Mayme Stocker (September 5, 1875 - December 12, 1972) was an American business owner who was the first person in Las Vegas to legally own a gaming license. She opened the Northern Hotel in 1920, an establishment that covertly sold alcohol under the guise of a soda shop that would later become the now-defunct La Bayou casino.
She was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1875 to George and Anna May Clifton, and was the oldest of 6 children. Her mother died while she was in the 8th grade, and she was left to take care of her siblings. She married railroad worker Oscar Stocker at the age of 16, with whom she had 3 children – Clarence, Harold and Lester. Stocker followed railroad jobs, reaching Las Vegas in 1911, where she would live for the rest of her life.
When she died at the age of 97 in 1972, Mayme Stocker was a member of the Republican Party, the Emblem Club at her local Elks Lodge, and the Daughters of the American Revolution.
References
- ^ "Mayme Stocker". Women in Nevada History. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020.
- Rinella, Heidi Knapp (July 7, 2000). "New book raises questions about Silver State". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
- Hopkins, A. D.; Evans, K. J., eds. (2000). The first 100: portraits of the men and women who shaped Las Vegas. Huntington Press. pp. 103–105. ISBN 978-0-929712-67-3.
- "Photograph: First Nevada Gaming License". Las Vegas Sun.
- "Photograph: The Northern Hotel". Las Vegas Sun.
- Thomas Ainlay; Judy Dixon Gabaldon (2003). Las Vegas: The Fabulous First Century. Arcadia Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 9780738524160.
- "A Brief History of Downtown (cont.)". Classic Las Vegas. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- Dave Berns (June 14, 1999). "Ex-problem gambler criticizes federal gaming report". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
- Hopkins, A. D. (February 7, 1999). "Mayme Stocker". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
External links
- New Haven Museum: Women who Left a Mark in Gambling History
- Photographs of Mayme Stocker at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas