Flamingo - Where the Mob Moved In
Photo: Mathieu BROSSAIS, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
A stop on Las Vegas Strip Walk, a free self-guided tour.
Walk a few minutes north and you reach the Flamingo, the oldest resort on the Strip that is still running. It opened on December 26, 1946, and its story is the founding legend of mob-era Las Vegas.
The idea began with Billy Wilkerson, founder of The Hollywood Reporter. When he ran short of money he took on partners from organized crime, and the gangster Benjamin Bugsy Siegel took over the project. Costs ballooned from about one million dollars to around six million. In June 1947, Siegel was shot dead in Beverly Hills by a gunman who was never identified. You may hear that Siegel named the hotel after his girlfriend, Virginia Hill; it's a good story, but historians still argue over who picked the name.
Today the calmest spot here is the free Wildlife Habitat out back, where real Chilean flamingos stand on one leg among palms and ponds, as unbothered by the Strip as anyone in town.
Getting here: Walk north along the east side of Las Vegas Boulevard to the Flamingo, then follow the signs through the resort to the Wildlife Habitat by the pool.
Did you know?: The Flamingo was only the third resort on the Strip; El Rancho Vegas and the Last Frontier came first, and both are long gone.
Photo op: Catch the flamingos at the edge of the pond with the palms behind them - patience pays off when one finally lifts a leg.
More on Wikipedia: Flamingo Las Vegas · Bugsy Siegel · William R. Wilkerson · Virginia Hill
Stops on this tour
- Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Sign - The Photo Everyone Takes
- Fountains of Bellagio - A Lake in the Desert
- Bellagio Conservatory - A Garden That Changes Its Clothes
- Paris Las Vegas - Half an Eiffel Tower
- Flamingo - Where the Mob Moved In
- High Roller - A Half-Hour Lap Above the Strip
- Forum Shops at Caesars - Shopping in Ancient Rome
- The Mirage Volcano Site - Where the Megaresorts Began
- The Venetian - Gondolas on the Strip
- Sphere - The Strip's Giant Glowing Ball
- Neon Museum - Where Old Signs Go to Rest
- Fremont Street Experience - Where Las Vegas Began