5409 Jacksboro Hwy - House/Casino

Hi
According to the book Gamblers & Gangsters of Jacksboro Hwy, the house at 5409 Jacksboro hwy was more then a home, at one time it was also operated as an illegal casino.
Now, the huge home is owned by 2 women - has anyone ever been in the house or know more of its history??
It fascinates me & i would love to see the inside of it or at least hear more about it.


thanks for any additional info.

Laura

Sounds like the former Chateau Club.

It was a restaurant and bar in the 1980s and early '90s, but I don't know the old stories about that place.

And what are the other old casinos, old bordellos, etc. on the Jacksboro Highway?

--Buck

A cousin said this book covers a lot of ground along those lines. May be an interesting read -- probably in the library.
http://www.gamblingm...es/39/39-01.htm

Anyone remeber the Geisha House on Jacksboro Hwy. in Sampson park or the old Coconut Grove Pub on Jacksboro Hwy. in Lake Worth, the Coconut was once a gambling hall if I'm not mistaken.

Buck is right - that was the old Chateau Club. I remember seeing Bill Hamm's jazz group in the basement club there in the mid 80's. It was very strange and mysterious to go there for live music and drinks as you'd drive into the large gravel drive of a private home, which was not well lit and didn't have any parking to speak of. You'd park wherever you could find a spot among the trees behind the house, then start walking toward the back of the house. On my first time there I remember seeing inside the house as we approached the back door, and there was a very normal suburban family scene going on inside with some adults and children watching TV in a darkened den behind an open sliding patio door. Confused, I was just about to open the screen door when I saw a basement stairwell to my left, leading downward. I went down the steps and entered a small, crowded, but very lively and fairly well lit club, with tightly packed tables, a decent full bar, and a busy bartender and wait staff. Other than it being very small, (smaller than the old Hop on Berry St, another intimate 80's Jazz / rock venue) it was a completely normal bar scene.

Additionally, my Dad spent 47 years working for Panther Distributing Company, which supplied wholesale groceries, tobacco products, and juke boxes to clubs in Fort Worth from the 30's through the early 80's, and he did tell me that the place was indeed a gambling parlor in the old days, with slot machines as rumored. Another big gambling spot that he spoke of often that seems largely forgotten now was the Casino at Lake Como. on the near West side. I have seen old photos of the building and small lake, and it appeared quite nice. In his early years he maintained the slot machines there.


Craig Howell
(craig@howell.net)

> Sounds like the former Chateau Club.

> It was a restaurant and bar in the 1980s
>and early '90s, but I don't know the old
>stories about that place.