2755 Las Vegas Blvd South... Grand Opening was Labor Day, 1948... it was the 4th
hotel/casino to open on the Strip... Marion Hicks and Clifford Jones were the owner/
operators, but Meyer Lansky also had a piece of the action... the Thunderbird was
bought by Del Webb in 1964... Caesars purchased the property in 1972...four years
later they sold it to Major Riddle and he renamed it the Silver Bird... Ed Torres bought
the place in 1981 and rebranded it the El Rancho... the doors finally closed in 1992...
the property was going to be redeveloped as Countryland USA and later as Starship
Orion, but both of those deals fell through... the never-completed Fontainebleu currently
sits on the site of the old Thunderbird.

Got any Thunderbird items in your collection you'd like to share?