Las Vegas strip, 1986

Here is the Vegas strip as seen looking north near Sahara Blvd in 1986.

https://www.petesthousandpeaks.com/I...6/vegas86g.jpg

1986 was indeed a long time ago, but I remember it well, and I went to Vegas plenty in those days (though I wasn't old enough to gamble).

Most of the strip hotels you know today did not exist in 1986.

Had you driven down the Las Vegas strip that year, you WOULD not find:

Treasure Island/TI
Mirage
Bellagio
Aria
Cosmopolitan
Mandalay Bay
Planet Hollywood (though the property was occupied by the Aladdin)
Wynn (though the property was occupied by the Desert Inn)
Encore
Venetian (though the property was occupied by the Sands)
Palazzo
MGM Grand (though current Bally's was once called MGM Grand)
Excalibur
New York, New York
Luxor
Cromwell (though the property was occupied by the Barbary Coast)
Paris
Mandarin Oriental (big hotel, but you may not know it's there because it has no casino)

In addition, Caesars towers Augustus, Octavius, and Palace also did not exist yet, nor did the Forum Shops.

Off-strip, there were also some properties which did not yet exist:

Stratosphere (though the property was occupied by Vegas World)
Rio
Palms
Red Rock
Green Valley Ranch

Long live Flamingo.