Top O' Hill Terrace
Before Vegas had Vegas, North Texas had Top O' Hill — a lavish 1930s casino that hid behind a perfectly respectable tearoom facade, complete with chicken-fried steak luncheons and bridal showers upstairs while Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes, and John Wayne gambled in the basement below. Entry required navigating a 900-foot vetted driveway, an iron gate checkpoint, and a password before you even reached the chips. When Texas Rangers finally showed up, a buzzer signaled the house, gamblers vanished through underground escape tunnels into the wooded hillside, and the slot machines disappeared before anyone could say "raid." The whole operation ran for nearly two decades until the Rangers cracked it in 1947 — and then a Baptist preacher who'd long prophesied its doom bought the property in 1956, turning the casino into Arlington Baptist University, which still sits atop the hill today.
The move: Book one of Vickie Bryant's by-appointment guided tours (just $10 donation per person) — you'll spend two hours walking the original grounds, ducking into the escape tunnels, and hearing how the most audacious illegal casino in Texas hid in plain sight for twenty years.
- 📍 Arlington (between Dallas and Fort Worth)
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 3001 W Division St, Arlington, TX 76012
Hours: Added 2026-06-09 — confirm current hours before you go.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Proof: source 1 · source 2 · source 3 · source 4
Verified 2026-06-09.