The success of the El Rancho Vegas triggered a small building boom in the late 1940s including construction of several hotel- casinos fronting on a two-lane highway leading into Las Vegas from Los Angeles. The stretch of road evolved into today's Las Vegas Strip. Early hotels included the Last Frontier, Thunderbird (Still standing as the Arubu Hotel & Spa) and Club Bingo.

And The Casinos Start Rising
In 1957 the Mint Casino was added and the Golden Nugget installed its neon, Victorian styled,bullnose facade. In late 1962 the Lucky Strike added its tower sign - arguably the most outdated 'new' structure everbuilt in Las Vegas (using stylings more suited to a 1940s pulp, science fiction magazine - than the Space-Age 60s). In early 1962, Binions added its much more modern and futuristic facade, which has remained stylish even up to 2007.In the late 60s, the Golden Nugget bought out the Lucky Strike and extended its casino all the way to First Street.In 1988, Binions, likewise, bought out the Mint and extended its casino and facade down to First Street. In 1991, theGolden Nugget tore off its neon facade and modernized its look with a Beverly Hills' style & palm trees on Fremont.

Las Vegas Brings in the Entertainers
Entertainment, along with gambling, built Las Vegas' reputation as a playland getaway of the world. When the El Rancho Vegas was the only resort on the Las Vegas Strip in 1941, singers, comedians, strippers, instrumentalists, dancers and a wide variety of performers were booked to entertain hotel guests in the resort's small, intimate showroom. The hotel-casinos that followed copied the successful star format for a number of years.