The Mint Las Vegas
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The Mint Las Vegas was a hotel and casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Opened in 1957, a 26-story hotel tower was added in 1965. In 1989, The Mint was sold and became part of Binion's Horseshoe.
The Mint was the sponsor of the Mint 400, the largest off road race from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s.
The Mint was made famous (or infamous) as the first night's stay in Hunter S. Thompson and Oscar Acosta's legendary 1971 weekend trip to Las Vegas, immortalized in Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
[edit] History
Del Webb assumed ownership around 1961.
Milton Prell, who also owned the Sahara Hotel and Casino and the Aladdin Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, at one point owned The Mint.
Patsy Cline performed at the Mint Casino in Dec 1962 though Jan 1963, 3 months before her fatal plane crash. She performed with the Glaser Bros. and at one point developed "Vegas Throat" due to the dry desert heat. That night she mouthed the words to one of her lps played over the loudspeakers. She was the 2nd country performer to perform in Vegas, the first being Loretta Lynn who also played the mint.
