Saturday, May 22, 2021

Jackie Gaughan & the El Cortez




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There are a collection of men who helped build the city of Las Vegas during its formative years that didn’t have colored pasts.  Their origins are not linked to organized crime and their stories aren’t the sort of things people make movies about.  However they would become the shining examples that the gaming industry could not only exist without the Mob but could continue to grow. A fact that was established in 1941 and continues to endure to this day.  The El Cortez is the city’s oldest hotel casino to continuously operate under the same name and only the 2nd casino ever added to the nation’s historical preservation list.  It’s also the only casino on that list still open to this day.  This is the story of the people and the properties that shaped Downtown Las Vegas.

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