More history

Seeking refuge from legal prosecution in Michigan, on March 22, 1946 Lincoln Fitzgerald, Danny Sullivan, Mert Wertheimer, and Ruby Mathis became partners with Harry and Ed Robbins in "Robbins Nevada Club" in Reno Nevada, shortening the name to simply The Nevada Club. The Robbins' had opened Robbins' Nevada Club in April of 1941 at 224 North Virginia Street.

Lincoln Fitzgerald had been chums with Danny Sullivan and George Weinbrenner since their youth. The three had come from St. Louis to Detroit in the early 20's following the allure of then wide-open Detroit.

After launching the Nevada Club in 1946, Mathis and Wertheimer left the partnership.
By 1949 Mathis and Wertheimer had taken over management of the Riverside Hotel and casino, which they eventually purchased in 1955.
The Wertheimer brothers sold the Riverside in 1958, and both died shortly thereafter.
In 1959 Ruby Mathis bought a portion of the Horseshoe Club across from the Nevada Club, and remained a partner there until it was sold in 1967. Mathis died in Reno in March 1986.

Danny Sullivan, Ed Robbins, and Lincoln Fitzgerald remained partners in the Nevada Club, forming an ownership corporation in 1952. Danny Sullivan died in 1956, and at that time Lincoln Fitzgerald bought out Robbins to become the sole owner of the Nevada Club. Until his death, Danny Sullivan had been the General Manager and Fitzgerald the Casino Manager in the partnership.

George Weinbrenner who grew up with Sullivan and Fitzgerald in St. Louis and went with them to the Detroit area to seek fortune becoming one of the 3 partners in the Chesterfield Club, became the successful owner of the B.C. Wills Company. The B.C. Wills Company was a large gambling supply house, operating in Reno from 1955.
After leaving the Chesterfield partnership with Sullivan and Fitzgerald in 1929, Weinbrenner (known to the Detroit press as "Dutch" Weinbrenner) concentrated on the gambling supplies business. He produced a high quality die and other items for casinos. Funnily enough, the name of the company came from the building Weinbrenner acquired for his business. As "Weinbrenner" was too big for the signs, and it was cheaper to keep those already on the building, Weinbrenner's company acquired the name B.C. Wills. Weinbrenner died in 1949 at age 58, and his son Paul continued to operate the B.C. Wills company after him.

By the late 1940's it seemed that all of the once-illegal gambling machine out of Detroit had relocated to Reno, and become a legitimate operation, free from the harassment of the mob, and the need to pay off the local officials for back-door favors. What it must have been like to finally be in business where a Cop at the door would be more for you and your patron's protection than to put the bite on you.

Fitzgerald had brought with him to Reno many items from the Chesterfield Club, among which were slot machines, tables, and other equipment of the trade such as gambling checks, or chips. These chips with interleaved "CC" on them are highly sought collectibles today, reminders of an interesting past.

Oddly enough,we used to vacation in northern Michigan at Burt Lake and Mullett Lake. Wertheimer had a cabin next to one we rented. Many of the other "members" had cabins on Mullett Lake. Fitz, who hired me some 20 years later, vacationed on Mullett Lake. Small world.