Stateline–Nevada

Bill Harrah Steals Harolds Club's Ad Formula

1937-1970s For Harrah’s, which debuted in Reno in 1937 as a bingo parlor, extensive advertising was key to its growth into one of Nevada’s largest gambling empires by the 1970s.* However, owner/operator William “Bill” Fisk…

New Game of Chance Hits Popularity Jackpot in 1930s Nevada

1936-1950s The Palace Club introduced a new casino game to Nevada’s “Biggest Little City” on May 1, 1936. Renoites quickly discovered it, and its popularity soared, leading to a solid run over about a decade.…

Suspects in 1968 Bombing Death of Barney's Club Co-Owner Deceased

1968 On Aug. 27, 1968, a dynamite bomb rigged under his Cadillac’s floorboard caused the violent death of Richard “Dick” Louis Chartrand, 42, a co-owner of the Barney’s Club and South Tahoe Nugget casinos in…

Crime: The Harrah’s Holdup

1972-1973 Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to read is true. No names have been changed, as there were no innocents. This is the city, Stateline, Nevada. It’s the gambling mecca of Lake…

Bomb Extortion Plan Blows Up

1980 Thirty-five years ago, on August 27, an intricate bomb blasted a chasm that spanned six of the 11 floors of Harvey’s Resort Hotel. The explosion hadn’t been intentional but, rather, the result of the…

Quick Fact – Cattle Drive

1963 Because another route wasn’t available, in August, ranchers drove more than 200 cattle through the casino section of Stateline, Nevada, located at Lake Tahoe’s South Shore, en route to the bovines’ summer range in the…

Murder Mystery at South Shore

1958-1959 Clarence Thayer grew ill with flu-like symptoms on Thanksgiving Day in 1958 while visiting his sister in Oakland, California. He was a well drilling contractor who lived in South Lake Tahoe. He and his…

8 Twists in Tahoe Gambler’s Court Case

1957-1960 In June 1957, a federal grand jury secretly indicted the owners of the Wagon Wheel Saloon and Gambling Hall (Harvey’s today) at Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nevada — Harvey A. Gross, and his wife, Llewellyn…

Conviction Schmiction, Here’s a Gambling License

1930s-1952 Salvatore “Tar Baby” Orester Terrano is one of numerous criminals whom Nevada gambling regulators approved to own a casino in the state. In May 1947, the tax commission granted the Northern Californian, then 43,…