When the Mapes opened its doors on December 17, 1947, it was the tallest building in Nevada and was the first hotel built in the U.S. after World War II.
It was designed by F.H. Slocombe and constructed by a well-known firm specializing in hotel construction, Theodore P. Moorehead Engineering Co., an associate of H.L. Stevens Company.

The Mapes was often compared to the New York Plaza Hotel, the Blackstone Hotel, and the St. Francis Hotel, during its long years of popularity before closing its doors thirty-five years later on December 17, 1982.

The popular Mapes became the prototype for modern hotel/casino designs. It was the first casino complex to include gambling, dining, lodging, and entertainment under one roof in a high-rise structure.
When gambling was legalized in 1931, many buildings were retrofitted to become or include casinos.
Casinos such as Harold's Club (1935) were simply casinos with no hotel facilities connected to them.
Casinos, such as in the Riverside, were established on the ground floor of existing hotels. In Las Vegas, the early casino complexes were built in a "ranch style" fashion; sprawling two story buildings.
This horizontal type was utilized by the El Rancho Vegas (1941), the Last Frontier (1942), and the El Cortez (c1941).
It was only after the Mapes Hotel was built, that the three-part vertical composition high-rise was adopted by the casino industry.
The casino industry was the only industry to use high-rise construction in the state until the early 70's.
Now banks and office complexes are also built in a high-rise fashion in Reno and Las Vegas.
_MORE About The Mapes