About this property
The Moulin Rouge Hotel was a short-lived hotel and casino in West Las Vegas, Nevada, that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Although its peak operation lasted only six months in the second half of 1955, it was the first desegregated hotel casino and was popular with many of the Black entertainers of the time, who would entertain at the other hotels and casinos and stay at the Moulin Rouge. The hotel was named after the Paris nightclub, the Moulin Rouge. In the 1950s, almost all of the casinos in Downtown Las Vegas and the Strip were totally segregated—off limits to Black people unless they were the entertainment or labor force. It was during this era that Vester Heath saw the need for an integrated hotel. A group of White investors, led by Will Max Schwartz (38% ownership share), including Louis Rubin (29% share), owner of Chandler's Restaurant in New York City, and Alexander Bisno (31% share), who worked in real estate in California financed and opened the Moulin Rouge at a cost of $3.5 million. Famed Black boxer Joe Louis was brought in with a small ownership share (2%) to serve as the official host. Its 900 West Bonanza Road site placed it in a prime location between downtown, which served a predominantly White audience, and the segregated Black neighborhood of West Las Vegas. 25 of 27 applicants (including Rubin and Louis) were granted gambling licenses by the state of Nevada to operate the hotel-casino in early May 1955, and the Moulin Rouge opened on May 24, 1955, on a 15 acres (6.1 ha) site. It was the first integrated hotel casino in the United States. The building was designed by local architects Walter Zick and Harris Sharp. When it opened, the Moulin Rouge was fully integrated top to bottom, from employees to patrons to entertainers. The hotel made the June 20, 1955, cover of Life magazine, with a photo of two showgirls. Notable performers regularly showed to party until dawn. Prominent Black singers and musicians such as Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Lionel Hampton, and Count Basie would perform often. Many of these artists were banned from gambling or staying at the hotels on the Strip. In addition, White performers, including George Burns, Jeanette MacDonald, Tallulah Bankhead, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Frankie Laine, Maurice Chevalier, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jack Benny, Sophie Tucker and Frank Sinatra, would drop in after their shows to gamble and perform. Eventually management added a 2:30am "Third Show" to accommodate the crowds.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Moulin Rouge Hotel
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Questions about this property
When was Moulin Rouge Hotel listed on the National Register?
Moulin Rouge Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1992.
What type of historic resource is Moulin Rouge Hotel?
Moulin Rouge Hotel is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Moulin Rouge Hotel?
The period of significance for Moulin Rouge Hotel is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1955.
Can I research the history near Moulin Rouge Hotel?
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