[3] In the 1950s, almost all of the casinos in Downtown Las Vegas and the Strip were totally segregated—off limits to Black people unless they were the entertainment or labor force.

25 of 27 applicants (including Rubin and Louis) were granted gambling licenses by the state of Nevada to operate the hotel-casino in early May 1955,[7] and the Moulin Rouge opened on May 24, 1955,[8][9] on a 15 acres (6.1 ha) site.

Prominent Black singers and musicians such as Lena Horne, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Lionel Hampton,[13] and Count Basie would perform often.

[8] In addition, White performers, including George Burns, Jeanette MacDonald, Tallulah Bankhead, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Frankie Laine, Maurice Chevalier, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jack Benny, Sophie Tucker and Frank Sinatra, would drop in after their shows to gamble and perform.

[14] Nevertheless, to maintain its gaming license, the Moulin Rouge (like many closed properties) operates on a temporary basis for a state-mandated minimum of eight hours every two years.

Front-of-the-house Black workers (dancers, dealers, and waiters) failed to get hired at other casinos after the Moulin Rouge closed in October 1955.

Bob Bailey, the former emcee at the Moulin Rouge, and his wife Anna, a dancer in the show, became friends with local civil rights leaders, including Drs.

[26] In 1960, under threat of a protest march down the Las Vegas Strip against racial discrimination by Las Vegas casinos, a meeting was hurriedly arranged by then-Governor Grant Sawyer between hotel owners, city and state officials, local Black leaders, and Dr. McMillan, then serving as president of the local NAACP.

[5]: 283  For a while the hotel was owned by the first African American woman to hold a Nevada Gaming License, Sarann Knight-Preddy, who first leased the site in 1985, then purchased it for approximately $2 million from Leo Frey in 1989.

[5]: 283 Although the Moulin Rouge complex remained shuttered for decades, many failed plans were hatched to rebuild and reopen the cultural landmark.

[38] In June 2010, the Las Vegas Historic Preservation Commission approved permits for demolition of the remains of the buildings,[23] citing numerous concerns by the city about the safety of the structures.

[39][40] In February 2011, the red mosaic pillars still laid in the empty lot, and the unstable, fire hazard hotel wings still stood.

[12] The exterior had a 60 ft long (18 m) neon sign with the hotel's name in stylized cursive writing[9] and murals depicting dancing and fancy cars.

The establishment was a model of eye-catching, 110 rooms, a gorgeous showroom, swimming pool, restaurant/coffee shop, dress-shop, and bar which was constructed of highly polished and expensive hardwoods.

When the casino opened, Clarence Robinson produced the floor show which concluded with the "Tropi Can Can",[9] inspired by the French Cancan.