Bugsy Siegel Memorial
Las Vegas, Nevada
For a long time, before the opening of the Las Vegas Mob Museum, the only place in Sin City formally acknowledging organized crime was this, a bronze plaque at the end of an open-air fuchsia canopy, set in front of the Flamingo Las Vegas wedding chapel -- a unique spot for a bridal party portrait. And while today's Vegas offers slick museums and guided tours about the underworld, this memorial is still an important landmark.
In 1946 Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel opened the original Flamingo hotel and casino, which stood on the spot occupied by the courtyard garden and swimming pool of the current Flamingo. It was the most luxurious and large -- 77 rooms -- Las Vegas resort of its day, and its eventual success helped pave the way for the 4,000+ room behemoths that currently line The Strip.
Bugsy was no fool; he stayed in the Flamingo's "Presidential Suite" outfitted with bulletproof windows and a secret ladder that led from a closet to the underground garage, where a getaway limo was always waiting. But he eventually let his guard down, and it was during one of those moments -- when he was visiting his Beverly Hills girlfriend -- that he was gunned down, on June 20, 1947. It was only six months after the Flamingo had opened.