Posts Tagged ‘gambling’

Gambling ships were quite the vogue in the 1930s. Anchored three miles off the San Diego coast, ships like the Reno or Monte Carlo frustrated law enforcement but delighted the sporting crowd. Click below for a story I wrote many years ago about the ill-fated Monte Carlo, the wreck of which can usually be seen each winter at low tide in front of the Hotel del Coronado. This was originally published in Stranger Than Fiction: Vignettes of San Diego History (San Diego Historical Society, 1995).

The Gambling Ships of San Diego 

On Monday morning, July 22, 1935, San Diegans opened their morning newspaper to see a stunning headline: “AGUA CALIENTE PADLOCKED.” The closing of the lavish resort sent shudders across the border. . .

Would illegal gaming now grow in San Diego? Police Chief George Sears assured the public that “the gambling lid was on.” But the “lid” was teetering. . .

Click here for the story of San Diego’s War on Gambling.

What has become of the police force? The archives of the city show that there is such an organization here, yet . . . the criminal element has been holding high carnival during the last few days, “the guardians of the peace” have done nothing to indicate they are on duty. –San Diego Union, August 6, 1887.

Fighting crime in 1887 San Diego: Policing the City.