Casino On The Mississippi River
The Queen Marquette is a smaller riverboat casino operated by CQ Holdings and is located in Marquette, Iowa. Like most of the riverboats on this list, the Queen Marquette rests on the Mississippi River. Across the river, you’ll find the quaint midwestern town of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Top Mississippi Casinos: See reviews and photos of casinos & gambling attractions in Mississippi on Tripadvisor. Pearl River Resort and Casino Choctaw. The history of casino cruises and riverboat casinos in the United States goes back to the beginning of the 19th century when the Mississippi River was a major trade center for farmers and merchants. The river towns became major attraction for professional gamblers, also known as cardsharps, who were hunting the travelers who used to carry large amounts of cash with them.
A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Several states authorized this type of casino in order to enable gambling but limit the areas where casinos could be constructed; it was a type of legal fiction as the riverboats were seldom if ever taken away from the dock.
History[edit]
Paddlewheel riverboats had long been used on the Mississippi River and its tributaries to transport passengers and freight. After railroads largely superseded them, in the 20th century, they were more frequently used for entertainment excursions, sometimes for several hours, than for passage among riverfront towns. They were often a way for people to escape the heat of the town, as well as to enjoy live music and dancing. Gambling was also common on the riverboats, in card games and via slot machines.
When riverboat casinos were first approved in the late 20th century by the states, which generally prohibited gaming on land, these casinos were required to be located on ships that could sail away from the dock. In some areas, gambling was allowed only when the ship was sailing, as in the traditional excursions. They were approved in states with frontage along the Mississippi and its tributaries, including Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri. Illinois also allowed limited riverboat casinos in the Chicago metropolitan area, which has a Mississippi River connection through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, while Northwest Indiana has three 'riverboat' casinos in harbors along Lake Michigan.
As an example, in 1994 Missouri voters approved amending the state constitution to allow 'games of chance' on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. By 1998, 'according to the state Gaming Commission, just three of the 16 operations comprising Missouri's $652-million riverboat gambling industry [were] clearly on the main river channel.' The state supreme court had ruled that boats had to be 'solely over and in contact with the surface' of the rivers.[1] Several casinos had been located on riverboats located in a moat or an area with water adjacent to a navigable waterway, leading them to be referred to as 'boats in moats.'[1] The state legislatures were unwilling to give up the revenues generated by gambling. Over time, they allowed gaming casinos to be built on stilts, though with the requirement they had to be over navigable water.
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which destroyed most riverboat casinos and their associated facilities of hotels, restaurants, etc., in states along the Gulf Coast, several states changed their enabling legislation or amended constitutions. They permitted such casinos to be built on land within certain geographic limits from a navigable waterway. Most of Mississippi's Gulf Coast riverboat casinos have been rebuilt on beachfronts with solid foundation systems since the hurricane.
References[edit]
- ^ abSloca, Paul (18 January 1998). 'Missouri's 'Boats in Moats' Get That Sinking Feeling'. Associated Press. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
External links[edit]
- Partial listing of permanently moored casinos, DeJong and Lebet, Inc., Naval Architects and Marine Designers
BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — A proposed casino site on the Mississippi Gulf Coast does not meet state standards for where casinos are allowed to locate, the state Supreme Court ruled.
Mississippi law specifies that state-regulated casinos can only locate along the Mississippi River or on the Gulf Coast. The original law required casinos to be over water. After Hurricane Katrina hurled massive casino barges onto land in 2005, legislators modified the law to allow casinos on the coast to develop a short distance inland but only if other parts of the resort development touch water.
Ray Wooldridge, a former owner of the New Orleans Hornets NBA team, started trying in 2008 get approval for a casino site that's a bit inland in Biloxi, using the business name RW Development LLC.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission rejected the site in 2008, 2017 and 2019. RW Development appealed to the Harrison County Circuit Court, and a circuit judge affirmed the commission's decision in 2019. The company appealed to the state Supreme Court. The decision by justices Thursday was to affirm the circuit court ruling.
Casino Near Mississippi River
The Sun Herald reported that Wooldridge built Big Play Entertainment Center at the site while he waited for permission to proceed with his plans for a casino. The complex now has bowling, miniature golf, laser tag and other family amusements.