Howard Hughes Buys the Strip (1966-1970)
1966-1970
- Arrived
- Before dawn on November 27, 1966, by private train
- Base
- Ninth-floor suite of the Desert Inn, which he never left in four years
- First purchase
- Desert Inn, taken over March 31, 1967, for $13.2 million
- Other purchases
- Sands, Castaways and New Frontier (1967); Silver Slipper and Landmark (1968)
- Total spent
- $65 million on Strip hotels and local real estate by the late 1960s
- Share of the Strip
- Almost 2,000 hotel rooms, about twenty percent of Strip rooms
- Windfall
- Almost $500 million from the settlement of a TWA lawsuit
- Departure
- Thanksgiving Day 1970, secretly, by stretcher, for the Bahamas
- Lasting legacy
- Land in the northwest valley later developed as Summerlin
- Where to see it today
- Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, which Hughes bought in 1967
About
Howard Hughes was already famous as an aviator, film producer and owner of Trans World Airlines when he came to Las Vegas. A lawsuit settlement over TWA left him with almost $500 million, and he was looking to avoid California taxes on it. Before dawn on November 27, 1966, wearing blue pajamas, he arrived on a private train and was carried by stretcher up a service elevator to a ninth-floor suite at the Desert Inn.
When the Desert Inn's Moe Dalitz asked him to leave, Hughes bought the hotel instead, taking over on March 31, 1967, for $13.2 million. A buying spree followed: the Sands, the Castaways and the New Frontier in 1967, and the Silver Slipper and the Landmark in 1968, along with Harolds Club in Reno. By the late 1960s he had spent $65 million on Las Vegas hotels and land and controlled about twenty percent of the rooms on the Strip.
Hughes was a recluse. He never left his suite in four years, communicated with his top aide Robert Maheu only by phone or notes, and bought the local TV station, KLAS, reportedly so it would show movies through the night. Governor Paul Laxalt welcomed his purchases as a way to clean up gaming's image, and Hughes became the only licensee never required to appear before Nevada's gaming regulators.
On Thanksgiving Day 1970, four years to the day after he arrived, Hughes left secretly for the Bahamas and never returned. He died in 1976. The Online Nevada Encyclopedia argues that his purchases ended years of hidden mob ownership at several casinos and gave casino gambling a new respectability, encouraging public companies and Wall Street money to invest in Nevada. Land he bought in the northwest valley later became Summerlin.
What to expect
Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, about twenty miles west of Las Vegas, is a 528-acre former ranch that Hughes bought from Vera Krupp in 1967 for a reputed $625,000. Nevada State Parks says it was mainly used by Hughes's employees, especially Robert Maheu, and that Hughes himself is not known to have stayed there. It became a state park in 1973, and visitors can explore the historic buildings, hike and picnic.
More from the 1960s
Good to know
- Hughes's Desert Inn suite was on the ninth floor; he stayed there from November 1966 to November 1970.
- Prices for the Sands differ: the Online Nevada Encyclopedia's Hughes article gives $23 million, while its Sands article gives $14.6 million.
- A planned $30.5 million purchase of the Stardust fell through.
- Governor Laxalt insisted on speaking to Hughes by phone in 1968 to confirm he was alive.
- Spring Mountain Ranch was sold in 1972 to Fletcher Jones and William Murphy for $1.5 million, and was listed as a historic district in 1976.
Questions about Howard Hughes Buys the Strip (1966-1970)
Why did Howard Hughes buy casinos in Las Vegas?
Hughes had received almost $500 million from a TWA lawsuit settlement and wanted to avoid California taxes on it. He moved to the Desert Inn in 1966 and, when asked to leave, bought the hotel. He then bought several more Strip casinos, aiming, as he put it, to become the largest property owner in the gambling capital.
Which casinos did Howard Hughes own?
In Las Vegas, the Online Nevada Encyclopedia lists the Desert Inn, Sands, Castaways and New Frontier, bought in 1967, and the Silver Slipper and Landmark, bought in 1968. He also bought Harolds Club in Reno. A deal for the Stardust fell through.
Did Howard Hughes really never leave his hotel room?
According to the Online Nevada Encyclopedia, Hughes never emerged from his Desert Inn suite in the four years he lived there, from November 1966 to Thanksgiving Day 1970. He dealt with aides by phone or written notes, and some of his highest-ranking employees never met him face to face.
How did Howard Hughes change Las Vegas?
His purchases ended years of hidden organized-crime ownership at several casinos and made casino gambling look respectable to investors. The Online Nevada Encyclopedia says this encouraged public corporations to buy Nevada casinos, opening the way to Wall Street money and the huge Strip expansion of the late 1980s. His land in the northwest valley later became Summerlin.
Where can I see Howard Hughes history near Las Vegas?
Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, west of the city, was owned by Hughes from 1967 to 1972 and was used mainly by his staff. Nevada State Parks runs it as a park with historic ranch buildings. The Desert Inn, where he lived, and the Sands have both since been imploded.