Howard Hughes was many things, from a pilot and aerospace engineer to a movie producer, philanthropist, and business mogul. He was also known for eccentric behavior, which became especially erratic during four history-making years in Las Vegas.
💰 Mr. Moneybags
Hughes cashed out his shares in Trans World Airlines (TWA) for more than $546 million in 1966. That’s the equivalent of at least $5 billion in today’s dollars. He then set his sights on Nevada, an appealing low-tax state with a world of potential to spend those big bucks.
🚂 Priority Passenger
Hughes arrived in Las Vegas on Thanksgiving night in 1966, traveling on the holiday in secrecy to avoid as much attention as possible. He took a train from Boston to Vegas — and was the only cargo on board.
🧳 Vegas Resident
The train arrived at a station in North Las Vegas. Due to nagging health issues, Hughes was stretchered onto a vehicle and driven to the Desert Inn hotel on the Strip (where the Wynn stands today). He booked the entire penthouse level on the 9th floor and lived there as a recluse for the next four years.
Would you spend four years here? (Bettmann/Getty)
🛎️ Hotel Recluse
Despite having the entire floor to himself, Hughes spent most of his time in a single, relatively small hotel room. He blocked out the windows, lived in darkness, and feared germs, often using tissues or paper towels to touch items. Hughes rarely bathed or trimmed his nails and let his hair grow out. He even special-ordered a discontinued edition of Baskin-Robbins ice cream (although the legend of the exact flavor was challenged by our own in-house culinary historian Sarah Lohman) 🍦
🎰 Casino Mogul
Hughes didn’t gamble and was taking up valuable hotel space intended for high rollers. When the Desert Inn tried to boot him out, Hughes bought the hotel for more than it was worth so he could stay. He went on to buy five other Strip resorts — the Sands, Castaways, Frontier, Silver Slipper, and Landmark — becoming Nevada’s largest single property owner at the time. He was blocked from acquiring the Stardust on antitrust grounds.
🌵 Summerlin Grandaddy
By owning six casino resorts, Hughes reduced the presence and influence of the mob, laying the groundwork for a new corporate era in Las Vegas. He also bought 25,000 acres of land west of Las Vegas, planning to use it for aircraft facilities that never got off the ground. His heirs developed the property into what became Summerlin years later.
📺 Television Executive
Hughes bought KLAS Channel 8 so he could demand that movies run all night. A small green ranch home on the television station’s lot is often said to be the temporary residence for Hughes prior to his Desert Inn era. But that’s another legend that, according to our friend Corey Levitan of Casino.org, deserves to be debunked as well.
🛫 Permanent Vacationer
Howard Hughes left Las Vegas the same way he came in — on a stretcher, in secrecy, Thanksgiving night — four years later in 1970. He lived in the Bahamas and Acapulco before dying while on a flight to Houston in 1976. Yet Las Vegas was forever changed by a man who came and left on Thanksgiving.
- Historian and author Geoff Schumacher shared the details on Howard Hughes’ 1966 holiday arrival with City Cast Las Vegas. Listen to his conversation with former co-host and regular contributor Vogue Robinson, especially if you need some entertainment while traveling this Thanksgiving week. [City Cast Las Vegas 🎧]
