Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D70357-20
Date(s)
- 1952-10-27 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Ben Cheney and friends in Las Vegas. Lumberman Ben Cheney, third from the left, posed with a group of well-dressed men and women in front of El Rancho Vegas Casino on October 27, 1952. Marian Zamler is listed as one of the guests shown. Besides being a casino, El Rancho on the Las Vegas "Strip" had restaurants and a theatre ("opera house"). Built by California hotelman Thomas Hull in 1941, El Rancho Vegas was considered the first resort hotel in Las Vegas. Later purchased in 1947 by Beldon Katleman, it was extensively upgraded and attracted many celebrities and guests. As more casinos and hotels opened on the "Strip" in the later 1950's, El Rancho lost its preeminence; it was destroyed by fire in 1960 and never reopened. Photograph ordered by Cheney Lumber Co.
Cheney, Ben B., 1905-1971; Casinos--Las Vegas; El Rancho Vegas (Las Vegas);