Credits & Sources

What this is.

castaways-lv.com is a volunteer, non-commercial historical memorial to the Showboat Hotel and Casino of Las Vegas (1954–2000), renamed the Castaways (2000–2004), demolished 2005–2006. The wings of this site are written in the voice of the property’s own mid-century advertising; the Whole Story page and this page are plain fact. This site sells nothing, books nothing, and is affiliated with no casino past or present — including the unrelated Castaways that stood on the Strip, and the Showboat that stood in Atlantic City.

Images.

Photographs appear by public-domain status, Creative Commons license, or by permission, each credited where it appears and below. If a photograph is yours and you’d like different credit — or want it taken down — say so in the Ship’s Log and it will be handled promptly.

• 1961 — Photo: Ferris H. Scott, via Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
• Off the high board, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• Poolside, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• The whole boat from the pool wall, 1950s — Photo: UNLV Special Collections · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Copyright not evaluated (UNLV record) — displayed with credit at the site owner's direction; removal on request
• Summer 1968: salmon stucco, pink breeze-block, striped… — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• The band on stage, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• The reader board says it best: NEW! BLUE MARLIN MEXICAN… — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The landscaped walk to your room, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• The lobby lit for evening, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• The roadside tower sign on Fremont Street, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• Acres of free parking at the front door, 1968 — Photo: Butch, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 4.0
• SHOWBOAT HOTEL ENTRANCE — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The circular Showboat crest on the facade — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The 1970s: a 19-story tower rises behind the riverboat — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• Night on Boulder Highway, 1980s — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The full complex in 2000, just before the name came down — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• 2000: Castaways letters going up while Showboat signage… — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The Castaways tower, 2000 — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• 2006 — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The gutted tower waiting behind the cleared low-rise,… — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• After the implosion: sign fragments in an empty 26 acres — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The roadside marquee outlasted the building — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• The house at rest: Brunswick ball returns, scoring… — Photo: Showboat postcard, via UNLV Special Collections (Dennis McBride Photograph Collection) · colour-corrected · In copyright (postcard publisher unidentified) — displayed at the site owner's direction while UNLV permission is requested; removal on request
• Tournament banners down the length of the concourse — Photo: Showboat postcard, via UNLV Special Collections (Dennis McBride Photograph Collection) · postcard graphic removed from one corner, digitally reconstructed and enhanced, 2026 · In copyright (postcard publisher unidentified) — displayed at the site owner's direction while UNLV permission is requested; removal on request
• Showboat Lanes on a matchbook: Brunswick Automatic… — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• “World's Greatest” — Photo: Showboat menu, via UNLV Special Collections (Dennis McBride Photograph Collection) · Presumed public domain (US promotional print, pre-1964 publication, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• The Superburger, 85¢ — Photo: Showboat menu, via UNLV Special Collections (Dennis McBride Photograph Collection) · Presumed public domain (US promotional print, pre-1964 publication, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• The bingo parlor, 1990s postcard panel — Photo: Showboat postcard, via UNLV Special Collections (Dennis McBride Photograph Collection) · In copyright (postcard publisher unidentified) — displayed at the site owner's direction while UNLV permission is requested; removal on request
• “From 1,500 to 2,500 persons play BINGO at the Showboat… — Photo: Showboat brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• “Craps, ‘21’, roulette, or from the many liberal slots” — Photo: Showboat brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• The Mardi Gras room — Photo: Showboat brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• THIS SEAT IS RESERVED — Photo: Showboat-published ephemera, via an eBay seller's photograph · Displayed at the site owner's direction; removal on request
• The prow over the pool, 1950s — Photo: Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas · Displayed at the site owner's direction, credited to the holding museum; removal on request
• September 3, 1954: the ribbon morning — Photo: Jay Florian Mitchell — Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas · Displayed at the site owner's direction, credited to the photographer and holding museum; removal on request
• 1975: SHOWBOAT across the roofline, HOTEL SHOWBOAT on the… — Photo: Dan Davis, 1975 · Photographer credited; source under research — displayed at the site owner's direction; removal on request
• Night and day on one postcard, 1950s–60s: 'Greetings from… — Photo: Roadsidepictures, via Flickr · CC BY-NC 2.0
• Opening years, 1954–55 — Photo: Showboat promotional photograph, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• June 1955: the bingo floor at full attention,… — Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE, June 1955 — via Vintage Las Vegas · LIFE archive photograph — displayed at the site owner's direction with attribution; removal on request
• The gaming floor in June 1955, by the same LIFE camera — Photo: Loomis Dean, LIFE, June 1955 — via Vintage Las Vegas · LIFE archive photograph — displayed at the site owner's direction with attribution; removal on request
• Opening day at the bar, September 1954 — Photo: Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas · Displayed at the site owner's direction, credited to the holding museum; removal on request
• The floor in the 1950s: craps at the rail, blackjack… — Photo: Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas · Displayed at the site owner's direction, credited to the holding museum; removal on request
• A double room from the opening brochure, 1954–55: pink… — Photo: Showboat promotional brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request
• The suite's living area, from the same brochure — Photo: Showboat promotional brochure, 1954–55, via Vintage Las Vegas · AI-upscaled, 2026 · Presumed public domain (US promotional material published 1954–55, no renewal found) — displayed with credit; removal on request

Sources.

Claims on the Whole Story page trace to the research file kept with this site, drawing principally on:

• Wikipedia — Showboat Hotel and Casino
• Las Vegas Sun — on Joe Kelley and the locals’ pivot (2004)
• Las Vegas Sun — the Castaways renaming (September 2000)
• Las Vegas Sun — bankruptcy coverage (2003)
• Las Vegas Review-Journal — on the Showboat name
• Las Vegas Sun — “Trailer Station” (2013)
• Boucher v. Shaw, 9th Cir. — closure and wage litigation
• Vegas Inc — Showboat Park redevelopment (2020)
• Las Vegas Sun — Showboat Park Apartments (2021)
• World Casino Directory — Wildfire on Fremont
• UNLV Special Collections — period photographs and the Showboat’s own promotional films
• Vintage Las Vegas — period photography research

Where sources conflict (room counts, superlatives), the site uses the better-supported figure and says so in the research file.

Colophon.

Hand-built static pages — no frameworks, no trackers, no outside services. Self-hosted type: Rye, Pacifico, and Libre Franklin (all open-licensed). The palette is sampled from the property’s own postcards and Kodachromes: salmon stucco, coral shutters, marigold panels, turquoise water. The fan-arch ornament, the rope-and-life-ring flourish, and the riverboat illustration are modern artwork (2026) drawn in the manner of the property’s own 1954 brochure — decoration, not historical record. Designed and built with care, 2026.