Cherokee Tribal Bingo's Closure and the Casino's Fixed Location

The Closure Question and What This Article Can Measure

The documented reference set for this article contains no record of a Cherokee tribal bingo hall, its operating dates, or the reason it closed. What the reference set does document is the fixed physical position of Harrah's Cherokee, the casino owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, at 35.46983 latitude and -83.304807 longitude in Cherokee, North Carolina. That venue opened on November 13, 1997, on the site of the former Frontier Land theme park.

If the reader's question concerns a bingo operation that predated or operated alongside the casino, the closure date and cause are not facts this article can state. The article can, however, anchor the venue's geography precisely, because geography does not change the way operating status does. A reader trying to understand what happened in Cherokee should separate two questions: what closed and when, which requires a historical source, and where the surviving venue sits, which the coordinates answer.

The Fixed Position and the Reference Cities Around It

The venue's coordinates place it in the town of Cherokee, in the far western part of North Carolina. Using only the coordinate pair, the site sits west of Charlotte and northwest of Atlanta, near the state's mountainous western edge. The precise position is fixed; what changes is the reader's own starting point.

Straight-line distance is a great-circle measurement between two coordinate pairs. It ignores terrain, roads, water crossings, and state borders. The table below lists every reference point for which the reference set supplies a documented straight-line distance to this venue.

Some rows in the table show "not supplied" because the reference set does not contain a documented straight-line distance for that pair. This article cannot measure those pairs and will not estimate them.

Why Straight-Line Distance Is Not Road Distance

The great-circle figure is the shortest path across the surface of the earth between two coordinate points. A road route cannot follow that line. In western North Carolina, the terrain is mountainous, so a straight line may cross ridgelines that no public road traverses. The road network follows valleys and switchbacks, which adds length even when the destination is close in a straight line.

Water is a second factor. A straight line from Cherokee to a point in another state may cross a reservoir, river, or lake. The road must go around the water or cross at a bridge, and bridge crossings are placed where engineering and land ownership allow, not where the straight line falls. State borders add a third factor: a straight line may cut across a corner of Tennessee or Georgia, but the road system may not offer a direct connection at that exact crossing point.

This article publishes no road mileage and no driving time. Road distance depends on the route chosen, current road conditions, and the reader's exact starting address. A reader who wants road distance should measure it in a mapping tool using the venue's coordinates as the destination and their own address as the origin.

The Venue's Documented Physical Profile

Publicly published reference sources document the venue's facility figures at specific points in time. Figures like room counts, gaming floor area, and table game counts are revised as properties are rebuilt and expanded, so they describe a documented point in time rather than today's condition.

The reference set documents a hotel room count of 320 rooms, associated with a second renovation completed in 2005 that added a 15-story tower. It documents a gaming floor expansion of 22,025 square feet associated with a first renovation completed in 2002. It documents over 100 table games as of summer 2014. The venue is owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and operated by Caesars Entertainment.

The opening date is documented as November 13, 1997, following a proposal in 1994 and a compact between the State of North Carolina and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to establish a casino with Class III gaming. The site is documented as the former Frontier Land theme park location.

What to Confirm Before You Go

Operating status, hours, and access details change. The venue's own published channels are the authoritative source for current information. Before travelling, confirm the venue's current operating hours, any entry requirements, and the current status of the facility figures, because renovations and expansions alter room counts and floor area over time.

For road routing, use a mapping tool with the venue's coordinates. For historical questions about a Cherokee tribal bingo operation that closed, consult local historical records or the tribal government's archives, because this article's reference set does not document that operation.

FAQ

Why did Cherokee tribal bingo close?

This article's reference set does not document a Cherokee tribal bingo operation, its operating dates, or a closure reason. The documented venue is Harrah's Cherokee, which opened November 13, 1997. For the bingo closure, consult local historical records or the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' archives.

Where is Harrah's Cherokee located?

The venue sits at 35.46983 latitude and -83.304807 longitude in Cherokee, North Carolina, on the site of the former Frontier Land theme park. Using the coordinates, it lies west of Charlotte and northwest of Atlanta, in the far western part of the state.

How far is Harrah's Cherokee from Charlotte?

The documented straight-line distance from Charlotte is 139.7 miles, measured as a great-circle distance. Road distance is longer, and this article does not publish road mileage or driving time. Measure road distance in a mapping tool using the venue's coordinates.

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