Mayme Stocker

Mayme Stocker (September 5, 1875 - December 12, 1972)[1] was an American business owner who was the first person in Las Vegas to legally own a gaming license.[2][3][4] She opened the Northern Hotel in 1920,[5] an establishment that covertly sold alcohol under the guise of a soda shop[6] that would later become the now-defunct La Bayou casino.[7][8]

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.[1] She married railroad worker Oscar Stocker at the age of 16, with whom she had 3 children – Clarence, Harold and Lester.[9] Stocker followed railroad jobs, reaching Las Vegas in 1911, where she would live for the rest of her life.[1]

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.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Mayme Stocker". Women in Nevada History. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Rinella, Heidi Knapp (July 7, 2000). "New book raises questions about Silver State". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Photograph: First Nevada Gaming License". Las Vegas Sun.
  5. ^ "Photograph: The Northern Hotel". Las Vegas Sun.
  6. ^ Thomas Ainlay; Judy Dixon Gabaldon (2003). Las Vegas: The Fabulous First Century. Arcadia Publishing. p. 50. ISBN 9780738524160.
  7. ^ "A Brief History of Downtown (cont.)". Classic Las Vegas. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  8. ^ Dave Berns (June 14, 1999). "Ex-problem gambler criticizes federal gaming report". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  9. ^ Hopkins, A. D. (February 7, 1999). "Mayme Stocker". Las Vegas Review-Journal.