Tag: carsonnugget

Guy Farmer asks, re: the proposed sale of the Carson Nugget, What is a ‘nonprofit’ casino?

Huh? After more than 45 years in Nevada, including three years with the State Gaming Control Board, this is the first time I’ve heard of a casino that wasn’t in business to make a profit.

Does a nonprofit casino play by the same rules as a for-profit casino? Or is it more like an Indian casino, which plays by its own rules?

There are no answers, only questions.

This week we have two stories about Carson City's history, one on the town of Empire, which used to sit on the banks of the Carson River where the Empire Ranch golf course is now. Carson City eventually grew and swallowed the town whole.

There's also a story that's technically part of the paper's Business coverage, but it has a fair amount of history so it counts. Nugget has long history in Carson City is the story of the Carson Nugget in downtown Carson, and all the growth it's gone through over the decades.

Also there's the story that slipped through my fingers last week, about Kings Canyon, and the history of what used to be the best road up to Lake Tahoe, before Kingsbury and Spooner were built.

There used to be a time that Carson City's Stewart Street was a quiet residential street. Sure, there were railroad tracks running down the street, with trains that traveled originally to the V&T Lumber Yard where the Railroad Museum is today, and then later connected all the way to Minden once the Carson Valley branch line was built. But the train only came through a few times a day, and the rest of the time it was a cozy, tree-lined street with houses on both sides.

Boy, have times changed. Stewart Street is now one of Carson's major thoroughfares. It's a main north-south artery, carrying traffic off of Carson Street and whisking it along at a solid 35mph. At the moment it dead-ends at Hwy 50, but plans are in the works to extend it north and have it meet Roop by the cemetery. And when that happens you know the traffic will only get thicker along Stewart Street.

So it's no surprise that all of the trees and quiet front yards have been torn out years ago. Nobody wants to live on a noisy street like Stewart, and the neighborhood has become commercial anyway, so the houses have been pushed out one by one. Stewart Street now is home to banks, motels, and the massive bulk of the State Supreme Court and State Library buildings. It's not a place anyone would want to live.

Except for this house, the one holdout left on Stewart Street.

I really don't know anything about the history of this house. Obviously it's several decades old, maybe even old enough to have had its windows rattled by the daily train to Minden. And obviously whoever owns it has held out against the commercialization of Stewart Street for all that time, refusing to sell or move the house to make way for anything else. All of their neighbors are gone, and the house itself is now surrounded on all sides by asphalt. In fact, it's basically become a part of the Nugget parking lot.

I've never seen anyone go into or come out of this house. The yard looks like it's been neglected for years. The paint job looks like it dates back to Kennedy. There's a one-car garage in the back that I've never seen open. In short, the house looks abandoned. But there are slight signs of life. None of the windows are broken or boarded up. A couple of No Trespassing signs are scattered around the property, indicating that someone wants to be left alone. A fairly new garden hose hangs off the side of the house. And the trees, at least, seem not to be wanting for water. So maybe someone does still live in there, a noisy life behind drawn curtains, remembering a Carson City, and a Stewart Street, that are long gone.

If you know anything about this house, don't hesitate to share!

As a followup from yesterday, the Nugget has added their logo to the top of their new electronic sign on Carson Street.

Looks like the Carson Nugget is installing a new electronic sign in their west parking lot, right along Carson Street. They already have a marquee along Stewart Street, but this sign looks like it will be full color and full motion, like the sign at the Fandango. Plus a little something at the top, yet to be installed.

This plot of land wasn't always a parking lot. It used to be home to the Arlington Hotel until it was torn down in the 1960s. I'll let you compare these two photos and decide for yourself which is more desirable for downtown Carson.