Current:Home > reviewsDon Laughlin, resort-casino owner and architect behind Nevada town, is dead at 92 -WealthTrail Solutions
Don Laughlin, resort-casino owner and architect behind Nevada town, is dead at 92
View
Date:2025-04-16 00:26:26
LAUGHLIN, Nev. (AP) — Donald “Don” J. Laughlin, a resort owner and the namesake of a southern Nevada town that he turned into a tourist destination, has died. He was 92.
Laughlin died Sunday at his penthouse home at the Riverside Resort Hotel & Casino in Laughlin, Diana Fuchs, the resort’s marketing director, said Monday. He died of natural causes.
Family and other relatives had been with Laughlin for several days before his death.
“Don ... in true Don Laughlin spirit, was still trying to make them laugh with his jokes,” Fuchs said in an email to The Associated Press.
Laughlin is credited as the architect behind the transformation of an area of dirt and weeds 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of Las Vegas into a thriving alternative to Sin City.
“When we came here there was a dirt road in here and you had to come in by way of the dam,” Laughlin told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2016 while celebrating the resort’s 50th anniversary. “If it rained, you couldn’t get here.”
Situated on the lower Colorado River and along the Nevada-Arizona border, Laughlin is currently home to eight casino resorts. Nearly 2 million visitors travel there each year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Laughlin was born in Owatonna, Minnesota. Even as a teen, he was running gambling operations. He was known to use earnings from mink trapping to buy and install slot machines at local pubs, according to the Riverside Resort’s website.
When Laughlin was in ninth grade, his school principal issued an ultimatum to either stay in school or stay in the slot business, where he made $500 a week.
“I said, ‘I’m making three times what you are, so I’m out the door,’” Laughlin recalled to the Review-Journal.
In 1964, 10 years after buying a gambling business in North Las Vegas, Laughlin sold it for $165,000, according to his biography posted on the resort’s website. He visited the Mohave Desert and saw a stretch of land called Tri-State was unoccupied. Laughlin bought a boarded-up motel and 6 acres (2.4 hectares) along the riverfront.
The Riverside Resort opened in 1966.
It was two years later that the area became Laughlin. A U.S. Postal Service inspector told the casino owner he needed a name to receive mail. It was the inspector who suggested his surname, according to the Riverside Resort’s website.
His influence on the region only grew from there.
In 1986, Laughlin bankrolled the construction of the Laughlin Bridge connecting Nevada and Arizona. In 1991, he donated land and the funds for Laughlin/Bullhead City International Airport. Many of his employees were Arizona residents.
Laughlin became a revered figure who would greet staff and guests while strolling through the hotel and casino.
Laughlin is survived by one sister, three children, five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.
His wife, Betty, died in January 2022 at 89, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Plans for a memorial service are still being determined.
veryGood! (529)
Related
- What polling shows about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ new running mate
- She defended ‘El Chapo.’ Now this lawyer is using her narco-fame to launch a music career
- SNL Introduces Its 2024 Presidential Election Cast Playing Kamala Harris, Tim Walz and More
- Former child star Maisy Stella returns to her 'true love' with 'My Old Ass'
- Daughter of Utah death row inmate navigates complicated dance of grief and healing before execution
- 17 people have been killed in 2 mass shootings in the same street in South Africa
- Jussie Smollett says he has 'to move forward' after alleged hate crime hoax
- Kris Kristofferson, A Star Is Born Actor and Country Music Legend, Dead at 88
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Breanna Stewart, Liberty handle champion Aces in Game 1 of WNBA semifinals
Ranking
- Meet 11-year-old skateboarder Zheng Haohao, the youngest Olympian competing in Paris
- The Daily Money: Card declined? It could be a scam
- Kailyn Lowry Shares Why She Just Developed a Strategy for Dealing With Internet Trolls
- 'Never gotten a response like this': Denial of Boar's Head listeria records raises questions
- Kourtney Kardashian Cradles 9-Month-Old Son Rocky in New Photo
- Chemical fire at pool cleaner plant forces evacuations in Atlanta suburb
- FBI to pay $22M to settle claims of sexual discrimination at training academy
- In the Fight to Decide the Fate of US Steel, Climate and Public Health Take a Backseat to Politics
Recommendation
Video shows dog chewing cellphone battery pack, igniting fire in Oklahoma home
John Ashton, Taggart in 'Beverly Hills Cop' films, dies at 76
Chemical fire at pool cleaner plant forces evacuations in Atlanta suburb
Kailyn Lowry Shares Why She Just Developed a Strategy for Dealing With Internet Trolls
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
Four Downs and a Bracket: This Heisman version of Jalen Milroe at Alabama could have happened last season
What is 'Ozempic face'? How we refer to weight-loss side effects matters.
Four Downs and a Bracket: This Heisman version of Jalen Milroe at Alabama could have happened last season