Golden Nugget Casino history

Beloved, maligned, always-hustling since its 1854 founding, the seaside…

The first Boardwalk was constructed in 1870 as a means to keep beach sand out of hotel lobbies, and was at that time a temporary, seasonal structure.

Racetrack gambling was legalized again in 1939, but despite the fact that gambling was illegal in the state until then illegal casino and bookmaking operations, slot machines, and numbers rackets abounded in Atlantic City.

According to the New York Times obituary [paywall] published at the time of his death in 1968, Johnson made the majority of his $500,000 annual income from kickbacks he took on construction, illegal liquor, prostitution rings operating in the city, and gambling.

However, a plan to legalize gambling and rebuild the once great resort town emerged in the 1970s and Atlantic City suddenly saw itself on the verge of its first great comeback, initially sparked by a 1970 referendum to create the New Jersey Lottery.

Nov 5, 1974: First NJ casino legalization referendum defeated

The revised referendum passed in November 1976, although according to the Atlantic City Free Public Library, it was approved by a slim margin of just 1.5 million votes to 1.14 million.

In 1978, Resorts Atlantic City, which still operates from the same Boardwalk location to this day, became the first legalized Atlantic City casino to open to the public.

The Brighton, which would eventually become the Sands Hotel and Casino, opened up in 1980, followed by the Harrah’s Casino Hotel and the Golden Nugget at Boston Avenue, which underwent a number of name changes before eventually becoming the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel.

In 1981, Del Webb’s Claridge and Hi-Ho Casino opened up, and eventually became part of a merger to form Bally’s.

According to nj.com, Trump had been buying up land near the end of the Atlantic City Expressway to build a casino, acquiring his first license to do so in 1982.

May 26, 1984: Harrah’s at Trump Plaza opens

April 2, 1987: Showboat opens

In 1995, the three casinos were consolidated into a publicly traded company called Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts.

May 5, 1996: Trump World’s Fair opens in former Regency/Atlantis

In 1997, Trump Castle was renamed Trump Marina.

1998; Harrah’s Entertainment purchases the Showboat

According to the 2000 New Jersey Casino Control Commission Annual Report, gaming revenues from the city’s 12 casinos hit $4.2 billion dollars that year.

May 31, 2001: Park Place Entertainment buys Claridge, merges with Bally’s

July 3, 2003: Borgata opens

Borgata was a game changer, and while the Taj Mahal was still the city’s revenue leader the year the MGM-Boyd Gaming hotel opened, both Borgata and Bally’s Atlantic City would surpass it in 2004.

In 2006, the Sands closed its doors, but Atlantic City’s gaming revenues continue to boom, reaching an all-time high of $5.2 billion that year.

The plan was to open in 2010.

February 7, 2012: Claridge casino closed

In August 2014, Trump reportedly filed a lawsuit to take his name off the property, since he was no longer involved or invested, but a search for new ownership turned up empty and Trump Plaza shut down in September, rendering the suit moot.

In October 2017, there was speculation that the property was again sold, but Straub initially denied these reports.