Over the past year, we have done some weekly newsletters on casinos and casino chips from Sparks, Wendover, and Laughlin among other cities in Nevada. Today, we are going to focus a little bit on Jean, Nevada and its casino history.
For starters, Jean, Nevada is a small Clark County, Nevada town. Before the name Jean, it was called Goodsprings Junction, Nevada. It is located on a mountain pass. In 1905, the postmaster of the town changed the name to Jean in honor of his wife. According to my research, there are reportedly no residents in Jean. However, there are people who live in nearby communities.
Like many other cities in Nevada, Jean would end up bringing in some casino gaming to entertain those who were passing through. According to Chip Guide, the first casino in Jean, Nevada was the Tower Club Casino which was also named Tower Club, Sy Redd's. It opened in 1968 and closed officially at the beginning of the 1980s.
In 1989, Gold Strike Resorts opened up a really cool casino in Jean called the Nevada Landing. The hotel and casino were designed as a riverboat theme. It reportedly had over 300 rooms, hundreds of slot machines, table games and one could even get married in Jean just like Las Vegas. In 1995, the resort was sold to Circus Circus Enterprises which led to it be owned by MGM Resorts International. The casino closed in March of 2007 and was demolished a year later. The sign for the hotel was removed in 2010.
Nevada Landing’s sister casino property was known as the Gold Strike Hotel and Casino. That was built by Dave Belding and a few other business partners. Because the Gold Strike did so well, that was why the Nevada Landing was built after Gold Strike. The Gold Strike had over 800 hotel rooms and a 40,000 square foot casino. As we already mentioned, MGM would come in acquire both the Nevada Landing and Gold Strike in 1995.
When Gold Strike was left standing after the demolition of the Nevada Landing in 2007, MGM would hold on to the Gold Strike to 2015 when it sold the casino and hotel to Jett Gaming which was owned by the Herbest family and the resort would be renamed to a Terrible’s Road House Casino in November of 2018.
A fun fact, today, the former site for the Nevada Landing Hotel and Casino sits the world’s largest Chevron Gas Station that has 96 pumps. The reason for the gigantic gas station is there are 55,000 travelers each day who pass through Jean, Nevada. In addition, there are also 60 restrooms.
One other interesting casino story from Jean, another casino called the Primadonna Resort and Casino actually was not located in Jean. It actually is reportedly 12 miles south of Jean, Nevada in a city now known as Primm as of 1996. When the casino opened in 1990, Jean was the city they put as part of their address. The resort’s name today is called Primm Valley Resort and Casino.
Below, you will find all of our casino chips from Jean, Nevada for purchase. You can buy each one clicking the picture:
High-End Chip Book Link
Recently, we mentioned we now had online access to our high-end chip book. For anyone interested in seeing it, you can access it at this link clicking here.
If you find anything you are interested in purchasing from the high-end book, send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com or call us at 702-362-8767.
Ashtray of the week:
This one from Binion’s Horseshoe is only $12. It’s no doubt a classic throwback. If interested, send me an email to marketing@spinettis.com or call us at 702-362-8767.
1 comment
Glynis Ladd Stirling
I graduated from LVHS in 1969 with a classmate named Pete Simon, who claimed to be the son of the owner of Pop’s Oasis in Jean, Nevada. His mother was Jean.
I graduated from LVHS in 1969 with a classmate named Pete Simon, who claimed to be the son of the owner of Pop’s Oasis in Jean, Nevada. His mother was Jean.