old Union Pacific depot site. |
| July 2, 1973 | Harrah's Center Strip |
Opened | The casino opens as the Holiday Casino, beside a Holiday Inn hotel opened the year before. |
| 1992 | Harrah's Center Strip |
Renamed | Renamed Harrah's. |
| December 5, 1973 ? | Horseshoe Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as the first MGM Grand. |
| November 21, 1980 | Horseshoe Center Strip |
Fire | The MGM Grand fire kills 85 people and reshapes fire codes. |
| 1986 | Horseshoe Center Strip |
Renamed | Becomes Bally's. |
| 2022 | Horseshoe Center Strip |
Renamed | Renamed Horseshoe Las Vegas. |
| January 1, 1975 | California Downtown |
Opened | Opens; it becomes known for catering to visitors from Hawaii. |
| July 13, 1979 | The STRAT North Strip |
On the site | Bob Stupak's Vegas World opens on the site. |
| April 30, 1996 | The STRAT North Strip |
Opened | The Stratosphere tower and resort open, the tallest observation tower in the United States. |
| 2020 | The STRAT North Strip |
Renamed | Renamed The STRAT. |
| March 2, 1979 | The Vanderpump Hotel Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Barbary Coast. |
| March 1, 2007 | The Vanderpump Hotel Center Strip |
Renamed | Reopens as Bill's Gamblin' Hall and Saloon. |
| April 21, 2014 | The Vanderpump Hotel Center Strip |
Renamed | Reopens as The Cromwell after a rebuild. |
| June 11, 2026 | The Vanderpump Hotel Center Strip |
Renamed | Rebranded The Vanderpump Hotel. |
| July 2, 1980 | The D Downtown |
Opened | Opens as the Sundance, later Fitzgeralds. |
| 2012 | The D Downtown |
Renamed | Renamed The D. |
| November 22, 1989 | The Mirage Center Strip |
Opened | Opens with a volcano out front, the start of the 1990s megaresort boom. |
| July 17, 2024 | The Mirage Center Strip |
Closed | Closes for conversion into Hard Rock Las Vegas, with a guitar-shaped tower planned. Now: Hard Rock Las Vegas (planned). |
| June 19, 1990 | Excalibur South Strip |
Opened | The castle-themed resort opens on the corner of Tropicana Avenue. |
| January 15, 1990 | Rio Off the Strip |
Opened | Opens west of the Strip on Flamingo Road. |
| October 15, 1993 | Luxor South Strip |
Opened | The 30-story glass pyramid opens, with a sky beam pointed straight up from its apex. |
| December 18, 1993 | MGM Grand South Strip |
Opened | Opens on the site of the Marina hotel and the Tropicana Country Club, then the largest hotel in the world by room count. |
| October 26, 1993 ? | Treasure Island Center Strip |
Opened | Opens with a pirate-ship battle in the lagoon out front; the next night its cannon 'fire' on the Dunes as the Dunes tower is imploded. |
| March 10, 1995 ? | Virgin Hotels Off the Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Hard Rock Hotel. |
| February 3, 2020 | Virgin Hotels Off the Strip |
Closed | Closes for renovation. |
| March 25, 2021 | Virgin Hotels Off the Strip |
Reopened | Reopens as Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. |
| June 21, 1996 | Park MGM South Strip |
Opened | Opens as the Monte Carlo. |
| 2018 | Park MGM South Strip |
Renamed | Rebranded as Park MGM after a long renovation. |
| January 3, 1997 | New York-New York South Strip |
Opened | Opens with a skyline of scaled-down Manhattan towers and a roller coaster. |
| October 15, 1998 | Bellagio Center Strip |
Opened | Opens on the site of the Dunes, with an eight-acre lake and its fountains. |
| March 2, 1999 | Mandalay Bay South Strip |
Opened | Opens on the site of the Hacienda, with a beach and wave pool behind the gold towers. |
| September 1, 1999 | Paris Las Vegas Center Strip |
Opened | Opens with a half-scale Eiffel Tower whose legs come down into the casino. |
| May 3, 1999 | The Venetian Center Strip |
Opened | Opens on the site of the Sands, with canals and gondolas indoors. |
| August 18, 2000 | Planet Hollywood Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as the new Aladdin. |
| 2007 | Planet Hollywood Center Strip |
Renamed | Renamed Planet Hollywood after a takeover and renovation. |
| November 15, 2001 | Palms Off the Strip |
Opened | Opens west of the Strip on Flamingo Road. |
| April 28, 2005 | Wynn Las Vegas North Strip |
Opened | Opens on the site of the Desert Inn. |
| December 22, 2008 | Encore North Strip |
Opened | Opens as Wynn's second tower, next door. |
| December 16, 2009 | Aria Center Strip |
Opened | Opens as the centerpiece of CityCenter, partly on the site of the Boardwalk. |
| December 15, 2010 | The Cosmopolitan Center Strip |
Opened | Opens between Bellagio and CityCenter. |
| October 28, 2020 | Circa Downtown |
Opened | Opens on the Las Vegas Club site, the first new resort built from the ground up downtown in decades. |
| June 24, 2021 | Resorts World North Strip |
Opened | Opens on the Stardust site, using the shell of the unfinished Echelon project. |
| 2007 ? | Fontainebleau North Strip |
Construction | Construction begins; it stalls in 2009 and the tower stands unfinished for over a decade. |
| December 13, 2023 | Fontainebleau North Strip |
Opened | Finally opens. |
A ? marks a date that sources give differently or only roughly. Rows are grouped by place, oldest first.
Every implosion in the timeline
- October 27, 1993: Dunes, replaced by Bellagio. North tower imploded in a staged spectacle tied to the Treasure Island opening; about 200,000 people watch.
- July 20, 1994: Dunes, replaced by Bellagio. The newer south tower comes down with little fanfare.
- November 7, 1995: Landmark, replaced by Las Vegas Convention Center parking. Imploded; the site becomes convention center parking.
- November 26, 1996: Sands, replaced by The Venetian. Imploded.
- December 31, 1996: Hacienda, replaced by Mandalay Bay. Imploded on New Year's Eve in a televised special.
- April 27, 1998: Aladdin, replaced by The new Aladdin, now Planet Hollywood. Imploded to make room for a new Aladdin.
- October 3, 2000: Thunderbird / El Rancho, replaced by Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The 13-story tower is imploded.
- October 23, 2001: Desert Inn, replaced by Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. The Augusta tower is imploded.
- 2004: Desert Inn, replaced by Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. The remaining towers are imploded.
- May 9, 2006: Boardwalk, replaced by CityCenter (Aria and its neighbors). Main tower imploded.
- March 13, 2007: Stardust, replaced by Resorts World Las Vegas. Both hotel towers are imploded.
- March 13, 2007: Royal Nevada. Demolished with the Stardust.
- November 13, 2007: New Frontier, replaced by Vacant for years; site redevelopment plans changed several times. The 16-story tower is imploded.
- June 14, 2016: Riviera, replaced by Las Vegas Convention Center expansion. The 24-story tower is imploded.
- August 16, 2016: Riviera, replaced by Las Vegas Convention Center expansion. The remaining towers come down.
- October 9, 2024: Tropicana, replaced by A planned baseball stadium and resort. Its two hotel towers are imploded before dawn.
How the dates were checked
Each date comes from the English Wikipedia article for the property and was compared with Wikidata, the open database behind Wikipedia. Where they disagree we looked for contemporary reports and say which date we publish and why: see the comparison.
This month in history
- November 7, 1941: El Cortez. Opens on Fremont Street; one of the oldest casino-hotels still running.
- November 1, 1979: The Linq. Becomes the Imperial Palace.
- November 21, 1980: Horseshoe. The MGM Grand fire kills 85 people and reshapes fire codes.
- November 28, 1988: Silver Slipper. Closes; demolished soon after for parking. Its rotating slipper sign survives in the Neon Museum's collection.
- November 22, 1989: The Mirage. Opens with a volcano out front, the start of the 1990s megaresort boom.
- November 7, 1995: Landmark. Imploded; the site becomes convention center parking.
- November 26, 1996: Sands. Imploded.
- November 25, 1997: Aladdin. Closes.
- November 15, 2001: Palms. Opens west of the Strip on Flamingo Road.
- November 17, 2005: Westward Ho. Closes; demolished in 2006.
- November 1, 2006: Stardust. Closes.
- November 13, 2007: New Frontier. The 16-story tower is imploded.