The Cursed Casino of North Shore
Is there a cursed casino on North Shore Lake Tahoe? The Cal-Neva casino in North Shore Lake Tahoe has a complicated history. Many believe the ground beneath it to be a sacred burial ground.
The Cal-Neva casino is famous for its many stories. Stories of Frank Sinatra, Marylin Monroe, the Mafia, and old Hollywood-style glamour. It was the casino for the rich and famous in its day.
Tahoe’s Mobster Hits and Casino Killings
Construction and tragedy
In 1926 Robert Sherman built the first rendition of the casino. He was a wealthy San Francisco businessman and wanted the resort as a place to entertain his family and friends.
In the 1930s the casino sold to new owners who obtained a Nevada gambling permit. Sadly, the casino burned down in 1937. Amazingly, it was rebuilt by only 500 workers in 30 days.
I doubt you’ve heard of a young lady named Frances Gumm. Shortly before the fire, she performed at the Cal-Neva. That young lady later changed her name to Judy Garland.
Frank Sinatra purchased the Cal-Neva in 1960 with the intention of creating a world-class resort. He built a beautiful concert hall.
He Installed a helicopter pad and built tunnels underground connecting the cottages and casino. The Kennedy family frequented the casino through the 50s and 60s.
California and Nevada are divided through the casino and the swimming pool.
Paranormal Activity
Former Cal-Neva director of sales Lee Koch said “There have been many stories about paranormal activity, Jim [the chef] would often be frequented by a spirit dressed as a shaman.1https://www.moonshineink.com/tahoe-news/spooked-out-storytellers/..” The BBC contacted Koch to do a paranormal investigation.
Using an electric voice phenomena (EVP) recorder, they planned to capture Sinatra and Monroe’s spirits speaking. The recorder recorded a voice like Marilyn Monroe’s repeating “Do you want to see a movie?” This recording happened in her cottage and the other captured recording said, “Do not come.” They recorded another near the showroom stage area and it sounded like Sinatra’s voice.
A seance was once done by a 23-year-old medium from Chicago who knew nothing of the history or hauntings. The seance did not go well.
The medium began to mimic the mannerisms of Sammy Davis Jr. and then went into convulsions. He seemed to be talking in a strange language.
All participants quit holding hands and the medium recovered. According to Koch, who was a non-believer before this, everyone left as fast as they could. The University of Nevada Reno had a team of language experts translate the recordings of the seance.
They decided the language was that of the Washoe natives whose burial ground the casino sits on. The translation was “Do not come. We will kill.”
A beautiful view from a Cal-Nava room.
Underground Tunnels
The underground tunnels have brick walls and carpets. Celebrities used the tunnels to walk from the casino to the cottages.
Sinatra’s office has an entrance, another was by the helicopter pad. Celebrities such as Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. performed at the casino and used the tunnels to avoid fans and paparazzi.
It was during one such visit that Sammy Davis Jr. saw my family having breakfast shortly after I was born. He thought I was such a cute baby he paid for everyone’s breakfast.
Another popular rumor is that JFK used these tunnels to hook up with Marylin Monroe.
Whenever Bobby or Jack Kenedy visited Sacramento, Sinatra would send his private jet to pick them up. While the rumors are fun, the only time JFK was confirmed to be at the Cal-Neva, Monroe was filming a movie in Hollywood.
Marilyn Monroe spent her last weekend alive at the Cal-Neva. Monroe died of an overdose in 1962 in Los Angeles.
Sinatra’s Revoked Gaming License
By the 60s, bolstered by the celebrity presence and glamour, the casino was booming. It now had 11 cottages and 55 rooms.
Unfortunately, Sinatra had links to the Mob. Local authorities discovered that his friend, the mobster Sam Gianaca, was on the property. Gianaca, the head of the Chicago Mafia was also known as “The Godfather” of the American Mafia.
The Nevada gaming board revoked Sinatra’s gaming permit after Gianaca’s association was discovered. Sinatra was pressured to sell. Sinatra finally sold the casino in 1963. This ended the golden age of the Cal-Neva.
Many different owners have purchased and sold the ill-fated casino over the years and after being shut down in 2010 it was renovated in 2013. Then owner Criswell-Radovan created a 10-story hotel with a 6000-square-foot casino. The hope was to return the casino to its former glory.
The casino sat empty for many years. It was previously purchased out of bankruptcy by Larry Ellison, Oracle Cheif.
Most recently in April 2023, a real estate firm based out of Denver acquired the Cal-Neva to add to its hospitality portfolio.
I personally wish them all the very best of luck with this endeavor. I will also personally tell you that this area of Lake Tahoe is as cursed and haunted as it could possibly be.
Hopefully, they will be the first owner ever to succeed at overcoming all of the supernatural challenges that caused so much trouble for previous owners.
Some amazing stories from the comments of this article: The Incredible History of the Cal-Neva Lodge on Lake Tahoe.
Quote 1
“My great uncle Elmer “Bones” Remmer owned the Cal-Neva in the 30s. He ran the place for the mob. The real reason it was built straddling two states is so the customers could walk over to the other side of the line if they got raided by the state police, and therefore escape their jurisdiction.
While he owned the Cal-Neva, famous gangsters would hang out there. In addition, he got into a very public dispute with Clara Bow over a gambling debt. He never collected.
After he gave up ownership, he moved to San Francisco and wound up taking over Menlo Park for the mob. He ran a casino–perfectly legal–there for many years, and got into a very public dispute with then prosecutor, later governor, Brown.
In the 50s, he was charged by the Feds and, after a lengthy trial, convicted of tax evasion. He was eventually freed on the grounds that the Feds had told the judge, and the prosecuting attorney–but not his attorney–that someone had attempted to corruptly influence a juror. He was released, but at that point, his days in the mob were over.
My grandfather briefly gave him a job at my grandfather’s car dealership in Oakland, but he died soon thereafter–shortly before I was born.
He was treated as the black sheep of our family. They never discussed him. I only learned about him when my mother passed away when I was 41, and I discovered newspaper clippings about him in her memorabilia.
I keep waiting for Hollywood to make a movie about him. His life is at least as interesting as many of the lives of mobsters they have made movies about, but it hasn’t happened.”
- Matt
Quote 2
“in 1977 I was 14 and worked with my mother as a maid at the Cal-Neva. We’d moved from L.A. in 1976 and I got extra credit thru a school work program to make up for the semester I lost. I had no idea about any of the colorful history. What I did realize was something sinister was in the basement area. We had to stock our carts down there every morning. The employee cafeteria was there too. I remember big hissing boiler pipes next to the ceiling and going into the laundry area for towels.
There was a large white brick den area with a pool table down there, pillars and a fireplace. There were several times it seemed like someone else was down there with me. I remember asking if anyone was there. I’d hurry & pack my cart and tried not to be left alone down there. I didn’t understand it. I just knew it was scary. You could feel that bad things had happened there but I had no idea what. In 2013, my Mother passed away. I had some very strange dreams and experiences during that time. One night I had the most intense dream about that place.
It was like an elaborate movie.
The story that unfolded was, Marilyn Monroe actually died there and her body was flown home from the pad at the casino. Lots of people were involved, lots of frantic talking went on but I couldn’t hear the the words. Seemed like- Many people knew what happened. Whether it was accidental, or suicide or murder was never revealed. In my own experience- looking back as an older person, there was a lot of residual activity and what felt like violence.
Especially on the landing going up the back stairs leading to the paneled pit bosses office. Their high corner office upstairs had a wicked vibe. The round bar with stained glass was gorgeous. I can still see the baby blue teepees on the white coffee cups and flatware. The strange ugly art and the Woman In The Lake poster in the lobby area. I took a brief swim in the very cold pool only once. Put one foot in California and the other in Nevada. I remember cleaning the bungalows and suddenly getting the Willie’s. Nothing made sense there. It would be a sunny day in such a bucolic locale- but, suddenly I’d feel scared for no reason. I couldn’t understand why I felt that way. The Summer of 1977. I was 14 years old. What an inappropriate place for a young girl to be…..”
- Victoria L.
Scary personal story
My sister and I were cleaning one of the houses by the Cal-Neva and whatever entity haunted that house tried to send my baby niece down the stairs in her baby disk on wheels.
We barely grabbed it in time as it flew across the house all “by itself” and hurled towards the stairs. That house was off-limits for us after that. Personal opinion, the whole area should be off-limits for everyone. No old-school locals will buy or rent houses there.
We can only hope the casino has better luck in the future.
Hopefully, the new owners will be the first owners ever to succeed at overcoming all of the supernatural challenges that caused so much trouble for previous owners.
My husband and I love to fish at Lake Tahoe and Pyramid Lake, and we can often be found taking visiting friends and family on boat trips around the lakes.
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