A tale of rags to riches

Laughlin, NV, was born in hard times in a boarded up motel on the edge of the rugged Mohave Desert 90 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

Don Laughlin, a native Midwesterner fresh from a successful 10-year gaming venture in Las Vegas, flew over the area in his private plane in 1964. Below loomed piles of hot, desolate sand; 11-year-old Davis Dam; a sparsely populated town named Bullhead City, AZ and a dusty stretch on the Colorado River called South Pointe that was vacant except for a boarded up piece of real estate at the end of a dirt road. South Pointe eventually became the town of Laughlin, named after its pioneer hotelier/investor, Don Laughlin.

The boarded up motel purchased by Laughlin in 1966 evolved into the lucrative 28- story, 1,401-room Riverside Resort Hotel and Casino. It became the cornerstone of one of the fastest growing communities and gaming resorts in Nevada.

With the sweet smell of success, others followed Laughlin's pioneer lead. Today Nevada hotel-casinos line the Colorado River. The rapid gaming expansion triggered a land boom.

Other hotel/casinos in Laughlin include the Golden Nugget Laughlin; Pioneer Hotel & Gambling Hall; Edgewater Hotel and Casino; River Palms Resort Casino; Colorado Belle Hotel/Casino; Ramada Express; Harrah's Laughlin, and the Flamingo Laughlin. In addition, there is the Bay Shore Inn, a motel with no casino.

Approximately 16 miles south of Laughlin (12 miles by water), the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe owns and operates the Avi Hotel & Casino. Located on reservation land, Avi is the first Native American-owned casino in Nevada and the first one in the U.S. operated under state regulations.

The Fort Mojave Tribe also operates the Spirit Mountain Casino on the Arizona side of the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation. Gaming there is limited to slot machines.

Nearly 5 million tourists visit Laughlin each year. The community ranks high in terms of room occupancy and gross gaming revenue. Statistics for 2000 showed visitor volume holding steady at an occupancy rate of more than 88 percent and a gross gaming win of $559 million.

In 1987 Don Laughlin paid $3.5 million to build a bridge linking Laughlin with its sister city Bullhead City, AZ. Laughlin donated the completed bridge to the states of Nevada and Arizona. The bridge cut commuting time for the many Laughlin casino employees who lived in Bullhead City on the Arizona side of the Colorado River. An estimated 40,000 people a day drive across the bridge, including Arizona residents employed at the Southern California Edison generating plant, an early and important player in the Laughlin community.

The Fort Mojave Indians later constructed their own bridge spanning the Colorado River on reservation land near the tribe's Avi Casino. Laughlin and Bullhead City officials identified the need for an additional bridge and began a study in 1997.

About the time Don Laughlin made his move to acquire the small motel in South Pointe in 1996, the state of Nevada acquired a large parcel of property from the federal government known as the Fort Mojave Project. The newly acquired land was administered by Nevada's Colorado River Commission.

Southern California Edison quickly acquired four square miles to build a power plant. The plant is cooled by Colorado River water and powered by coal transported 275 miles through a one-of-a-kind, coal and water slurry pipeline that originates at the mining site on the Navajo-Hopi Indian Reservation in Arizona. Four western power agencies, including Nevada Power Co., participated in the project and still own percentages of the plant.

Southern California Edison employs more than 500 residents of Laughlin, Bullhead City, Needles, CA and Kingman, AZ and has a $30 million-a-year payroll. Nevada and Arizona businesses earn millions of dollars a year by supplying services and goods such as steel, paper products, electrical supplies, paint and hardware to Southern California Edison. The plant pays a $2.5 million annual tax bill to Clark County.

By 1972 there were three casinos in Laughlin, 32 condominiums, a trailer park, 10 private homes and nearly 100 permanent residents. Within 10 years the population exploded to 5,000 and presently stands at approximately 8,000. An estimated 14,000 Nevada and Arizona residents currently work in Laughlin's hotel-casinos.

Multi-million dollar housing developments rushed into construction to keep pace with the business booms. In 1996, two master-planned communities comprised of 600 homes opened in the city and developers opened a new 200-unit townhouse community in Laughlin.

Two shopping centers in Laughlin house more than 20 businesses including an auto repair garage, launderette, three restaurants, eye care center, grocery store and local television station KLBC TV-2. A 255,000-square-foot factory outlet mall opened in Laughlin in June 1996. The dual-level Horizon Outlet Center-Laughlin features 50 food and retail outlets, a cinema complex and a basement parking garage for 1,220 vehicles.

Laughlin's town hall opened in 1992. The city's elementary school opened in 1986 and a junior/senior high school opened in 1991. Previously, students were bussed across the Colorado River each morning to attend school in Arizona.

Bullhead City, often referred to as Laughlin's "bedroom" community, has experienced parallel growth to the Nevada boomtown. Bullhead City is the fastest growing city in Arizona. Its population in 1984 was 13,836. The U.S. Census reported 33,000 residents in 2000.

Tourism provides jobs for more than half the work force in Bullhead City. Home construction is never-ending and new subdivisions are continually on the drawing boards.

"Snowbirds," travelers who migrate from cold weather hometowns in order to winter in the sun belt, are a major component of the Laughlin success story. Their influence is reflected in the fact that Bullhead City and Laughlin have 21 RV parks with 2,463 total sites. Nine mobile home parks provide another 538 spaces. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 snowbirds have staked out the area as a winter home.

The Fort Mojave Indian Tribe plans eventually to construct a vast master-planned community to house a large non-Indian population. The development, called Aha Macav, which means river people, would have 3.5 miles of Colorado River frontage.

To keep pace with the rapid growth and travel demands, the Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport was remodeled and expanded to include a 7,500-foot runway that accommodates Boeing 737s, DC-10s and MD-80s. A 10,500-square-foot terminal houses ticket counters, a baggage claim area, air charter companies, car rental agencies, a lounge area, conference room and a gift shop. The airport opened in November 1991.

Air Laughlin Tours began nonstop scheduled air service in 2001 from San Jose, Burbank, Long Beach, Ontario, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson. Chartered airlines provide air and room packages on a seasonal basis from as many as 40 different cities.