Town Tavern (Las Vegas)

The Ultra New Town Tavern is a club located at 600 West Jackson Avenue on the West Side of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Town Tavern

Address	600 Jackson Avenue Las Vegas, Nevada United States
Opened	July 5, 1955
Closed	2010

History

Established on July 5, 1955, it became known for its lounge, where Earl Thurman performed, though it also had blackjack and craps tables. It was customary for workers to go to the Town Tavern after their work shifts and party and jam until dawn. During the late 1950s it was the "it" place to go.^[1] Louis Armstrong, The Ink Spots, Little Milton, Ed Sullivan and many other performers were known to drop in.^[2] The original owner (Oscar Green Sr) of the Town Tavern was African American, but in 1958 or 1959,^[3] when Sarann Knight-Preddy, who had returned from Hawthorne, Nevada^[4] where she had run the first club licensed to a black woman,^[5] went to work there it had Chinese ownership.^[3]

On July 6, 1959, the business was renamed the New Town Tavern.^[1] As it had been in the 1950s, the Tavern was a "hot spot" and Cab Calloway, Chubby Checker, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., and Sonny Liston all frequented the club prior to integration on the Vegas Strip.^[6] It changed hands several times before closing on December 30, 1970. It reopened 1981,^[1] and the owner sold out fairly quickly to Cubie Bush, Elijah “Baboo” Green, Clarence Ray and five others, known as Green and Associates.^[7] By this time, integration of the strip had diminished the businesses in West Las Vegas and it had begun slipping into decline.^[6] The club was licensed for blackjack, craps, keno, poker and slot machines and offered soul music as entertainment. It operated until 1993, when it was sold again.^[1]

The new owners renamed the bar the Ultra New Town Tavern and advertised that they had 36 slot machines and 2 gaming tables.^[1] In 2003, the ceiling collapsed and in 2010, the city closed it due to its deteriorated condition, after the owner passed in 2002 and was unable to secure funds for redevelopment.^[6]

References

1. Goertler, Pam (October–December 2008). "A West Side Story" (PDF). Casino Chip and Token News. Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club, Inc. 21 Number (4): 45. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
2. Hershwitzky 2011, p. 85.
3. Embry 2013, p. 183.
4. White 1997, p. 28.
5. Bracey 2008, p. 128.
6. McKee 2014, p. 24.
7. Blue & Coughtry 1991, pp. 98–99.

Sources

• Blue, Helen M.; Coughtry, Jamie (1991). "CLARENCE RAY Black Politics and Gaming in Las Vegas, 1920s-1980s" (PDF). University of Nevada Oral History Program. Reno, NV: University of Nevada: 83. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
• Bracey, Earnest N. (2008). The Moulin Rouge and Black Rights in Las Vegas: A History of the First Racially Integrated Hotel-Casino. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5251-4.
• Embry, Jessie L. (2013). Oral History, Community, and Work in the American West. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-9927-1.
• Hershwitzky, Patricia (2011). West Las Vegas. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-8196-5.
• McKee, Robert J. (2014). Community Action against Racism in West Las Vegas: The F Street Wall and the Women Who Brought It Down. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-8678-7.
• White, Claytee D. (June 5, 1997). "Transcript of interview with Sarann Knight Preddy". Las Vegas, Nevada: University of Nevada Las Vegas.