Abstract
The Boyd Gaming Corporation Records (1994-2006) contain brochures, magazines, reports, and video tapes of the Boyd Gaming Corporation, a Las Vegas, Nevada business specializing in gaming and hotel development.
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Scope and Contents Note
The Boyd Gaming Corporation Records (1994-2006) consist of brochures, magazines, reports, and video tapes of the Boyd Gaming Corporation, a Las Vegas, Nevada business specializing in gaming and hotel development. Also included are invitations, broadcast clips, and a magazine for the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and an invitation to the ground breaking for the Echelon Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was never completed.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Biographical / Historical Note
Sam Boyd and his family moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1941 and he began working as a card dealer. He moved up to a pit boss and then to a shift boss and saved enough money to buy a small interest in the Sahara Hotel and Casino. He became general manager and partner at the Mint Hotel and Casino where he developed a number of marketing, gaming, and entertainment innovations.
After the Mint was sold in 1968 Boyd managed the Eldorado Casino in Henderson. He and his son son, Bill Boyd, had purchased the property in 1962. Bill was a practicing attorney and did all of the casino's legal work and was thus able to buy a small interest in the hotel.
Sam and Bill Boyd founded the Boyd Gaming Corporation on January 1, 1975 in order to build and operate the California Hotel and Casino located on the corner of First St. and Fremont St. in downtown Las Vegas. After practicing law for fifteen years, Bill gave up his profession to work full-time at the California Hotel and Casino. Looking for a niche for their new property, the Boyds decided to market to the under-served tourists of Hawaii, which was very successful.
The Boyds purchased 13-acre desert parcel on Boulder Highway in 1976 to build their next hotel and casino, which they called Sam's Town. It opened in 1979 and became the most popular "locals" casino in the Las Vegas Valley.
Sam Boyd, known as a leading businessman and innovator, is also remembered for giving back to his community. He helped introduce the United Way and the Boys and Girls Clubs to Las Vegas in the 1960s and led the way in hiring women and African-Americans as dealers.
Sam Boyd passed away in 1993, but the company remains under his son Bill’s leadership.
Source:
"Company History," Boyd Gaming Corporation, last modified June 18, 2018, https://www.boydgaming.com/about-boyd-gaming/company-history
Preferred Citation
Boyd Gaming Corporation Records, 1994-2006. MS-00513. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 2006 by Rob Stillwell; accession number 2006-008.
Processing Note
Material was processed by UNLV Special Collection staff in 2006. In 2014, as part of a legacy finding aid conversion project, Ian M. Baldwin revised collection description to bring it into compliance with current professional standards. In 2018, Joyce Moore further revised and enhanced the collection description.