Two 12-foot prospector statues that once guarded the Lucky Strike Club casino in downtown Las Vegas have witnessed seven decades of the city's history. Created in 1954 by renowned wax artist Katherine Stubergh and manufactured by YESCO, these animated fiberglass figures would jiggle their illuminated gold pans at night.

The statues have survived multiple relocations, starting at their original home at 117 Fremont Street. When the Lucky Strike became the Lucky Casino in 1963, they were temporarily stored before finding a new home at the Fort Lucinda Casino in 1964, where they served as popular photo opportunities.

In 1968, they were positioned back-to-back beneath the marquee of the renamed Gold Strike Casino, where they remained for 30 years. After surviving a fire in 1998, the statues were moved to the Gold Strike casino in Jean, Nevada.

Today, these historic figures stand weather-beaten and vandalized outside the abandoned resort, which was sold to Tolles Development in 2022 for $44.7M. The company plans to replace the site with a 2.84 million square-foot industrial center, leaving the fate of these iconic Las Vegas artifacts uncertain.

Despite multiple attempts to contact Tolles Development regarding the statues' future, they have not responded to inquiries, suggesting an uncertain fate for these historic pieces of Las Vegas history.

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