History
In 1940, James Cashman, a businessman, asked Thomas Hull, the owner of the El Rancho hotels, to build a chain in Las Vegas. Hull saw the potential of the resort, as he saw all the out-of-state license plates during a visit to the resorts potential site. Construction of the El Rancho Vegas began in 1940, and the resort opened on April 3, 1941. El Rancho Vegas was the first resort on the Las Vegas Strip. It was designed by architect Wayne McAllister, who constructed the resort with a Spanish-style exterior with a cowboy, frontier-type of interior for $500,000. El Rancho Vegas offered horseback riding, a large swimming pool, and top shows in its theater called the Opera House. When it opened, El Rancho Vegas's dining room was the largest in Las Vegas. The casino consisted of four table games—two blackjack tables, one roulette table, and one craps table—and seventy slot machines.
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. In September 1945, El Rancho Vegas was sold for $1.5 million to Los Angeles businessman Walter Guzzardi. The resort went through several changes of ownership before Beldon Katelman, who received a share of ownership upon the death of his uncle, Jake Katelman, in 1947, bought out the remaining shareholders and became the proprietor of record. Katelman used $750,000 to improve the resort, and El Rancho Vegas became the largest casino in Nevada.
Shirley Bassey made her American stage debut here in 1957. Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married at the El Rancho Vegas in 1958. The wedding was held in the suite of (and completely paid for by) the casino's owner at the time, Beldon Katleman. Stripper Candy Barr was headlining at El Rancho Vegas in 1959 when she was arrested by the FBI after her appeal on a marijuana conviction originating in Texas was rejected by the US Supreme Court.
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