Thomas wins praise as farsighted financier who helped modern Las Vegas on its way

Top 10 Influential Las Vegans

By Joe Hawk
Review-Journal
     Ask any Las Vegan to name the one individual who's had the biggest impact on the city's history, and the answers will range from the prime to the sublime.
     For instance, Howard Hughes and Steve Wynn would be defendable selections. Elvis and Siegfried & Roy would not.
     Still, in a city with such a colorful and vibrant past, coming up with one clear-cut individual would be difficult. But we at Best of Las Vegas Central were able to do it -- that is, with the help of four people who have a little experience with Las Vegas history: University of Nevada, Las Vegas professors Gene Moehring and Hal Rothman; Community College of Southern Nevada professor Michael Green; and Frank Wright, curator of the Nevada State Museum & Historical Society.
     And their consensus choice might surprise you: E. Parry Thomas.
     While the names Hughes and Wynn finished down the list, it was Thomas, the former banker and financier, who ranked first. In fact, Thomas and Wynn were the only two individuals to be mentioned by all four local historians.
     "Thomas was a farsighted financier who created the context in which modern Las Vegas could occur," said Rothman, who appeared on A&E Television's 1996 special "Las Vegas: Gamble in the Desert and House of Cards" and is currently co-authoring the book, "The Grit Beneath the Glitter: Tales From the Real Las Vegas."
     Green, author of numerous articles on Nevada history and co-editor of "Nevada: Readings and Perspectives," describes Thomas, who came to Las Vegas from Salt Lake City in the 1950s to run Bank of Las Vegas, as "the first banker to make loans to casinos for both construction and operations, and thus contributed to and made possible the lion's share of the post-war building boom.
     "He also helped start a young man with big dreams, who's also on my list."
     That "young man" would be Steve Wynn. But before we get to him, placing second on the list was a late Nevadan with more ties than roots to Las Vegas history: U.S. Sen. Pat McCarran.
     "As senator from 1933 to 1954," said Moehring, who has written 10 articles on Las Vegas and Nevada history and is the author of the book, "Resort City in the Sun Belt: Las Vegas, 1930-1970," "McCarran helped get federal funding to build Basic Magnesium (in Henderson), Nellis Air Force Base, the Nevada Test Site and McCarran Airport, and he protected the casino industry from (early) efforts to tax it out of existence."
     Although McCarran lived in Reno, rather than Las Vegas, the local experts felt his ties to the community made his inclusion on the list necessary.
     The historians also agreed that while Wynn, owner of three of the city's most well-known resorts, ranked only third now, he has the potential to someday vault to the top of the list.
     "His financing of The Mirage (on the Strip), to be followed by Treasure Island and later this year, the Bellagio, brought the concept of gaming resorts to a new level," said Wright, who has served as curator of the Nevada State Museum & Historical Society for the past 18 years.
     In loftier terms, Rothman described Wynn, who began his climb with the financial backing of Thomas, as "a visionary who turned Las Vegas from an idiosyncratic pariah to a paradigm of the post-industrial world."
     Placing fourth in balloting was Hughes, the eccentric and reclusive billionaire who, according to Green, brought "respectability" to Las Vegas.
     "He built no hotels, but bought several properties. More important, though, he diverted attention from the mob, and his land purchases led, among other things, to the creation of Summerlin, a boon to the city itself. And the attachment of Sun City to (Summerlin) has made Las Vegas a major retirement community."
     Rothman called Hughes "the second individual (after Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel) who saw the future" of Las Vegas.
     The late Hank Greenspun, former publisher, editor and columnist for the Las Vegas Sun, rounded out the top five of the historians' collective list.
     In his Greenspun's journalistic capacity, Moehring said, "he rallied community support in the 1950s and '60s for strict state control of the casino industry and for civil rights, honesty in government and other key issues. He also provided the initial land for what is now Green Valley."
     Maude Frazier, a veteran educator who served 20 years (1927-47) as Las Vegas school superintendent, ranked sixth.
     "She risked local wrath by planning Las Vegas High School for what seemed like the astronomical number of 500 students," Green said. "After she retired, she served in the Legislature, where she fought for civil rights, and helped start Nevada Southern University (today the University of Nevada, Las Vegas), which appropriately named its first building for her."
     Frazier also "fought for the abolition of legalized prostitution in both Las Vegas and Clark County," Moehring noted.
     Tying for seventh place were former U.S. Sen. William Clark, who started the town and created its early economy, and Helen J. Stewart, a turn-of-the-century landowner who became known as the "First Lady of Las Vegas."
     "For more than 20 years (beginning with her husband's death in 1884), she was the single biggest influence in Las Vegas," Wright explained of Stewart.
     She inherited almost 1,000 acres of land and later sold it -- ironically, now -- to Clark who built the railroad that founded the town.
     While Green added that Stewart "gave Paiutes land for their colony, helped start the Mesquite Club and became the namesake of a school due to her work with handicapped children," Moehring said of Clark, "He donated lots for churches and schools, promoted the creation of Clark County and used the railroad resources to encourage local agriculture and industrial diversification."
     Completing the top 10 by tying for ninth were Dr. James McMillan a civil rights leader who, according to Wright, "changed the racial climate of Las Vegas," and Thomas Hull, a visionary who Moehring credited with "the idea of putting gambling in spacious resort hotels." Hull opened the El Rancho Vegas Hotel in 1940.
     Moehring also said of McMillan, a dentist, that he pressed "for open accommodations and fair employment that ultimately attracted millions of minority customers and workers to Las Vegas."