Modern casino resorts may have helped Las Vegas be the world’s best city for nightlife in 2025, but historic casinos have an appeal that new buildings can’t replicate. These properties may not have the flash of the best-reviewed casino hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, but many of them helped shape the American gaming industry in meaningful ways. Historic casinos also frequently hosted (or, in some cases, were owned by) iconic mobsters like Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. Walking through their doors today gives visitors a chance to experience a bygone era, if only for a night or two.
America’s oldest casinos are in Nevada. Some even predate the Las Vegas Strip by decades, dating back to an era when Nevada was essentially the Wild West. While many historic casino hotels have been renovated and modernized over the years, they typically still pay homage to their gritty roots. Here, we travel through the Silver State to visit the eight oldest casinos in the U.S. that you can still visit today. After over a century of partying hard, Las Vegas was still the world’s best city for nightlife in 2025.
To compile this guide, we consulted History.com, VegasExperience.com, Reno Historical, Casinos.com, The Neon Museum, The Mob Museum, Alcatraz East Crime Museum, the Pahrump Valley Times, and the Reno Gazette-Journal. For the purposes of this piece, casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard are considered “on Strip,” while those on Fremont Street are considered “downtown.”
Golden Gate Hotel & Casino (1906)
Originally called Hotel Nevada, the historic Las Vegas Golden Gate Hotel & Casino first opened to guests in 1906, just a year after the city was officially established. It was also the site of the city’s first telephone, and it has seen Vegas transform from little more than a dusty outpost into the world-class entertainment city it is today. In 1955, after some 24 years as the “Sal Sagev” — Las Vegas backward — new owners adopted the current name. Today, over 100 years after gamblers and guests first frequented this spot, visitors can still experience echoes of turn-of-the-century Las Vegas, albeit in an updated setting…