Then and now: From Sahara to Horizon

Opening in 1965 as Del Webb’s Sahara-Tahoe and adorned in Las Vegas-style flashing neon, its ornate dinner theater over the years headlined major stars like Elvis Presley who labeled it his favorite showroom.

If I recall correctly, the debut show was Phyllis Diller with the Osmond Brothers.

This also was the theater where entertainer Ann-Margret suffered a fall onstage and broke her jaw in the 1970s.

Taking on a Western theme remodel in 1983, the resort was renamed Del Webb’s High Sierra.

Next owner, Columbia-Sussex, renamed it again in 1990 as (today’s) Horizon Casino Resort. The classic showroom was partitioned into a multi-screen movie theater shortly afterward.

These photos from 1965 and 2012 were taken from the same vantage point, across Highway 50 in Harrah’s back parking lot. The casinos had no multi-level parking garages in 1965. And notice that virtually all the cars in the 1965 parking lot were of domestic manufacture.

— Bill Kingman