when did harrah's casino open metropolis il

The casino’s hotel sits on land, with a walkway extending to the casino docked on the Ohio River, just a swim from Kentucky. Harrah’s casino, established in 1994 pursuant to the 1990 Illinois Riverboat Gambling Act, is a huge cash cow for the city. Now, while the portion of the city that touches the river still maintains replicas of the military fort and still has economic advantages, those factors are no longer the city’s biggest draws. Over time, due to its location on the Ohio River, Metropolis became a trading and military outpost during both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution and was platted as a town in 1839.įort Massac, occupied by the French, British and Americans at different times, became Illinois’ first state park in 1908. Mounds built by Mississippian tribes are still visible in the region. The Metropolis area has been populated for more than 1,000 years. What lies ahead for Metropolis is unclear, but this Ohio River town across from Paducah, Kentucky, has a rich history on which to draw for hope for the future. Massac County, of which Metropolis is the county seat, has lost jobs, wages and residents in the last several years.Įichorn worries, too, the town could soon look like Cairo – an Alexander County city now nationally known for its decline – if the city’s trajectory doesn’t change. While it’s visually unique in its embrace of fiction, much of Metropolis’ reality is similar to other southern Illinois cities. “I am embarrassed when people come to Metropolis and say, ‘My God, what happened?’ We don’t have to look like what we are.”

“I’m really embarrassed to say I’m from Metropolis now,” Eichorn said. Present day, Eichorn says, would fall into the latter category, though the city’s troubles have nothing to do with Superman and the superhero realm the city embraces.

Some have failed and some have succeeded, but his popular liquor store, Charlie’s Party Hut, has remained a fixture in good times and in bad. Eichorn has started 38 businesses in the last 39 years. This wasn’t always central to Metropolis’ identity, but as it shares a name with the superhero’s fictitious hometown, the town has associated itself with the caped hero for more than 40 years.Ĭharlie Eichorn has seen a lot of different versions of Metropolis in his 63 years living in the area.Īs a business owner for 39 of those years, he’s noticed the “almost” booms and “almost” busts of the city. Related Pritzker’s economic record: Weak labor market, widening racial gaps

When did harrah's casino open metropolis il