Photograph in upper left corner is captioned "Ventura." Photographs in upper right corner and lower left corner are captioned "Santa Barbara." Photograph in center of bottom row is captioned "San Miguel." Photograph in lower right corner shows the exterior of the Hotel Andrews.

The Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, as seen through a snow-laden bush. The Marquee is visible in the background, advertising Tony Martin, The Goofers, The interludes, Ron Fletcher, Salmas Brothers, Bobby Page, and others. Benjamin "Busgsy" Siegel, opened The Flamingo Hotel & Casino at a total cost of $6 million on December 26, 1946 to poor reception and soon closed. It reopened in March 1947 with a finished hotel. Three months later, on June 20, 1947, Siegel was shot dead at the Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill. Billed as "The West's Greatest Resort Hotel," the 105-room property and first luxury hotel on the Strip, was built 4 miles (6.4 km) from Downtown Las Vegas, with a large sign built in front of the construction site announcing it was a William R. Wilkerson project, with Del Webb Construction as the prime contractor and Richard R. Stadelman (who later made renovations to the El Rancho Vegas) the architect. Lore has it that Siegel named the resort after his girlfriend Virginia Hill, who loved to gamble and whose nickname was "Flamingo," a nickname Siegel gave her due to her long, skinny legs. Organized crime king Lucky Luciano wrote in his memoir that Siegel once owned an interest in the Hialeah Park Race Track and viewed the flamingos who populated nearby as a good omen. In fact, the "Flamingo" name was given to the project at its inception by Wilkerson.

Black and white aerial view of Sands Hotel on Las Vegas Strip.

Black and white image of Frontier Village at Last Frontier Hotel.

The Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Hotel situated near a mountain.

Front entrance and exterior of the Flamingo Hotel. This building was later remodeled and renamed the Flamingo Hilton in 1974. Site Name: Flamingo Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.)

An interior view of a room in the Flamingo Hilton's Third Tower. A four seat breakfast set and two sofas can be seen in the picture. In 1993, this hotel became the Hilton Grand Vacations Timeshare. Site Name: Flamingo Hotel and Casino (Las Vegas, Nev.)