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The peasants revolted!! "Off with his head!!" they cried.... and the once proud, now headless, king was sentenced to a new residence in the neon boneyard...
The Coin Castle Casino was on the same site as the first legal casino in Las Vegas; the Northern Club. On the 20th Anniversary there was a celebration. We bought a packet that had a few items from the celebration, including what I'm assuming was a press release...transcribed here:
Coin Castle Casino
FOR RELEASE ON FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1981, 2:00 P.M.
Contact: Nancy Frxxxxx (702) 385-xxxx
LAS VEGAS—Las Vegas hotel and casino owner Herb Pastor today hosted a festive celebration commemorating the birthplace of legalized casino gaming in the United States, the Northern Club, which today is Pastor’s popular Coin Castle Casino on Fremont Street. Dignitaries and top Nevada gaming officials attended the event, which recreated the essence of the thirties in Las Vegas.
Pastor, who owns two additional downtown casinos, the Golden Goose and Sassy Sally’s, and the Treasury Hotel, assumed ownership of the Coin Castle in 1977. “This establishment is truly a part of Nevada’s history and we will continue to uphold the building’s proud gaming heritage and reputation as a fair and square gambling hall on Fremont Street” Pastor said.
When the Club received License Number One in 1931, as the Northern, proprietor Mayme Stocker was licensed to conduct a gambling and slot machine business. She was allowed two slot machines. Today, the Coin Castle contains one hundred-forty sleek chrome and mirrored slot machines and the up-tempo sounds of a modern country and western band.
On hand for the golden anniversary celebration was Mayme Stocker’s son Harold, to whom Pastor presented a commemorative plaque. Stocker, a colorful early Las Vegas gambling figure, still holds title to the property on which the Northern Club was located. He said that the building served as a casino, a restaurant and a doughnut shop, but that it always reverted back to its original destiny—that of a casino.
A meeting of “higher-ups” called at the back table of the Northern in 1930, eventually led to the bill legalizing casino gaming in 1931.
Top gaming officials, including Harry Reid, Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission, and Richard Bunker, Chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, spoke at the gathering and saluted the legalization of casino gaming in Nevada on March 19, 1931.
Also speaking was Burton Cohen, Chairman of the “Silver Turns to Gold” Southern Nevada Golden Anniversary of Gaming Committee and President of the Desert Inn and Country Club.
Las Vegas Mayor Bill Briare unveiled artwork for a bronze plaque which will be placed in the sidewalk recognizing the Northern Club and its history as the birthplace of legalized casino gaming in America.
Clark County Commission Chairman Manuel Cortez and County Commissioner Thalia Dondero read a proclamation citing of the glories of the Northern and the Coin Castle, past and present.
Antique cars parked on Fremont Street suggested a bygone era which was reflected in the ’30’s music of a street band, dressed appropriately for the occasion.
In front of the Coin Castle, a gamblin’ man settled a debt in a mock “high stakes” gunfight, while prospectors and dance hall girls served a giant cake, baked in the form of an antique slot machine.
15 East Fremont Street
Lasa Vegas, Nevada 89101
For more information and pictures, visit the Over50 website
https://over50vegas.com/15_Fremont_Coin_Castle.html
Pictures borrowed from the internet:
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