Sometimes simple questions bring up very complex answers. A couple days ago I posted an IOTD about the Little Commando Club outside of Henderson, Kentucky. In it, I mentioned a raid on it and three other clubs – The Dells, The Trocadero and the Green River Gardens.

IOTD found here: http://www.thechipboard.com/index.cgi/page/1/md/read/id/1520175/sbj/illegal-of-the-day-kentucky-18-little-command/

In a response, Jim Linduff mentioned a land dispute and asks, “I list the Dells, the Trocadero and Green River Gardens as being in Evansville. Is that correct?”

I did a little looking and found something I thought was VERY INTERESTING.

So where were these clubs and why is there so much controversy?

In the article from August 21, 1946, the clubs were all raided by officers of “Henderson county”. Therefore, all of these clubs were in the jurisdiction of Kentucky.

However, in other articles, the Dells, Trocadero and Green River Gardens are said to be in Evansville, which is clearly in Indiana. So what gives?

The answer is a little place called Green River Island.

The controversy goes back all the way to 1792 when Kentucky was carved out of Virginia with its northern border established along the Ohio River. However, over time, rivers sometimes change. The small peninsula of Green River Island was once what its name implied – an island.

The Ohio River ran over and below the Green River Island and Kentucky was declared to have jurisdiction over it. Over the 1800s, the northern portion of the river silted up, leaving Kentucky in possession of this small portion of land north of the current Ohio River.

Below I colored in the current farm land that was once part of the Ohio River. Below it is present day Green River Island:

As with so many zoning issues, the real concern was who had the right to tax the land. Lawsuits started back in the 1890s concerning taxes, but our story comes in during the late 1930s.

In 1939, the state of Indiana was pushing Kentucky to enforce the laws on Green River Island or give Indiana the right to buy the land. The problems stemmed from four roadhouses on the “island” – The Dells, Club Trocadero, the Green River Gardens and the Riverview Beach Club. Indiana officials complained that the clubs were a nuisance and a danger to it’s mostly Evansville, Indiana patrons. They complained of “unpoliced drinking and gambling” which resulted in Evansville citizens being harassed without protection from the Henderson police. (All this in spite of “each of the roadhouses has an employee who is a deputy sheriff.”)

Opposition to the annexation however was strong. The Ellis Park Race Track built in 1922 was a major revenue stream and annexing the Green River Island to Indiana would likely put it right out of business.

The Kentucky authorities had no choice but to respond with some show of force. The clubs were put on notice and the battles on the 1940s started (see the Little Commando IOTD for more…)

The only chips I know from these clubs is the clover stamp ordered for the Club Trocadero in 1942. The order says Evansville, Indiana, but we now know that isn’t totally correct.

So to go back to the original question, “Where were these chips used?” The answer seems to be “Green River Island, Kentucky.” I think you could get away with saying “Evansville” since that is the actual city, but if you do, you have to say Evansville, KENTUCKY.

Regardless of what the chip record says, the clubs were on soil that belonged to Kentucky (and Henderson county, Kentucky jurisdiction) going back to 1792.

Mystery solved!