Entry No. 60 — the Dallas file — filed under: underground-history
Top O' Hill Terrace
“Before Vegas had Vegas, North Texas had Top O' Hill”
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.
📍 Before you go Don't look for a standalone museum: the site sits on the working Arlington Baptist University campus off W Division Street, so you'll drive onto a college to reach it, with free parking on the grounds. Visits are by-appointment only and effectively scheduled by one person, so arrange your spot well in advance rather than dropping by. Because the route covers outdoor grounds and the underground tunnels, wear closed, comfortable shoes and aim for spring or fall over brutal Texas summer heat. You're squarely between Dallas and Fort Worth in Arlington's entertainment district, so it pairs easily with AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, or Six Flags the same day.
- 📍 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 →
Further reading: Official site · Atlas Obscura · Tripadvisor · historicfortworth.org
last checked: 2026-06-09