![]() “Everything else had been here for 30 years or more, you know. “Here’s a brand new hotel, the only really modern hotel in town,” Grayson recalled. The El Cortez, opened in 1941 at Sixth and Fremont streets, would become an important milestone in the development of Las Vegas, the first luxury (such as that was then) hotel to grace downtown, and at an auspicious time. The two men, part of a group of ex-pat Southern California casino pros ousted during anti-gambling crackdowns in the late 1930s, were on their way to create the El Cortez hotel-casino, which celebrates its 80 th birthday on November 7. We put up a thousand dollars, I put up a thousand dollars, for an auction, $15,000 for that block. “The next day, Hicks met with the city commission in Las Vegas, and they were so desperate for hotels that they agreed to give a gambling license and a liquor license if we would build a 60-room hotel down in that lot where the El Cortez is today. Yet when McAfee raised his price to $80,000 and then $85,000, Hicks looked for another opportunity. “There was no business in Las Vegas – they had no money, no business.” “I got up the next morning, drove to Las Vegas and we met Mr. Hicks, from Los Angeles, wanted to use Grayson’s investment to buy the Frontier Club on Fremont Street, offered by owner Guy McAfee. Nevada had legalized casino gambling in 1931, but the industry was slow to develop in Las Vegas. “He asked me to meet him in Las Vegas tomorrow at noon.” “Marion Hicks drove in, in Phoenix, asked me if I had $75,000 in cash, and I told him I could get it,” Grayson recalled in a 1983 oral history for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal Archive Marion Hicks, along with John Grayson, built the El Cortez and opened it on November 7, 1941. Baker, turned up from Southern California. In December 1939, Marion Hicks, one of Grayson’s partners (including Bennie Benson and George Perry) in the defunct Mt. Grayson, out of business, was at a loss – a casino expert living in Phoenix where gambling was unlawful, Mob-controlled and required juice and political payoffs to operate. But, according to Grayson, East Coast racketeer Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel cut off Grayson’s access to the wire service transmitting race results. ![]() Released from jail, Grayson moved back to Phoenix, where he once ran several illicit gambling houses and later a horse race betting business with Chicago Outfit-connected bookmaker Gus Greenbaum. The state’s attorney general, Earl Warren, ordered all four floating casinos, lurking three miles out in the Pacific Ocean, closed down for good. Baker illegal gambling ship, was arrested with nine other crew members off the coast of Long Beach, California. ‘91: Culinary Workers Union strike begins 9/21/91, lasts until 2/1/98.The El Cortez, pictured during the Helldorado parade in 1946 or 1947, is still going strong as it celebrates its 80th anniversary. ‘66: Last Frontier Hotel demolished, Texaco Fire-Chief demolished. Last Frontier Village closed between ‘60-‘64. ![]() Little Church of the West is relocated to the southern side of the resort. ‘55: New Frontier, a modernist casino and showroom, opens 4/4/50 between the hotel and Last Frontier Village. ‘51: Moore sells resort to Kozloff, Katleman, and other owners who came and went in the 50s and early 60s. Silver Slipper became independently owned at a later date. ‘48: Last Frontier Village begins opening. ![]() ‘47: Last Frontier Sportsdrome race track, and Texaco Fire-Chief service station both opened Griffith dies, Moore becomes managing director of the resort. ‘43: Little Church of the West wedding chapel opens 5/22/43. Griffith purchases Guy McAfee’s 91 Club, begins building the resort with architect William Moore Photos: (1) Mid-40s via Manis Collection, UNLV Special Collections. Second resort on Hwy 91 (Las Vegas Strip) and first to adopt an all-encompassing fantasy theme. Hotel Last Frontier, Las Vegas Strip - opened October 30, 1942 ![]()
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