Then and now: 85 years of Nevada gaming

The Nevada Club at Stateline in 1931. Part of the “Welcome to Nevada” border sign is visible at right. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Eight-five years ago this week, on March 19, 1931, Nevada passed legislation to restore legalized gambling in the state. Gambling had been legal in Nevada previously between 1869 and 1910. The Nevada Club was Tahoe’s first South Shore Nevada casino.

The Nevada Club and Country Club & Cafe. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

The neighboring Country Club & Cafe and others soon followed. The Nevada state line sign shown was posted by the California State Automobile Association. Just beyond and left of that sign is the short white monolith with “California” and “Nevada” vertically engraved on opposing sides. A taller version of that marker was spotlighted in the romantic comedy
“40 Pounds of Trouble” filmed here in 1962. It starred Tony Curtis and Suzanne Pleshette. The Nevada Club and the Country Club later became Sahati’s Stateline Country Club.

State Line Country Club in the early 1950s. Photo/Cefalu collection/Lake Tahoe Historical Society

Bill Harrah bought the Sahati properties in the late 1950s and remodeled them into Tahoe Harrah’s by 1959. In past years, friends of mine who worked at Harrah’s told me that some remnants of Sahati’s early stage and dressing rooms area still existed deep in Harrah’s catacombs.

The original 1931 Nevada Club site as seen now 2016. Photo/Bill Kingman