Harold's Club, also spelled Harolds Club, was a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

in Downtown

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

that was established in 1935. The casino closed in 1995 and the building was demolished in 1999. Harold's Club was the set for the 1955 movie ''

5 Against the House ''5 Against the House'' is a 1955 American heist film directed by Phil Karlson and starring Guy Madison, Kim Novak and Brian Keith. The supporting cast includes William Conrad. The screenplay is based on Jack Finney's 1954 novel of the same name, ...

''. An ''

Ocean's 11 ''Ocean's 11'' is a 1960 American heist film directed and produced by Lewis Milestone from a screenplay by Harry Brown (writer), Harry Brown and Charles Lederer, based on a story by George Clayton Johnson and Jack Golden Russell. The film stars f ...

'' predecessor set in Reno, the movie provides the best view of Harold's Club casino.

History

Harold's Club casino was established in 1935 by Harold S. Smith Sr. (1910–1985) and his brother, Raymond A. Smith. Soon afterwards, their father, Raymond I. ("Pappy") Smith (1887–1967), was appointed general manager and became the public face of the casino. The casino expanded by buying adjacent Virginia Street properties. Harold's Club constructed a seven-story building as part of the casino, but never had a hotel on the property. Pappy Smith developed a marketing campaign that made the casino famous, using more than two thousand billboards across the United States advertising "Harold's Club or Bust", often written on a Conestoga wagon. (By the 1970s, most of the billboards had been taken down because of the

Highway Beautification Act In the United States, highway beautification is the subject of the Highway Beautification Act (HBA), passed in the Senate on September 16, 1965 and in the U.S. House of Representatives on October 8, 1965, and signed by the President Lyndon B. Jo ...

.) Harold's Club was sold to

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...

's Summa Corporation in 1970 for $11.5 million. In December 1994, the casino was sold to Gamma International Ltd. and closed three months later. The casino was then sold to

Harrah's Reno Harrah's Reno is a closed casino hotel in downtown Reno, Nevada. It is owned by CAI Investments, which plans to renovate the building as a mixed-use development named Reno City Center. It is credited for being the first property of the Harrah's ...

in 1999 and demolished. The property is now an outdoor plaza for concerts and special events. The casino building had an ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' restaurant and nightclub for 8 years during the 1990s. Harold's Club was the target of a casino heist in the 1955 feature film ''

''. A large 70 by 35 foot mural of Old West pioneer settlers that was displayed in front of the casino is now on display at the Reno Livestock Events Center, about 2 miles from the old casino location. The mural was designed by Theodore McFallon and constructed by

Sargent Claude Johnson Sargent Claude Johnson (October 7, 1888 – October 10, 1967) was one of the first African-American artists working in California to achieve a national reputation.

References

External links

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Harold's Club
at Old Reno {{Reno Casinos 1935 establishments in Nevada 1995 disestablishments in Nevada Articles containing video clips Buildings and structures completed in 1935 Buildings and structures demolished in 1999 Casinos in Reno, Nevada Defunct casinos in Nevada Demolished buildings and structures in Nevada

History

References

Further reading

External links