Most people think the development of the Las Vegas strip started with the Bugsy Siegel building the Flamingo Resort. While the Flamingo was the first luxury resort there, it was in face Billy Wilkerson, the owner of the Hollywood Reporter who first had the idea. He bought the land in 1945 but it wasn’t until he needed extra funding that Siegel muscled his way into the picture and eventually took over the project forcing Wilkerson to flee the country. He’s the one who named it after his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, who loved to gamble and was nicknamed Flamingo. This photo was taken during construction—I find it interesting to see what is now a jam-packed Strip back then was a fairly modest resort and a lot of empty land.
And this is how that part of the Las Vegas Strip looks now:
Most people think the development of the Las Vegas strip started with the Bugsy Siegel building the Flamingo Resort. While the Flamingo was the first luxury resort there, it was in face Billy Wilkerson, the owner of the Hollywood Reporter who first had the idea. He bought the land in 1945 but it wasn’t until he needed extra funding that Siegel muscled his way into the picture and eventually took over the project forcing Wilkerson to flee the country. He’s the one who named it after his girlfriend, Virginia Hill, who loved to gamble and was nicknamed Flamingo. This photo was taken during construction—I find it interesting to see what is now a jam-packed Strip back then was a fairly modest resort and a lot of empty land.
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