The Frontier Hotel and Casino originally opened as Hotel Last Frontier on October 30, 1942. Located on the site of the old Pair-O-Dice Club and 91 Club, the new hotel became the second resort on U.S. Highway 91, which later transformed into the Las Vegas Strip. During the first twenty-five years, the Western-themed resort quickly modernized its facilities and changed ownership several times.

The resort enjoyed a period of prosperity in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, after business magnate Howard Hughes bought the resort. The aging and reclusive Hughes famously ran the resort from his Desert Inn penthouse, just across the street from the Frontier.

The resort advertised bikini bull riding, cheap hotel rooms, and five-dollar craps. Furthermore, the Las Vegas landmark hosted many famous acts throughout its history. In 1954, Ronald Reagan sang, danced, and cavorted with chimpanzees in the hotel’s showroom during a two-week exhibition. Elvis Presley premiered his Las Vegas performance series at the Frontier in 1956, receiving harsh reviews from audience members and critics during his two-week stint. The venue also showcased Diana Ross and the Supremes, Wayne Newton, and Siegfried and Roy.

Margaret Elardi purchased the property from the late Hughes’ Summa Corporation in 1988, and experienced bad publicity through the 1990s after a lengthy workers’ union strike. Phil Ruffin bought the beleaguered resort in 1998 from Elardi. Ruffin quickly negotiated with the distraught workers and named the hotel The New Frontier. However, the hotel closed less than a decade after the El-Ad Group, an Israel based conglomerate, purchased the company from Ruffin.

The Israeli business group imploded the hotel on November 13, 2007, to make room for a new resort. The newly-constructed Encore resort, located across the street, requested the removal of the famous marquee, the last remnants of the Frontier, in 2008.