La Bayou

Opened 1970

Closed June 2016

La Bayou was a small casino at 15 East Fremont Street, beside Golden Gate. Its neon frontage, frozen drinks and Mardi Gras beads belonged to a different scale of Downtown gambling from the large casino hotels. It closed in June 2016, and its former site became part of Golden Gate’s expansion the following year.

Start with its history

Editorial illustration of La Bayou beneath the Fremont Street canopy, based on a user-supplied photograph.

The history of La Bayou.

A brief history of La Bayou

La Bayou’s neon frontage beneath the Fremont Street canopy on February 18, 2011.

Coin Castle and the sidewalk pitch

The later casino began as Coin Castle in 1970, according to Pam Goertler’s address-by-address research in Casino Chip and Token News. Coin Castle offered blackjack before becoming a slots-only operation in 1977. Its promoters handed out beads and encouraged pedestrians to come inside, a street-facing approach that continued under the La Bayou name.

The La Bayou name

Goertler dates the change of name and decor to 1999. Contemporary Las Vegas Sun reporting independently confirms that Herb Pastor’s casino was operating as La Bayou by August 2000. The exact renaming day remains unresolved. A 2001 Nevada Magazine account captures its attraction for a summer visitor: a small casino beneath the Fremont canopy, offering a large choice of daiquiris.

An older address, with interruptions

The address had a much older gambling history. Mayme Stocker’s Northern Club opened in 1920, and the Monte Carlo Club opened at 15 Fremont in 1945. UNLV’s records describe interruptions and changes in operation. Those earlier clubs are part of the site’s history; treating La Bayou as a casino that operated continuously from 1920 would hide those changes.

Ownership and the licensed address

A 2015 Nevada Gaming Control Board report records Granite Gaming Group III as La Bayou’s operator, with Steven Jeffrey Burnstine in its management. Its May 2006 ownership start date should not be mistaken for the casino’s original opening.

Closure and Golden Gate’s expansion

The Stevens brothers acquired La Bayou in spring 2016. KNPR reported the completed closure that June. Golden Gate’s September 2017 announcement describes a finished casino extension, enlarged outdoor bar and new entrance occupying former La Bayou land. This was an addition to the neighboring hotel and casino, not a renaming of La Bayou as Golden Gate. The former standalone casino is gone, while the enlarged Golden Gate remains beside its site.

Read the full history

Sources and context

UNLV: Stocker Family Papers

Historical note: Northern Club opened in 1920, received its 1931 licence and closed during the Depression, with the year unresolved. The family retained its hotel and leased the ground floor. This does not prove uninterrupted La Bayou identity.
UNLV: Monte Carlo Club records

Historical note: incorporated in 1944; opened at 15 Fremont in 1945, with Wilbur Clark as first president; closed approximately 1957. Distinct from the later Strip Monte Carlo/Park MGM.
Pam Goertler: Fremont Street, Fall 2006

Casino Chip and Token News, Fall 2006, page 33 (PDF index 2), Pam Goertler with Brian Cashman. Original collector research: Coin Castle 1970–1999, blackjack until 1977, then slots only; renamed and redecorated as La Bayou in 1999. Bead promotion continued. Page rendered and read. Conflicting dates elsewhere in the article are not adopted; no exact opening day asserted.
Las Vegas Sun: La Bayou operating under its new name in 2000

August 28, 2000 contemporary reporting identifies Herb Pastor’s operating La Bayou and Mermaids casinos. Confirms the name by that date. Lawsuit allegations are not treated as findings or republished as misconduct.
Nevada Magazine: cooling off in Las Vegas, July/August 2001

July/August 2001, page 22 (PDF index 21), Carolyn Graham’s contemporary visit. Small La Bayou casino and daiquiris beneath the Fremont canopy. Rendered page visually read; no historic price or present-day menu promise.
Nevada Gaming Control Board: 2015 locations report

March 3, 2015 report, PDF index 354: Granite Gaming Group III, LLC, doing business as La Bayou Casino; location 15 E Fremont, mailing address 111 N 1st. Approval March 23, 2006, ownership start May 1, 2006; Steven Jeffrey Burnstine in management. These are ownership dates, not the casino’s original opening.
KNPR: Fremont Street businesses shut, June 29, 2016

June 29, 2016 published programme text confirms the Stevens brothers had shut La Bayou, Mermaids and Glitter Gulch after acquiring them that spring. Text read; audio not heard. Completed closure, rather than only a future plan; month precision retained.
Golden Gate: completed expansion, September 2017

Owner-issued September 5, 2017 release describes the completed casino, bar and entrance extension by Dez Motif and MOSER, occupying former La Bayou land acquired in 2016. An addition to an existing hotel and casino, not a rename of La Bayou.
OpenStreetMap: current Golden Gate and neighboring frontage

Golden Gate way 257865725 version 14 and neighboring way 316174415 version 5 geometry read through the OSM API. Approximate former 15 Fremont point crosschecked with the licensed address, 2011 frontage photo and 2017 owner statement. No former wall survey; historical Overpass returned HTTP 406, so no historic OSM geometry is claimed.
Wikimedia Commons: La Bayou in 2011

Original photograph by time anchor, Flickr 5485864407, February 18, 2011. Commons Flickr upload review on May 24, 2012 confirmed CC BY 2.0. Original 4000×3000, 1495353 bytes; exact file, licence, history and pixels inspected. Conflicting compass directions in filename and summary are not adopted. Original motion softness retained.

1970 is the reported Coin Castle opening year. Collector research dates the La Bayou name to 1999, independently documented by August 2000. Exact opening and renaming days remain unresolved.

Closure is represented at June 2016 precision from contemporary reporting of completed closure. Northern Club’s earlier 1920 opening is not assigned to the later casino.

The former address and site association are verified. Pin placement is approximate; historical walls, entrances and parcel outlines have not been surveyed.

This site through time

Replaced by Golden Gate Hotel and Casino

2016 – 2017

La Bayou closed in June 2016. Its former land was incorporated into Golden Gate’s completed 2017 casino and bar expansion. Golden Gate’s existing hotel and casino predated this addition: this is a replacement of the adjoining La Bayou use by part of Golden Gate, not a rename or the construction of the whole Golden Gate property.

Historical source — Owner-issued September 5, 2017 release: completed expansion by Dez Motif/MOSER; additions occupy former La Bayou land acquired in 2016. KNPR June 29, 2016 published programme text separately confirms completed closure.

Partial former-site absorption; the relationship does not claim matching whole-property footprints or a survey of former walls.
Year precision describes the closure-to-expansion sequence. Golden Gate’s 1906 hotel origins are separate from the 2017 addition.

Shared or overlapping site with Northern Club

Northern Club and the later Coin Castle/La Bayou casino are associated with the historic 15 Fremont Street address. They operated in different periods, with Monte Carlo Club and other uses between them. This is a historical site association, not a claim that the businesses operated together, that La Bayou was a direct rename of Northern Club, or that the same building survived throughout. La Bayou closed in 2016; its site became part of Golden Gate’s 2017 expansion.

Historical source — UNLV Stocker Family Papers biographical note, pages 3–4: Northern Club at 15 E Fremont and undated Depression closure. NGCB March 3, 2015 locations report, PDF index 354: La Bayou at 15 E Fremont. UNLV Monte Carlo records describe the intervening 1945 club. The later Golden Gate expansion is independently documented by its September 5, 2017 release.

Some historical captions use 13 Fremont rather than 15. The association identifies the general historic address, not identical surveyed footprints.
Exact Northern Club closure and the intervening building sequence remain unresolved. No direct rename, continuous casino operation or simultaneous occupation is asserted.

Find the place.

La Bayou

The map marks an approximate site. It does not identify an entrance or a walking route.

View the site on a map

Follow the evidence.

Sources, image credits and the limits of what we know.

Historical sources10 documents and records

UNLV: Stocker Family Papers

Historical note: Northern Club opened in 1920, received its 1931 licence and closed during the Depression, with the year unresolved. The family retained its hotel and leased the ground floor. This does not prove uninterrupted La Bayou identity.
UNLV: Monte Carlo Club records

Historical note: incorporated in 1944; opened at 15 Fremont in 1945, with Wilbur Clark as first president; closed approximately 1957. Distinct from the later Strip Monte Carlo/Park MGM.
Pam Goertler: Fremont Street, Fall 2006

Casino Chip and Token News, Fall 2006, page 33 (PDF index 2), Pam Goertler with Brian Cashman. Original collector research: Coin Castle 1970–1999, blackjack until 1977, then slots only; renamed and redecorated as La Bayou in 1999. Bead promotion continued. Page rendered and read. Conflicting dates elsewhere in the article are not adopted; no exact opening day asserted.
Las Vegas Sun: La Bayou operating under its new name in 2000

August 28, 2000 contemporary reporting identifies Herb Pastor’s operating La Bayou and Mermaids casinos. Confirms the name by that date. Lawsuit allegations are not treated as findings or republished as misconduct.
Nevada Magazine: cooling off in Las Vegas, July/August 2001

July/August 2001, page 22 (PDF index 21), Carolyn Graham’s contemporary visit. Small La Bayou casino and daiquiris beneath the Fremont canopy. Rendered page visually read; no historic price or present-day menu promise.
Nevada Gaming Control Board: 2015 locations report

March 3, 2015 report, PDF index 354: Granite Gaming Group III, LLC, doing business as La Bayou Casino; location 15 E Fremont, mailing address 111 N 1st. Approval March 23, 2006, ownership start May 1, 2006; Steven Jeffrey Burnstine in management. These are ownership dates, not the casino’s original opening.
KNPR: Fremont Street businesses shut, June 29, 2016

June 29, 2016 published programme text confirms the Stevens brothers had shut La Bayou, Mermaids and Glitter Gulch after acquiring them that spring. Text read; audio not heard. Completed closure, rather than only a future plan; month precision retained.
Golden Gate: completed expansion, September 2017

Owner-issued September 5, 2017 release describes the completed casino, bar and entrance extension by Dez Motif and MOSER, occupying former La Bayou land acquired in 2016. An addition to an existing hotel and casino, not a rename of La Bayou.
OpenStreetMap: current Golden Gate and neighboring frontage

Golden Gate way 257865725 version 14 and neighboring way 316174415 version 5 geometry read through the OSM API. Approximate former 15 Fremont point crosschecked with the licensed address, 2011 frontage photo and 2017 owner statement. No former wall survey; historical Overpass returned HTTP 406, so no historic OSM geometry is claimed.
Wikimedia Commons: La Bayou in 2011

Original photograph by time anchor, Flickr 5485864407, February 18, 2011. Commons Flickr upload review on May 24, 2012 confirmed CC BY 2.0. Original 4000×3000, 1495353 bytes; exact file, licence, history and pixels inspected. Conflicting compass directions in filename and summary are not adopted. Original motion softness retained.

What remains uncertain3 notes on context and interpretation

1970 is the reported Coin Castle opening year. Collector research dates the La Bayou name to 1999, independently documented by August 2000. Exact opening and renaming days remain unresolved.
Closure is represented at June 2016 precision from contemporary reporting of completed closure. Northern Club’s earlier 1920 opening is not assigned to the later casino.
The former address and site association are verified. Pin placement is approximate; historical walls, entrances and parcel outlines have not been surveyed.

Image credits2 images with source information

Editorial illustration of La Bayou beneath the Fremont Street canopy, based on a user-supplied photograph.

AI-generated illustration / Vegas Retold; based on a photograph supplied by Piers

Source reference: USE LOCATOR: intended Property page. Source photograph supplied by Piers; original photographer, date and external source unknown.

AI-generated editorial illustration based on the supplied photograph; shapes, signage, advertisements and people simplified. Not archival evidence.

Published at Piers’s explicit request. Source photograph creator, date and rights remain unknown; no public-domain status or independent rights clearance is asserted.

Image source ↗

La Bayou’s neon frontage beneath the Fremont Street canopy on February 18, 2011.

time anchor / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Source reference: Original photograph by time anchor, Flickr 5485864407, February 18, 2011. Commons Flickr upload review on May 24, 2012 confirmed CC BY 2.0. Original 4000×3000, 1495353 bytes; exact file, licence, history and pixels inspected. Conflicting compass directions in filename and summary are not adopted. Original motion softness retained.

Depicted date: 2011-02-18

License

Original Commons file retained without editorial alteration. Responsive overview and index presentation may crop the image; original motion softness is retained.

CC BY2.0Generic: retain attribution/source/license and indicate changes; no endorsement implied.

Image source ↗

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