I saw Steve Blust's eBay plug today that featured a Black Gold Carson City chip. I have always admired the beauty of this chip and consequently showed the picture to my wife. Since she is a local history buff, she immediately asked me where the casino was located in Carson City. I told her that I wasn't sure, and looked up the casino on the chip guide, which shows no address, or operating dates. About an hour later, I ran into Ron Piersanti (son of Cactus Pete) and asked him about the casino, and he too was stumped. Since so little is known about this casino, I was intrigued to see if I could learn a little more about this lost piece of Carson City history. Below is a timeline that I was able to put together from city directories and local newspapers.

June 10, 1962 - Ed Preston, a "jazz drummer who laid down his sticks to become a multi-million dollar oil man", along with 15 other people, apply for a 50 machine and five table gaming license. (Nevada State Journal - June 10, 1962)

June 29, 1962 - Black Gold Club opens in the Arlington Hotel, Carson City. Ed Preston is the owner, and the name Black Gold was picked by him to remind him of his days in the oil business. Upon opening, the Black Gold Club is just a bar and restaurant. Gaming was planned to come after the opening. (Nevada State Journal - July 1, 1962)

The Arlington Hotel was located on the 500 block of North Carson Street between the U.S. Mint and the current Cactus Jack's, and is across the street from the Carson City Nugget. It is now a parking lot and ice rink in the winter. The Black Gold Club was at 510 N. Carson Street.

September 18, 1962 - Ed Preston and his 15 partners withdraw their gaming license application. (Reno Evening Gazette - September 18, 1962)

August 20, 1963 - Henry Louie, Edward J. Mooney, and Brigit Preston apply for a gaming license. (Nevada State Journal, August 20, 1963)

September 25, 1963 - The Nevada Gaming Commission deferred the application by Henry Louie, E.J. Mooney, and Brigit Preston to invest in the Black Gold Club.

The 1964 Carson City directory shows the Black Gold Club being open at 510 N. Carson Street, with Edwadr J Mooney as the manager, phone number 882-3121.

May 4, 1964 - Henry Louie, Edward J. Mooney, and Joseph L. Mabey apply for a gaming license. The article notes that Brigit Preston was previously denied due to objections over her husband benig the “prime moving force behind the operation.” (Reno Evening Gazette – May 4, 1964)

June 17, 1964 - Henry Louie, Edward J. Mooney, and Joseph L. Mabey were denied their gaming license due to having an “unsuitable landlord” (Nevada State Journal – June 17, 1964).

The 1965 Carson City directory shows 510 N. Carson Street as vacant. The listing for Edward J Mooney no longer references his as the manager of the Black Gold Club. As such, we can assume that the club closed down subsquent to the June 17, 1964 license denial, and that Edward Preston was the unsuitable landlord.

1966 – Arlington Hotel building is torn down.

Based on this information, it appears highly unlikely that the Black Gold Club ever had gaming. We can assume that the chips were ordered, but not used.

The Chip Guide shows three chips (two house and one prototype):

and a match book.

While I owned examples of all three of these chips at one time, I have not seen the matchbook before. The matchbook shows a phone number GL2-3121 (472-3121) which is not a typical Carson City phone number, (it's actually a Wells, Nevada prefix.) After some research, it would appear that this was a misprint, and should have been TU2-3121.

Finally, it appears that Edward Preston had some prior problems with casino ownership in Lake Tahoe. Perhaps I will dig into that in the near future.

Regards,

John

P.S. - You can republish as you see fit for documentary purposes, and the images came from the Chip Guide.