It began shortly before the 1900s, when Massachusetts businessman, Wallace D. Lovell, owner of the Exeter, Hampton and Amesbury Street Railway Company financed the construction of a two-story wood-frame building in the hopes that it would draw people to the Hampton Beach area and stimulate business. The building, which opened its doors on July 15, 1899, was christened the "Hampton Beach Casino."
At that time, the word "casino" did not connote a gambling establishment as we understand it today. The word is Italian for "summer house" and came to describe a social gathering place, a room or building where one could dance, listen to music, and gamble. Lovell likely chose the term because, at the time, all things European were vogue in America. The name sounded exotic, and was familiar to thousands of immigrant workers in Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill.
Though it is not yet classified as such, the Hampton Beach Casino is, to many, a historical landmark. It has been and will continue to be the heart of Hampton Beach. It has been the center attraction at one of New England's most popular summer resorts for more than 100 years.
In 1927, the Hampton Beach Casino was purchased by John J. Dineen, John Cuddy, and Napolean Demara and a new era in the Casino's history began. A little more than a quarter of a century after the Casino's founding, radio, records and motion pictures were creating a new kind of entertainer - the national star. The new owners quickly moved to design a "ballroom" large enough to accommodate 5,000 people.
Patterned on old English ballrooms, the new owners incorporated part of the old Opera House and added space toward the south end of the complex. The ballroom's wooden dance floor was one of the largest in the region and it soon became the most popular nightspot in the area. Each week, more than 20,000 people danced in the air-conditioned ballroom
