Advanced Forum Search -- Advanced Casino Search

Tunica's Transformation
Message was posted: 10:11 Jul 24th, 2006

User: libblesp Rank: Casino Gold: 58782CG Contributor rating: 128760 Status: Offline

Casino news source: The Clarion-Ledger - http://www.clarionledger.com Tunica's Transformation County goes from poverty to prosperity In 1985, Tunica County was the most impoverished county in the United States. The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited the area to draw attention to the substandard housing conditions along an open sewer, nicknamed Sugar Ditch. The economy began to change in 1992 when Splash Casino became the first casino to open in Tunica County, population 9,227. Within five years, the number of residents receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children and food stamps had shrunk by half. In 1992, one in five Tunica County residents received a welfare check. Ten years later, it was one in 100. Splash, which is now closed, was the first Mississippi casino to open along the Mississippi River. The county now has nine casinos, Tunica National Golf Course, Tunica RiverPark museum, an interactive, interpretive center that showcases the history of the Mississippi River, Mississippi’s largest indoor arena, and an airport, now undergoing a $40 million capital improvement program. The county has gone from 20 hotel rooms to 6,320. Year-to-date gross gaming revenues for Mississippi River casinos, the majority of which are in Tunica County, are about $730 million. Tunica’s 31-story Gold Strike Casino Resort is the state’s tallest building.