Activities, Events and Recreation
The Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) Railroad was the 20th century’s longest narrow gauge railway, although only 25 miles of it were in Nevada. In May of 1889, a major fire destroyed a large section of Reno, including the NCO’s holdings. Construction of the NCO locomotive house was undertaken quickly, completed in September of 1889. The building was […]
Built in 1931, El Cortez Hotel is one of only three remaining major Art Deco buildings in Reno, and is an excellent example of this style. The foliated motif found on the terra cotta design on the building’s base and parapet are remarkable Art Deco details. At the time it was built, it was Reno’s […]
The First United Methodist Church, the third Methodist Church to be built in Reno, is one of the oldest remaining churches in Reno. It was built in 1925 and designed by Wythe, Blaine and Olson, a firm based in Oakland, California. The Period Revival cathedral displays impressive Gothic Revival design elements, utilizing a cross plan, […]
The Virginia Street Bridge is located on Virginia Street and spans the Truckee River in downtown Reno. There has been a bridge at this site since 1860, when C. W. Fuller constructed the first recorded span of the Truckee River. Built in 1905 by Cotton Brothers and Company of Oakland, California, the current Virginia Street […]
The Riverside Hotel sits on the exact location where Reno began in 1859. C.W. Fuller operated a log building here that provided food and shelter to gold-seekers who were passing through the area in the reverse gold rush called the “Rush to Washoe,” spurred by the gold, and later silver, strikes of the famous Comstock […]
Designed by Frederick DeLongchamps in 1932, this post office is one of the best examples of Art Deco design, specifically Zig-Zag Moderne, in Nevada. MacDonald Engineering constructed the building, with the assistance of the Civil Works Administration (CWA), a President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program. The post office, also houses a variety of other Federal […]
Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts (PCPA) is a private, non-profit 501(c)3 cultural organization. PCPA owns and operates the Pioneer Center, a 1,500-seat theater located at 100 S. Virginia St. in the heart of downtown Reno, Nevada. The largest performing arts facility in northern Nevada, the Pioneer Center features a distinctive gold-anodized geodesic dome and […]
This courthouse was the third for Washoe County, established in 1861 as one of the original nine counties in the Nevada territory. Myron Lake donated land in 1871 for the first Reno courthouse, in anticipation of Reno wresting county seat status from Washoe City some 20 miles to the south. The original Reno courthouse, built […]
Nevada’s premier architect, Frederic DeLongchamps conceived the Giraud House in 1914. The design utilizes formal Colonial Revival style elements such as a wide frieze below the roofline, comprehensive use of white Tuscan columns and red brick construction. The main decorative features are the porches projecting from three sides, each framed with columns. Brick has long […]
Mount Rose Elementary School is one of two remaining Mission Revival style schools from a group of four known as the “Spanish Quartet.” These single-story schools were built as a result of a bond issue, and in addition to Mount Rose, McKinley Park School is the only other of the four to remain. The other […]