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With the debut of SlotZilla and the zip line over Fremont Street, we thought it was the perfect time to spotlight Fremont Street in our "Lost Vegas" series.
Fremont Street hasn't always looked like this. Before that damn canopy and "light show" that was meant to attract tourists looking for something different that they couldn't find on the Strip, Fremont Street was one of the most photographed streets in the world thanks to all the neon and its moniker, "Glitter Gulch".
Read MoreWelcome to a new feature of the Classic Las Vegas Blog: Lost Vegas.
This is where we will share our history, stories, memories and imagery of Las Vegas places no longer there, of places that live on fondly in our memories for what they once meant to us before Las Vegas became a metropolis with an eye firmly focused on the future and not always eager to embrace its past.
Today, we look at that wonderful restaurant The Green Shack, where many generations of Las Vegans enjoyed a fried chicken dinner surrounded by their friends and neighbors.
"Jimmie" Jones and friend outside the Colorado Restaurant before it became the Green Shack.
In 1928, the newly widowed Mattie Jones landed in the small town of Las Vegas. On New Year's Eve, so the story goes (and beloved buildings in Lost Vegas always have good stories), Mattie (who liked to be called Jimmie) opened the Colorado Restaurant. The restaurant was located in her two room home on a stretch of road that was soon to become Boulder Highway. The Colorado, pictured above, was across the road from where the Green Shack would be built. From a window, she sold orders of fried chicken and bootleg whiskey.
Though the Colorado was considered the far end of town along a dirt road that ultimately led down to the Colorado River (if you were up for making that long trek), Jimmie Jones did a good business. She was not the only establishment selling bootleg whiskey on the outskirts of town but her customers mainly came back for the fried chicken, which they washed down with their bootleg hooch.
In August, 1931, the paving of the dirt highway was completed in anticipation of the construction of Boulder Dam. With more traffic on the highway, business boomed for Jimmie Jones and the Colorado. Sometime between 1930 and the end of 1931, Jimmie Jones bought an old green, barracks style building from either the Union Pacific Railroad (according to her family) or the Land and Water Company (other reports) and had the building moved out to Boulder Highway but just inside the city limits, not far from the Colorado.
Soon after she closed the Colorado and opened the sit down restaurant and bar that would become a part of Las Vegas history the Green Shack.
The Green Shack originally
With the repeal of prohibition in 1933, the Green Shack began selling liquor legally. Thanks to the dam workers and the repeal of Prohibition, business boomed and Jones and her new nephew, Frank McCormick, was asked to handle the bar. Family lore has it that Jimmie Jones received the first Liquor license after the repeal of Prohibition.
Jimmie Jones and her girls, the waitresses of the Green Shack
Jimmie Jones knew how to cook and the menu of the Green Shack expanded. It became popular with families. Many of the waitresses married local boys and became part of the community. The warmth of the place with its large chairs and fireplaces made many feel right at home and the staff and Jones were well known throughout the community. For a community that prided itself on its western roots, the Shack fit right in.
Interior of the Green Shack
There was a hitching post where riders could tie up their horses, come in for a drink or food and know that their horse would still be there when they came out.
In the lounge/bar area, there were small gaming tables and a spirited lounge act offering entertainment.
Western star, Hoot Gibson, who owned a divorcee ranch on the other side of town was a frequent visitor.
The Green Shack Christmas card
The Green Shack celebrates Helldorado
The Green Shack staff participated in Helldorado, the annual western celebration that transformed Las Vegas into an old western town each May, often pulling a wagon filled with the waitresses waving to the crowd.
The Green Shack in a Helldorado parade
A favorite hang-out of city politicians as well as the working man, the Shack. Members of the legal fraternity that frequented the Shack include a one who became Lt. Governor, another who became a Nevada Supreme Court Justice, and one became the U.S. Attorney for Nevada during the crack down on the mob in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
The Green Shack as many of us remember it.
Jimmie Jones hired a friend and continued to do most of the cooking until her death in 1967. Her nephew, Frank McCormick, died three months after her. Frank's wife, Elaine, took over managing the business.
Between 1980 and 1985, the business was sold, reclaimed, leased, reclaimed and then closed. In 1985, James McCormick, son of Frank and Elaine, opened the restaurant back up. Old-time Las Vegans who remembered the Shack fondly returned to help keep the business going.
But, it was not enough. Las Vegas was no longer the small town it had been and downtown Las Vegas and Fremont Street were no longer the center of town. Drivers now could take the freeway to Henderson or the Dam and didn't need to travel along Boulder Highway.
The Shack closed for good in 1999. The green barracks building that had been such a staple of Las Vegas life was boarded up and got caught in a struggle between preservationists and the economic development.
According to an article in the Las Vegas Mercury (an alt weekly, that like the Shack is no longer with us,), Hector Sedano wanted to raze the structure to build a wedding and banquet hall that would cater to the Hispanic community. But historic preservation officials felt he was jumping the gun; they wanted to see the building, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, at least incorporated into the new business.
Votes didn't go their way and the Shack ultimately had a date with bulldozer and was torn down.
The Green Shack in 2000
Luckily, its iconic neon sign found a home at the Neon Museum:
The Green Shack sign advertising what it was famous for: Cocktails and Chicken
Photos courtesy of James and Barbara McCormick, Classic Las Vegas Collection and As We Knew It.
References: http://www.lasvegasnevada.gov/files/GreenShacknom.pdf
Hit the comments and share with us your memories of the Green Shack!
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UPDATE 3/15/14: While Jackie will be buried in Omaha, Nebraska, there will be a visitation and memorial for him in the city he loved: Visitation will be 4-7 p.m. Sunday, March 16, followed by a brief scripture reading, both at Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St. The funeral Mass will be 11 a.m. Monday, March 17, at St. Viator's Church, 2461 E. Flamingo Road. Burial will be in Omaha. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bishop Gorman High School, 5959 Hualapai Way, Las Vegas, NV 89148.
Jackie Gaughan gambling at his beloved El Cortez
Las Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaughan has died. Best known for owning the El Cortez and the Las Vegas Club, among others, during the hey day of Fremont Street, Jackie was a well-known figure to many.
Jackie Gaughan first came to Las Vegas in 1943 when he was stationed at the old air base at what is now Nellis during World War II.
He moved his wife Roberta and two sons,Michael and Jackie, jr to Las Vegas in 1951. He bought a small 3% of the Boulder Club and 3% of the Flamingo with partner Eddie Barrick. Jackie had a knack for sports books and handicapping. In 1961, he and partner Mel Exber bought the Las Vegas Club and in 1963, they bought the El Cortez. Gaughan hired Wayne McAllister to oversee the design and construction of a new room tower.
Jackie invented the Fun Book, filled with coupons for free drinks, free slot pulls and two for one dinners. Like Benny Binion, he had a knack for understanding and treating his customers like kings.
At one time, he owned or had a part in eight casinos, including the Union Plaza and the Showboat, as well as owning the Ambassador Motel.
John L. Smith, long time observer of Las Vegas and columnist for the Review-Journal wrote several years ago about Jackie:
"At one time or another, Jackie has owned or had a hand in operating most of the buildings of Fremont Street. An incomplete list: Jackie Gaughan's Plaza, and a partnership with Exber in the Las Vegas Club, the Pioneer and Sundance; he was a major stockholder and board member of the Golden Nugget, and he owned the Gold Spike and Western Bingo, and the Bingo Club and Boulder Club.
Jackie also owned several points in the Showboat and the Flamingo, but as son Michael Gaughan says, "Dad was a downtown guy. He never understood why people would build neighborhood casinos. He liked downtown. And my dad always did well with the local citizens. Even the El Cortez does well today. He's probably had more gaming licenses than anybody else."
And the thing is, Jackie knew his places intimately, visited them daily wearing his plaid sport coats and a sunny disposition. Jackie was never too big to pick up an empty glass or clean an ashtray."
Those of us who grew up in Las Vegas back in the hey day of Fremont Street, it wasn't uncommon to see casino owners like Jackie and Benny Binion in their casinos or coffee shops keeping an eye on business.
As he got older, Jackie sold off a number of his properties but he kept his beloved El Cortez. He and his wife Roberta, who passed away in 1996, lived in the penthouse and Jackie could be seen at the gaming tables and walking through the casino.
When he finally did retire, he sold the El Cortez to the Epstein family. Kenny Epstein, one of Jackie's partners since the 1950s, his son and Jackie's nephew Mike Nolan became the official owners of the venerable downtown casino and hotel.
Rather than give the El Cortez a make over and totally change the tenor of the place, they instead invested in renovating the existing facade and kept the El Cortez as she was, just cleaned up and looking ready for another sixty years of doing business.
Jackie lived to see his beloved El Cortez become a registered Historical Landmark.
Downtown and Fremont Street, especially, today, seem not quite so bright. The light of the El Cortez has gone dark
RIP, Jackie Gaughan and thanks for all you did!.
How many of these buildings and landmarks do you remember?
Cruising the Las Vegas Strip in the mid-1950s courtesy of Kevin Mueller
Las Vegas, 1962
Las Vegas in the 1960s
Las Vegas, 1964
