Las Vegas Club, $1 – vintage casino chip
One of Las Vegas’s most iconic and oldest casinos
Opened 1931 – closed August 20th 2015
The Las Vegas Club originally operated on the south side of Fremont Street, at 21-23 Fremont Street, midway between Main and 1st Street. John Horden and Harry Beale had initially built the two-story Las Vegas Hotel (also called the Hotel Las Vegas) in 1908. It operated at 19 Fremont Street, next to the Northern Club casino. An addition was completed in 1911, adding a barbershop, a billiard hall, and card games. The Las Vegas Hotel also included a bar, which was later removed and replaced by a shop in the late 1920s.
The Las Vegas Club opened in late 1930, diagonally across the street from the Overland Hotel. J. Kell Houssels owned the Las Vegas Club with Horden and A. F. Gilmore, who had spent approximately $1,400 on building improvements prior to the opening. Before Houssel’s involvement, the casino had been operating as the Smoke House, owned by Gilmore and located at 23 Fremont Street. The Smoke House had offered card games and pool.
Horden died in 1941. Benny Binion came to Las Vegas in the mid-1940s and became a partner in the Las Vegas Club. In 1948, Houssels was issued a gaming license to operate the casino, although nine associates – including Binion – were denied licensing. Binion then ended his partnership with Houssels and the casino.
In 1949, Houssels was unable to work out a new lease deal with Horden’s wife. The Las Vegas Club closed that year, when Houssels relocated it across the street to the Overland Hotel at 18 Fremont Street. Meanwhile, the original Las Vegas Club later operated as The Westerner casino during the 1950s, and then as the Club Bingo until 1983, when it became part of the Pioneer Club.
