Why Isn't the Golden Gate 115 Years Old?

Yesterday's QOD has me confused. According to the Golden Gate's website, they are the oldest casino in Las Vegas. Numerous articles over the years in the Las Vegas Review-Journal also say it's the oldest. A recent story in the paper was titled, "Golden Gate celebrates 115th Anniversary". And a google search says the same thing. I know it was renamed in 1955 to the Golden Gate, before that it was named something else. Is that the reason for saying it didn't exist until 1955? Is the Golden Gate ownership taking excessive license in claiming to be the oldest? Haven't other casinos operated under different names down through the years?

It's true that the Golden Gate's marketing department likes to claim that it's the oldest casino, having opened in 1906. It's also true that when the Golden Gate issues a hyperbolized (in our humble opinion) press release, along with every other company that issues the same, the press picks up the claim and runs with it, sometimes to the ends of the Earth.

As such, on January 14, the Golden Gate issued the release extolling its 115 years of history as a hotel-casino. We duly reported it in Vegas News, though we put the "115" in quotes, signifying that we weren't the ones giving it more than a century in existence.

Here's why not.

The original building opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada; in the lobby was a small casino with roulette and poker tables.

In 1931 when gambling was legalized in Nevada, the name of the hotel was changed to the Sal Sagev (Las Vegas spelled backwards).

In 1955, a group of investors from San Francisco bought and renamed the property. Thus, technically, the "Golden Gate" didn't come alive until then, when the building was already nearly 50 years old, had changed hands and names several times, and the casino had opened and closed and opened and closed under different management each time.

To us, it boils down to the name. The Golden Gate didn't open 115 years ago in 1906; if it did, it would've been called the Golden Gate, not the Hotel Nevada. In 1906, no one could have envisioned what downtown Las Vegas would look like, or be named, 50 years later. Even though, yes, it was in the same building, the Golden Gate didn't open until 1955, 66 years ago. That's a good long time in Vegas years and we'll be sure to drop by in 2025 for its 70th anniversary, but we still won't consider it the 120th.

All that said, 10 of the hotel rooms have been preserved in their original condition and there's a collection in the lobby of century-old artifacts, both nods to the age of the original structure. Also, the press release made a comparison that we think is not only cool, but accurate: Las Vegas' oldest hotel building is now located right across the street from Las Vegas' newest, Circa.

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Comments

Ray Feb-09-2021

Why not?

Did it start out as a "hotel-casino? According to your answer, yes. Has the place been open the entire time? You give no indication that it closed down at any time. Is it the same building? According to the answer, yes, so why be so nit-picky about the age of the place? How old are you going to call the Sahara, which certainly went through name changing?

[email protected] Feb-09-2021

Ray ...

I think the key is that the building has been operating 115 years as a hotel, but according to the article, it has not continuously operated as a casino.  I do agree that just a name change should not affect the age of the place, for example, does Citgo not get to take credit for the years spent as City Service?  But I do think that the fact that the casino part has come and gone multiple times does make the 115 year claim somewhat specious.  I think they should get credit for consecutive years run as a casino-hotel, under whatever name.

Reno Faoro Feb-09-2021

OLD PLACE WAS GREAT

Happened to stay in one of the original rooms in the  late 80s, very small, but the place had "charm' , great lunch counter ,  BOTH   sizes of shrimp cocktails were 'numero uno'.miss the piano player , and the restaurant in rear. things change --- UGH.

gaattc2001 Feb-09-2021

Never stayed there, but had a good many shrimp cocktails over the years...

and I always appreciated the break-in blackjack dealers. It was a great place to chill out without too much cash out. 
Of course, that's all gone now. I haven't been downtown in years, as part of my one-person protest against ridiculous fees. 
I'm not sure how I got on their list, but I do get email offers from D and Golden Gate--and even from Circa--but nothing tempting so far. They'd have to start by waiving the resort and parking fees. Till then, maybe I'll see you "off-strip"; or in Laughlin.

Jfunk Feb-09-2021

tomato, tumato

no matter how old it is, its still a great place to have a good time.  Love the plaque on the bar identifying the RAt Pack..

steve crouse Feb-09-2021

GG Room

I stayed in one of those rooms a couple years ago.
Was booked for four nights, but checked out early the next morning.
It was early fall, and they had turned the AC off, the bed felt like it had been saved from the Sal Sagev, the windows were stuck shut, and probably a good thing as there was a fight in the alley right next to the room, and it had an "air" to it that smelled like someone had left one of the shrimp cocktails inside the closet for a few days.

Teeye Feb-09-2021

Golden Gate

I used to love the Golden Gate. Stayed in an original room overlooking Fremont St, it was charming. You wouldn't want to do that today, obviously, as the FSE has become an obnoxious, noisy  mess. The Golden Gate has also lost its charm since Derek Stevens took over, no restaurant, no snack bar, no shrimp cocktails,but plenty of high limit slots. Such a shame.

Gregory Feb-10-2021

Virgin

I see that Virgin is on the list, the list is just formatted funny.

Question of the Day - 09 February 2021

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