Sahara opens as Club Bingo
Sahara
Photograph of the pool area and hotel tower of the Sahara, after 1959
Sahara
Las Vegas, Nevada
The Sahara began as Club Bingo, a small casino built on the outskirts of Las Vegas in 1947. In 1952, the original owner, Milton Prell, who would also build the downtown Lucky Strike and The Mint, formed the Sahara-Nevada Corporation and built the Sahara on the former site of Club Bingo.
When Max Maltzman, the original general contractor became ill, Del Webb, who had just finished building the Flamingo, took over both the construction and then ownership. Martin Stern designed the first high rise hotel tower on the Strip in 1959 for the Sahara which went through continuous expansion through the 1970’s adding room towers (its 1963 tower was the tallest building in Nevada at the time), a convention center, and its famous YESCO sign.
The Sahara was a major nightclub and entertainment venue rivaling its neighbor the Sands for its celebrity headliners including Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Louis Prima. The Beatles stayed there when they performed at the nearby Las Vegas Convention Center.
Pool area and hotel tower, Sahara, circa 1959
Postcard of Sahara, mid 1970s
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Location of Project
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Timeline
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1947
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1952
Original Sahara site plan by Max Maltzman
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1952
Sahara Hotel opens
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1954
Louis Prima and Keely Smith open one of the first late-night lounge acts on the strip at the Sahara
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1959
Sahara Hotel expansion makes it the first high-rise hotel on the Strip.
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1961
Del Webb takes over Sahara-Nevada Corp.
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1962
Don the Beachcomber restaurant opens at the Sahara
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1963
Sahara's newest tower is the tallest in Nevada
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1967
Sahara Convention Center and Hotel addition
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1977
342-room high rise addition to Sahara
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1979
Sahara 625-room addition
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1980
Sahara Showboat Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City proposal
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1980
Yesco installs at Sahara the tallest free-standing sign at the time
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1982
Sahara sold to Paul Lowden (Archon Corporation)
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1987
27-story tower addition to Sahara
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1995
Sahara sold to Bill Bennett
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1997
New porte-cochére built at Sahara
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1999
Nascar Café and Speed-The Ride roller coaster added
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2007
Sahara sold to Sam Nazarian (Stockbridge Real Estate Group)
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2011
Sahara closed
Skyline Comments
- Photograph of a rendering of the International Hotel (Las Vegas), circa 1968:
- This is a great image. Thanks
- Photograph of men playing faro in a Fremont Street casino (Las Vegas), circa 1930:
- I love this picture and the other one you have on the Faro Game. Please let me know How I...
- Film transparency of the swimming pool and patio of the Thunderbird Hotel (Las Vegas), circa 1950s:
- The 1950'S images are great! Do you have more like this and how can I order reproductions?