 Downtown Reno Nevada
City of Reno Nevada
America's Adventure Place
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The City of Reno, Nevada was long known as the "The Biggest Little City in the World" It is Nevada's second largest city, and the largest city in Northern Nevada. Reno is larger than most cities in the United States and now called"America's Adventure Place". Reno is where the Safari Club International holds its annual convention, and has a variety of annual events. Reno is a hub for outdoor recreation including mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking, and most snow activities from late fall to early spring.
From Census 2003 estimate, Reno had 193,882 persons. From Census 2000 Reno covered 69 square miles for a density of 2,611.4 persons per square mile in 2000. 19.2% percent of the population were of Hispanic or Latino origin, 5.3% of the population were of Asian origin, 2.6% were of Black or African American origin, and 1.3% were American Indians and Alaska Native persons.
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Channel 21, KAME UPN, Reno
Channel 25, KRRI LP (Spanish), Reno
Channel 27, KREN The WB Television Network, Kids WB, Reno
Channel 39, K39FF Trinity Broadcasting Network TBN, Reno
Channel 41, KNVV LP Univision, Reno
Channel 48, KNCV LP Univision, Reno
Channel 52, K52FF Telemundo, Reno
Channel 68, KUVR Azteca USA, Reno
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Spanish Springs NevadaIn Washoe County, about 15 miles NNE of Reno, Zip 89510
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All California and Nevada Road ConditionsCall 511 from most cellphones, or 877-687-6237.
As of November 18, SBC is not processing calls to 511 in Nevada.
Cellphone calls to 511 may be misdirected near state lines.
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Reno History |
1840
Washoe and Paiute peoples inhabited the land along the Truckee River in Nevada.
1859
Comstock Lode discovered, placer miners and prospectors made two remarkable strikes of gold and silver ore near Virginia City
1860
Steamboat Springs was first located by Felix Monet. Located twelve miles south of Reno on US Highway 395 between Reno and Carson City, it was named by early emigrants for the puffing and blowing vents which mark this location and are proof of the area's geothermal activity. In 1861, Doctor Ellis erected a hospital with adjacent bathhouses. With the coming of the Comstock and the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in 1871, Steamboat Springs became an important rail terminal where supplies for the mines were transferred to freight wagons for the steep haul to Virginia City. Its fine hotel, commodious dance-hall and elegant bar were frequented by the legendary silver kings, politicos, gamblers and news chroniclers. The waters received national acclaim by President Ulysses S. Grant when he visited them in 1879. The decline of the mines in the 1880s, however and the ensuing economic hard times shut the resort down in 1895. Five years later, December 1, 1900, an earthquake shifted the underground plates and the springs dried up. In April 1901, a fire burned the hotel and the bath houses to the ground.
1861
Nevada's population was recorded at 14,404 persons, with the majority, about 4,581 persons, residing in and around Virginia City.
1862
During the Civil War, Major General Jesse Lee Reno (1823-1862) was shot on his horse and mortally wounded on September 14, 1862, at the battle of Fox's Gap, South Mountain, Maryland. The City of Reno would be named after Jesse Lee Reno.
1866
July 18 - Groundbreaking for the Carson City Mint.
1867
Reno County near Wichita on Feb. 26, 1867, was named to honor Jesse Lee Reno, who also had served in the Mexican War.
Verdi came into being with the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad through Nevada in 1867-69 when it became a major mill town and terminal for the shipment of ties and construction timbers.
1868
The Central Pacific Railroad lines reached Wadsworth on the lower Truckee River and wholesale harvesting of Pyramid Lake cutthroat trout began with shipments both west to San Francisco and east (1869) to Ogden, Utah, via Wells Fargo Express.
Jacob Davis (Born in Riga, Latvia, 1834 to 1908) came to Reno, tailoring clothing, manufacturing tents and horse blankets.
1869
December - The Carson Mint opens - coins were minted here from 1870 to 1893.
1871
Jacob Davis's Taylor Shop opens. One of his suppliers was Levi Strauss.
1872
On August 24, 1872, Virginia & Truckee Railroad Superintendent Henry M. Yerington drove the last spike in the line a mile west of Carson City. On September 1, the first through train traversed the 52-mile route recently completed which linked Virginia City with Reno by rail. The last train traversed the route on May 31, 1950.
The Orr Ditch was completed in the Truckee Meadows, taking water out of the Truckee River on its north side just downstream from the present-day Mayberry Drive Bridge. The ditch would then run in basically an easterly direction, paralleling the river for about two miles to Henry Orr's ranch located on the river's north bank.
Jacob Davis's Taylor Shop had a difficult customer who kept ripping the pockets of the pants that Jacob made for him. Jacob tried to think of a way to strengthen the man's trousers, and one day hit upon the idea of putting metal rivets at the points of strain, such as on the pocket corners and at the base of the button fly. These "riveted work pants" were popular with Jacob's customers, but Jacob was worried that someone might steal his idea. He wanted to apply for a patent on the process, but didn't have the $68 that was required to file for the patent. He wanted and needed a business partner so he contacted Levi Strauss.
1873
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received patent #139,121, on May 20 for "Fastening Pocket-Openings". Jacob Davis left Reno to oversee production of the riveted pants at the Levi Strauss & Co. San Francisco plant. Today a small monument stands near 211 South Virgina Street.
August - The first waters from the Truckee River Basin reached Gold Hill and Virginia City, located in the Carson River Basin. The water system, over 21 miles in length, was capable of delivering 2.2 million gallons of water in 24 hours (6.75 acre-feet per day or almost 2,500 acre-feet per year). The system consisted of a diversion dam below Hobart Creek Reservoir on Franktown Creek, which flows into Washoe Lake from the eastern slopes of the Carson Range. From this point of diversion, the water flowed through four miles of box flumes to a pressure pipe almost eight miles in length that transported the water across the Washoe depression (Washoe Valley) to the east to Five-Mile Reservoir in the Virginia Range, and finally through a 5.66-mile flume which took the waters to Gold Hill and Virginia City.
1874
The State University of Nevada (later to become the University of Nevada, Reno, or UNR) is founded from a Land Grant University, was built in Elko, before being moved to Reno in 1885.
1875
Work began on the Highland Ditch, which diverted Truckee River waters from a point just east of Verdi to serve the irrigation needs of the Truckee Meadows and Reno's growing municipal water requirements. This was a joint construction project of the Highland Ditch and Water Company and several large ranchers in the Truckee Meadows.
A large dam was constructed on the Truckee River for the lumber mill at Verdi. This structure, which essentially diverted the entire flow of the river through a large holding pond for retaining logs flowing downstream, effectively closed the upper Truckee River to Pyramid Lake cutthroat trout spawning runs. Under threat of litigation, an inadequate fish ladder was eventually added to the dam in 1877.
A second flume and pipe system, diverting waters from the Truckee River Basin to the Carson River Basin, was constructed from Franktown Creek (a tributary of Washoe Lake and eventually Steamboat Creek) below Hobart Creek Reservoir, across Washoe Valley to Five-Mile Reservoir in the Virginia Range to serve the water needs of Gold Hill and Virginia City. Like the first system installed in 1873, the capacity of this system was also 2.2 million gallons per day.
Due to rapidly depleted stocks of native fish species in the Truckee River above Verdi, Nevada, the California Fish Commission released the first foreign fish species--brook trout and whitefish--into the Truckee River above Boca (the outlet of the Little Truckee River).
1877
The original Donner Lake Dam was constructed.
Myron Lake's wooden bridge across the Truckee River at South Virginia Street was replaced by a modern iron bridge.
1880
The total disappearance of Pyramid Lake cutthroat trout above the Verdi dam was recorded. The California Fish Commission replaced this species of cutthroat trout in California waters by an imported species of McCloud River (Alaska) trout, Eastern brook trout, and other non-native trout varieties.
At Lake Tahoe, a 4,000 foot-long tramway was built by the Sierra Nevada Wood and Lumber Company up a steep grade near present-day Incline Village, Nevada. A unique steam-powered cable railway carried cordwood and lumber a vertical height of 1,800 feet to the summit, at which point the logs were dumped into a V-flume and sluiced to lumber mills in Washoe Valley. From there they were carried by wagons up to the Comstock. suitable trees within the basin (estimated at up to 60 percent of all mature trees) were cut down and the tramway and flume operation was shut down.
1881
With the waning fortunes at the Comstock mines, Nevada's Twenty-Year Depression began. Eventually, this depression (1881-1900) caused Nevada's population to fall by 32 percent from 62,266 persons in 1880 to only 42,355 persons by 1900. Storey County's population (Virginia City) fell from a peak of 19,528 persons in 1875 to only 3,673 persons by the turn of the century.
May 28 - The Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) Railway - First spike was driven in Reno.
1882
October 2 - The Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) Railway first operations begin, with service to Oneida, California, (simply stated, that name was not incorporated until 1988, is was at times the Nevada-California Railroad or the Nevada-Oregon Railroad) a narrow guage railroad, headquartered in Reno with a roundhouse, repair shop, and storage yard.
The first telephone went into operation in Virginia City.
1884
August 4, a cloudburst in the Sierra Nevada Mountains caused flood waters from Gray Creek to wash out the main trestle of the Central Pacific Railroad at Iceland, located between Hirschdale and Floriston in the upper Truckee River canyon. The Gray Creek watershed is characterized by extremely steep terrain, unstable soil conditions, extensivelogging, and over-grazing by livestock.
NCO Rails extended to Junction House, Calif. (37 miles).
1886
September - J.L. Stevenson founded the Reno Electric Light Company using rented space at the Reno Reduction Works, located about a block east of the present Wells Street overpass and on the north bank of the Truckee River. The company installed a water powered dynamo using the dam recently erected at the site and began selling electrical power to the City of Reno for street lamps and other public buildings.
1887
May - Public meetings were held in Reno to address a petition to the Washoe County Commissioners about local health hazards. In testimony before the commissioners, Colonel George Waring, a San Francisco engineer hired to plan a new Reno municipal waste system, recommended that all the city's wastes be combined and dumped directly into the Truckee River, noting that this would "...not affect the stream to any noticeable extent, [since] nearly all the particles of matter will be devoured by the fishes.
State University of Nevada is relocated fron Elko to Reno.
1888
The Highland Ditch, originally constructed in 1875 and then extended in 1880 to Peavine Creek and the Highland Reservoir to serve as the primary domestic water service for Reno, was further extended to its full 14-mile length.
Nevada & California Railroad renamed from Nevada & Oregon Railroad.
1889
The U.S. Geological Survey began limited measurement of Nevada streams.
May - A large fire destroys a section of Reno including Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) Railroad locomotive house and other NCO holdings.
1890
Extensive flooding on the Truckee River's tributaries inundated the Truckee Meadows while mud flows emanating from Gray Creek caused the Truckee River to run red through Reno for over a week. It became increasingly apparent that additional upstream flood control was needed on major Truckee River tributaries, particularly the Little Truckee River, Martis Creek, and Prosser Creek.
November 1890 - The Nevada-California-Oregon (NCO) Railroad reached a location named Amadee, 80 miles from Reno. This was only a water stop and hotel, but it remained the northern terminus for the next ten years.
1893
July 18 - The Carson Mint stops minting coins.
1895
Nevada's first public library opens in Reno.
1897
Reno was first incorporated in 1897, discorporated in 1899, and has been continuously incorporated since 1903.
1899
Reno's electric utility company, Reno Water, Land and Light Company, constructed a hydropower plant and associated diversion dam two miles upstream from downtown Reno, further impeding upstream passage of spawning fish from Pyramid Lake.
The Farad hydroelectric power plant, located about 18 miles upstream from Reno, was constructed with a capacity of 325 cubic feet per second. The construction of this facility was based on an electrical power contract with the Comstock Pumping Association of Virginia City. Water was diverted from the Truckee River into a flume at Floriston about a mile upstream from Farad. In 1906, an additional 75 cfs would be added to the flume's capacity. The capacity of this facility was rated at 2.5 megawatts.
1902
The City of Reno and Southern Pacific Railroad, concerned about pedestrian safety near the downtown railroad tracks built a $6,000 pedestrian tunnel, under the tracks at Virginia Street. Pedestrians didn't like using the tunnel, where tramps gathered; and where attacks, robbings and leaks were common. The tunnel was closed to pedestrians in 1927.
1904
November 24, the Nevada Transit Co. started the first Trolly line in Reno, with an electric car line between Reno and Sparks. The first car was a used trolly car built in 1891 and used in San Francisco.
1905
The Virginia Street Bridge, one of the first reinforced concrete bridges in Nevada, is built by Cotton Brothers and Company of Oakland, California.
1907
March 16-20 - A combination of rain-on-snow, rain on frozen ground, and wet-mantle (saturated soils) flood events precipitated the first major flood of the twentieth century in Carson Valley. It was also considered to be one of the most destructive floods on record. It has been estimated that under similar conditions of settlement and development, this flood event most likely would have at least equaled the devastating floods of 1950 and 1955 and exceeded the recorded damage of the flood of December 1937. The event began with a heavy snowfall on March 16th, turning to a heavy downpour across the entire Sierra Nevada Mountain range up to the highest elevations, which continued through March 20th. By March 17th Carson Valley lowlands were completely flooded and many valley ranchers were forced to remove their families and seek shelter in safer places. Bridges throughout Carson Valley were washed from their foundations and the flood waters carved deep channels through agricultural fields and removed considerable quantities of valuable topsoil. The Cradlebaugh Bridge, located at the northern end of the valley near the site where present-day U.S. Highway 395 crosses the Carson River, was washed away despite the fact it had been rebuilt and strengthened after it had been washed away in the floods of 1890. Much of the roadbed of the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, which had just been completed through from Carson City to Minden, was washed out for about a mile and a half north of Minden. In Alpine County, a swollen Monitor Creek washed out power dams recently completed (Fall 1906) by the Hercules Mining Company, and a raging Carson River West Fork washed out the Woodfords bridge on the road to Markleeville, virtually isolating that community.
1910
The NCO Railway Depot was built by the Burke Brothers, designed by Frederic DeLongchamps. It is located at 325 East Fourth St.
1911
Construction, by Bell Telephone of Nevada, started on the transcontinental telephone line across Nevada, and was completed in 1914.
1912
The Nevada and California Railroad, a narrow guage railroad, northward expansion ended at Lakeview, Oregon.
1916
The University of Nevada at Reno operates the first wireless station.
1917
Western Pacific Railroad purchased the Nevada and California narrow guage railroad and standardized
1918
Western Pacific Railroad builds branch to Reno.
1920
Riverside Bridge is completed, located on Booth Street between Riverside Dr. and Idlewild Dr.
1922
July 21 - The first radio station in the state, station KDZK, started operations in Reno, with 20 watts of power and one hour on the air. Electrical engineer Frank O. Broili and his brother, Julius, owners of Nevada Machinery and Electric Company in Reno underwrote the station.
The Mizpah Hotel was built at 214 North Lake Street. See October 2006 for related story.
1923
May - Idlewild Park was acquired from the estate of Francis G. Newlands.
1925
US Highway 40 also known as the Lincoln Highway reaches Reno.
1926
The Center Street bridge over the Truckee river was finished. Next Center Street Bridge entry 1996.
October - Southern Pacific Railroad acquired control of the N-C-O Railway.
The Reno Arch was first erected on Virginia at Commercial Row to celebrate the completion of the Lincoln and Century Highways and Nevada's Transcontinental Highway's Exposition. Next "Reno Arch" entry 1927.
1927
The Riverside Hotel opens, at 6 stories the Riverside was Reno's tallest building at construction time.
The Arch was changed to spell out Reno - the Biggest Little City in the World. Next Reno Arch entry 1934.
Boeing Air Transport, a United predecessor company, acquired the Reno Airport from the U.S. Air Mail Service.
1928
March 24-30 - Carson Valley was subjected to flooding, although not nearly as extensive as the last major flood event of 1907. Snow began falling on the afternoon of March 24th, adding 6-12 inches of new snow above the valley floor. By evening, the snow turned to rain and continued throughout the night, frequently falling in torrents. The rain continued through the following day, melting the newly fallen snow as well as the snow underlying it. Both forks of the Carson River reached their peaks on March 26th. Some damage was done when the East Fork flooded out of its banks in many places. Train service to Minden was emporarily interrupted when the tracks became covered with water, mud, and debris for a distance of about 400 feet.
After flood conditions earlier in the year, both the Carson and Truckee River basins experienced the beginning of a severe drought which lasted from 1928 through 1935 (eight years). Due to its severity, this period of time (and particularly the year 1931) established water planning criteria for these river basins. This drought period would not be exceeded in severity until the most recent drought period which began in 1987 and lasted through 1994 (by coincidence, also eight years in duration).
1929
Boeing Air Transport named the Reno Airport Hubbard Field, named after Eddie Hubbard, VP and Operations Manager of Boeing Air Transport.
1930
Due to the intensifying drought conditions in the Truckee and Carson River basins, a group of Nevada "water interests" sent a steam shovel, accompanied by a Reno police force guard, to the power company's property adjacent to the Lake Tahoe Dam at Tahoe City, California, to start digging a diversion trench to the rim. It was suspected that they would also try to dynamite the dam itself. Ultimately, a court injunction was obtained by the Lake Tahoe property owners against the power company, TCID, and others to halt the digging, and the trench was subsequently backfilled.
1931
Southern Pacific Railroad built a two story freight transfer depot on Peavine Street, now called Evans Street.
The El Cortez Hotel is built. Located at 239 West Second Street.
1934
Reno's new post office at Virginia and Mill Streets opens. This post office is one of the best examples of Art Deco design, specifically Zig-Zag Moderne, in Nevada.
Some felt the solan on the Reno Arch, "Reno, The Biggest Little City in the World", was out of date, so the word Reno was redone in green and neon. Next "Reno Arch" entry 1935.
1935
On February 23 Harold C. Smith Senior opened Harolds Club at 7pm. He and his brother and both wifes staffed the club. They had a 8 foot roulette wheel and 2 slots, a 5 cent and ten cent machine.
The Truckee River Agreement was formally enacted, recognizing Lake Tahoe's natural rim at 6,223.0 feet MSL and allowing water storage from 6,223.0 feet MSL to 6,229.1 feet MSL (the upper 6.1 feet, containing a total usable storage capacity equal to approximately 744,600 acre-feet, i.e., one inch of storage equals approximately 10,172 acre-feet). In conjunction with the Truckee Storage Project, the agreement also paved the way for additional upstream reservoir storage (i.e., the construction of Boca Dam and the creation of Boca Reservoir to be located on the Little Truckee River). In addition to incorporating the Truckee River flow requirements set by the Floriston rates (i.e., the 1915 Truckee River General Electric Decree), the Truckee River Agreement also contained language intended to settle the on-going disputes over pumping Lake Tahoe.
The Reno Arch was restored to its original slogin. Next "Reno Arch" entry 1963.
1936
United Airlines acquired the Airport in Reno from Boeing.
1937
December 9-13 - Carson Valley was subjected to extensive flooding. The rains began falling across the eastern slope of the Carson Range and in Carson and Eagle valleys on the night of December 9th, continuing in a steady downpour until late in the afternoon of December 11th. By this time, the saturated soils and the melting of the snowpack resulted in overland flows and flooding of the Carson River's tributaries. The East Fork left its main channel on December 10th and poured into adjacent sloughs south and west of Minden and Gardnerville. By the night of December 10th, the Carson River mainstem left its bank and spread over the lowlands at the north end of Carson Valley. On the West Fork, flood waters destroyed the Woodfords to Markleeville highway bridge, virtually isolating that community. All bridges above Woodfords were either swept away or badly damaged. On the East Fork, a flooding Markleeville Creek inundated a number of buildings in Markleeville. Also, the old Dou las Power Dam on the East Fork, where the waters enter Carson Valley, was breached with a 75-foot cut down to the riverbed, releasing thousands of tons of silt accumulated behind the dam over the years. Fortunately, the cut was relatively narrow and much of the silt remained above the dam. A number of homes in Gardnerville were saved when the Nevada Highway Department blew up a portion of the present Nevada Highway 56 in order to divert some of the raging floodwaters in the Cottonwood Slough. The flood crested just as waters began flowing down Gardnerville's main street. Virtually all farms along the East Fork south and east of Gardnerville and Minden sustained some damage or loss. By December 12th, the Cradlebaugh Bridge was under water by 18 inches and the surrounding lands were three feet under water. During this flood event the peak flow of the East Fork was recorded at 12,000 cfs in Carson Valley (capacity 2,500 cfs) and the peak flow of the West Fork at Woodfords was recorded at 3,500 cfs (capacty 600 cfs)
Boca Dam Construction was started.
Western Pacific Railroad ceased passenger operations in Reno.
1938
Lake Winnemucca went dry. Later, state route 447 was built between Winnemucca Lake and the Truckee River cutting off Truckee River water from then on.
1939
Boca Dam was completed on the Little Truckee River by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the reservoir has an active capacity of 40,900 acre-feet. Boca Stats
1940
November 1st - The City of Reno engineering department issues a map of Reno.
1942
The Reno Army Air Corps constructs the Reno Army Airport air base in north Reno.
1947
The 12 story Mapes Hotel, with views of the Sierra Nevada and an Art Deco hotel, opens on Virginia Street. It becomes the first resort in the nation to put restaurants, hotel rooms, gaming tables and live entertainment under one roof, pioneering the form of the modern casino. In the 50's and 60's, with acts from the Marx Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Mae West and Sammy Davis, Jr., and guests such as Marilyn Monroe, the Mapes was the place to be in this era.
1950
November - After nine days of Rain, the Truckee River peaked at 19,900 Cubic Feet per Second in Reno, flowing over the top of the Parking Meters on First street. 11.27 inches were recorded at Tahoe City from November 18 to the 21st. On November 21st, Boca reservoir reached capacity. Lake Tahoe rose nearly two feet. The main sewer line over the Truckee River was destroyed, First Steet became part of the river, as the parking meters were covered at about 3 AM November 21. The waters rose rapidly and only a few were able to sandbag. This was considered to be the biggest flood to this date.
1951
Washoe County, where Reno is based, had been the most populous county from 1890 until this time, Clark County took over this most populous county title in 1951.
Reno Army Airport was renamed Stead Army Airbase in honor of Croston Stead, who died while engaging in a mock dog fight in his P-51 Mustang.
1953
KOLO was first TV station to go on the air in Reno, as did KLAS in the Las Vegas valley.
The City of Reno acquired the Airport in Reno from United Airlines.
1954
The City of Reno Engineering Department issues a new map of Reno and Sparks.
1955
The Primadonna Hotel at 255 North Sierra Street, opens in Downtown Reno.
December - The Truckee River peaked at 20,800 Cubic Feet per Second in Reno. This was the peak flow of the 20th century. The flood of 1997 caused more damage as the city was more developed in that year.
1959
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began major flood control work on the Truckee River with most of the work completed by 1963. This included extensive channelization (straightening and deepening) through much of downtown Reno, greatly affecting riparian areas. These actions also resulted in the removal of a number of small and scenic islands in the Truckee River, including Scott Island, a relatively large island in the middle of the Truckee River near the present location of the Reno Gazette-Journal office building and just downstream or east from the Kirman Avenue-Sutro Street Bridge.
Prosser Creek Dam construction was started
1960
The City of Reno's Airport Terminal Building was dedicated. The facility was completed in time for the Squaw Valley Olympics.
1962
Prosser Creek Dam and Reservoir was completed, Prosser Creek Reservoir stores almost 30,000 acre feet, see Prosser Creek Dam Information
1963
The Reno Arch was replaced with a new one, the old one was moved to Idlewild Park, and then Paradise park. Next Reno Arch entry 1988.
1966
Stead Army Airbase was transferred to the City of Reno, and in June of 1966 it began operating as Reno Stead Airport.
1968
January - The Pioneer Theater--Auditorium opened, now called the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, it was designed by the Oklahoma City architectural firm Bozalis, Dickinson and Roloff. It is located at 100 S. Virginia St.
The Wells Street Overpass was completed.
1970
Stampede Dam and Reservoir are completed on the Little Truckee River immediately below the mouth of Davies Creek and approximately 8 miles above the confluence of the Little Truckee and Truckee Rivers. A surface area of approximately 3,340 acres at full reservoir storage with 25 miles of shoreline, Total capacity, 226,500 acre-ft, at elevation 5,948.7 ft, which is at the spillway crest.
1975
The Sundowner Hotel and Casino opens at 4th and Ralston.
1978
The Primadonna Hotel at 255 North Sierra Street in Downtown Reno closes, it becomes the Sahara Reno.
January 31 - Stampede reservoir hits its 20th century low of 30,772 acre-ft, January 31, & Febuary 1, at elevation, 5,853.60 ft.
September 17 - The Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County started bus service in Reno with five used buses serving four routes.
Airport Authority of Washoe County was created by the 1977 Nevada Legislature to own and operate the Reno Airport.
Construction was started on the Greg Street Bridge.
1980
McCarran Blvd was finished around the cities of Reno and Sparks.
1981
The Sahara Reno on Sierra Street closes and becomes the Flamingo Hilton.
The Greg Street bridge was completed over the Truckee River which connected Reno to Sparks just north of Mill Street. This bridge did not cause any problems nor go under water in the 1997 flood.
1982
The Mapes Hotel closes 35 years after it opened.
Rail-truck transfer facility is completed. It was originally a circus-style, end-load dock facility on the Western Pacific Railroad, the facility is now Union Pacific Railroad's "Reno Branch" in an industrial area. It is a multi-modal shipping-and-receiving trailer/container-on-flat car handling facility located on 13 acres near the intersection of Parr Road and US 395.
1986
The Kings Inn, at 301 West Street and West 3rd Street closed.
August 1 - Hot August Nights festival started at about 7:30 in the evening on Saturday, about 28,000 people attended the first event which lasted three days.
1987
Both the Carson and Truckee River basins experienced the beginning of a severe drought which lasted from 1987 to 1994.
1988
The old Reno Arch Base had deteriorated, so the arch was placed in storage. Next "Reno Arch" entry 1994.
1994
Lake Tahoe reaches the lowest level in the 20th Century at 6221.01 feet on October 31st, down 240,810 acre-feet from its natural rim.
The Reno Airport was re-named Reno-Tahoe International Airport, with the Terminal Building named after Senator Howard W. Cannon.
The Reno Arch was restored by filmmakers and placed on Fourth Street for the making of the film "Cobb".
1995
Downtown Train Trench proposed. Next Train Trench story 2001.
July 28 - the Silver Legacy Resort Casino opened at 407 North Virginia Street at 7 PM connecting with the Eldorado and Circus Circus Hotel Casinos.
1996
The 70 year old Center Street bridge over the Truckee River was torn down to make ready for a new bridge. Next Center Street bridge enrty 1997.
Reno's Southern Pacific Railroad becomes the Union Pacific Railroad after a merger.
Reno's City Council, acting as the city's Redevelopment Board, bought the Mapes for $4 million.
1997
January: Up to 7 inches of unseasonably warm rain in late December melted a six-foot snowpack around Truckee sending floodwaters to Reno. The Truckee River peaked at 18,200 Cubic Feet per Second in Reno.
The Reno-Tahoe Airport was closed for 36 hours due to the flooding, and the east-west runway was damaged.
The right westbound lane of I-80 in Sparks washed away into Helms Pit, which is now the Sparks Marina.
I-80 in California was closed due to a mudslide.
The diversion dam at Floriston for the Farad hydro plant was destroyed, and 300 feet of the flume was washed away.
Further south, an eight mile portion of US-395 between the Sonora Pass turnoff (California State Highway 108) and the town of Walker was washed away, when the West Walker River overflowed.
The Reno Tahoe Airport airport offered 128 daily flights, the peak number of flights this century.
1998
Center street was replaced with concrete, and the Center Street Bridge over the Truckee River was replaced.
2000
Jan. 30, the Mapes Hotel on Virginia Street was imploded.
Farmlands within the Truckee Meadows has been reduced from approximately 28,500 acres in 1944 to approximately 7,100 acres in 2000.
The combined population of Reno and Sparks and surrounding areas of Washoe County has increased from approximately 39,600 in 1944 to approximately 300,000 in 2000.
2001
February 27, Reno City Council votes 5-2 in favor of the Train Trench, nearly 300 citizens attended the meeting which seemed split between proponents and opponents.
Oct 23 - the Flamingo Hilton-Reno closes.
2002
A 2002 Corps of Engineers report on flood damage reduction alternatives notes the 1997 flood, considered the most devastating of recorded floods, flooded more than 7,000 acres with structures within the first several blocks adjacent to the river being inundated by up to six feet of water. That flood also resulted in $500-$600 million in damages, with the lost of more than 800 jobs and an impact on another 15,000 jobs. The report notes that other recorded devastating floods have occurred in 1907, 1928, 1937, 1950, 1955, 1963, 1964 and 1986.
August 22, Granite Construction Company signs contract with City of Reno to build the Train Trench.
November 27, the Golden Phoenix Hotel Casino opens in what was the Flamingo Hilton-Reno.
2003
November 10 - The Sundowner Sundowner Hotel & Casino, at 4th and Arlington Streets closed at 6 AM today, the casino closed three weeks before the announced date of December 1st.
Nevada Museum of Art moved into a new 16 million dollar building at its old location at 160 West Liberty Street.
2004
Work is started on the downtown train trench. 11 bridges over the trench will be built, from west to east: Keystone Avenue, Vine Street, Washington Street, Ralston Street, Arlington Avenue, West Street, Sierra Street, Virginia Street, Center Street, Lake Street, Evans Avenue. Evans Avenue is the only new crossing over the tracks, Second Steet will no longer connect to fourth street and dead ends west of Keystone Avenue. The Wells street underpass will close.
For the project, the City of Reno will condemn 32 land parcels and move 52 businesses.
February 2 - The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) started its largest construction project to date, a 34.9 million dollar replacement of the McCarron Street Bridge over US-395 in north Reno.
July - Keystone Avenue bridge over the downtown train trench opened, Vine and Ralston streets are closed for bridge construction.
August - Kathy Augustine (1956-2006), Nevada State Controller was impeached. The Nevada Assembly voted in August 2004 to impeach Kathy Augustine, the Nevada State Controller, for using state staff for her 2002 Nevada State Controller re-election campiaign.
October 20 - The 125-room Virginian tower on Virgina Street closed when Cal Neva failed to negotiate a new lease agreement with the French firm Partouche. It was formally known as the Virginian Hotel & Casino, which was owned by investors George Karadanis and Bob Maloff, the same investors who closed their Sundowner Hotel & Casino late last year.
2005
January 10: Reno-Tahoe International Airport was closed for 12 hours overnight for the second time in a week, because snowplows could not keep up with the snowfall. This was the second and third time the airport was closed in 40 years.
Carson City, Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), Douglas County and the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County start the PRIDE bus service between Reno, Carson City and Northern Douglas County.
June - The Kings Inn, at 301 west street was sold through Federal Bankrupcy court. Plans to add five stories and reconfigure the Inn to create 99 condominiums with retail space on the ground floor are contemplated.
October - E. L. Wiegand Foundation donates a new eating place with a large indoor heated waiting area and restrooms for St. Vincent's Dining Room.
October 16 - Union Pacific starts to lay track in the 2.2 mile Train Trench.
November 18 - The first scheduled train went through the 2.2 mile Train Trench, at 12:10 p.m.
December 30, 31- The Truckee river overflowed its banks in Sparks and downtown Reno.
Road closures and/or partial closures on Saturday, Dec 31:
Towne Road
Lemmon Valley Drive (portions of)
Virginia at South Meadows
Andrew Lane
O'Brien Pass
395/So. Virginia (water crossing portions of the road)
395/Mt. Rose Highway (vehicle rescue by Nevada Highway Patrol)
Eagle Canyon/Pyramid Highway
Calle de la Plata/Pyramid Highway
I-80 has been closed both east and west lanes at Floriston (In California) due to a mudslide
Spice Island Drive closed due to raw sewage spill in the area
2006
On January 3, the City of Reno celebrated the official grand opening of the largest public works project in Northern Nevada history, the ReTRAC Project (Train Trench), at the new Amtrak Station in downtown Reno. Lake and Evans Streets remained closed at the trench bridge, and construction on 3rd street and Commercial Row continued.
February 4, Train Trench - Vine Street opened.
February 5, Train Trench - Keystone Avenue was closed, this time for about two months, between Second and Fourth streets. Granite Construction Co. will repair streets, sidewalks and gutters around the train trench. Keyston Avenue traffic is diverted to Vine Street. Pedestrains should use caution when crossing Vine on the north side of Second Street.
February 6, Virginia Street traffic was restricted to one southbound lane at the Virginia street bridge, and parking was prohibited on the west side of the street. Erosion from January floodwaters damaged the base of the center support pier under the bridge, city spokesman Steve Frady said February 3.
February 8, Train Trench - Ralston Avenue was closed.
February 22, Train Trench - workers on Keystone Avenue just south of the train trench damaged a natural gas line.
March 1, Train Trench - Lake and Evans Streets, Keystone and Ralston Avenues continue to be closed, and four lane Arlington Ave is reduced to two lanes and there are no sidewalks.
March 10, Train Trench - the west side of Arlington sidewalk opens, eastside remains closed.
March 15, A new upscale shopping center, The Summit Sierra, opened at South Virginia Street and Mount Rose Highway.
March 23, Train Trench - Lake Street opened over the train trench. Sierra street was closed for building work at First Street.
March 24, Train Trench - Center Street closed over the train trench.
March 25, Train Trench - Ralston Avenue was opened.
March 27, Train Trench - West Street was closed.
March 29, Train Trench - Arlington Avenue is reduced to one lane in preparation for final paving over the trench. Arlington will close after West is opened in preparation for final paving over the trench.
April 6, Train Trench - Keystone Avenue curbs, gutters and side walks are mostly complete and the street is being prepared for paving. Center, West and Evans street remain closed. Sierra street was reduced to one lane, and due to the Golden Phoenix closing, pedestrians must cross the street. Pedsetrians should use caution when crossing to the East, as the fence obscures drivers vision.
April 8, Train Trench - Keystone Avenue was paved today, it will be a least another week before the manholes are lifted and striping completed before the Keystone can be opened.
April 14, Train Trench - Keystone Avenue was opened to traffic this morning.
April 18, Train Trench - Washington Street closed over the train trench.
April 24, Train Trench - Center street paving was completed over the train trench.
May 8, Train Trench - Arlington Avenue was closed over the train trench.
May 20 - A small monument was dedicated to Jacob Davis for his invention of the riveted denium and "Fastening Pocket-Openings" patent. The monument is located on the west Virginia Street sidewalk near 211 South Virginia.
May 29 - A monument to Major General Jesse Lee Reno was dedicated at Powning Park, located at 150 South Virginia Street between State and Pine Streets. A monument to Major General Reno is also at Fox's Gap, South Mountain, Maryland.
June 12 - Center street was closed between 2ed Street and 4th Street at Center Street at 5AM to allow Granite Construction to install new crosswalks. Forth street west bound traffic was closed at Lake street and east bound traffic was limited to one lane. It is expected to be completed June 30.
June 30 - Center Street and Fourth Streets were opened, the crosswalks across 4th Street were only half finished.
October 31 - The biggest fire in Reno in recent history started at about 10PM at the 84 year old Mizpah Hotel at 214 North Lake Street. Valerie Moore was arrested for arson and murder the Next day. She is alleged to have started a fire in her room. The building's roof collapsed during the fire. This is considered to be Reno's deadliest fire.
September 25 - Virginia street was closed south of 4th Street to First Street, and further south to Court Street a few weeks later. It is Scheduled to reopen December 31.
November 1 - Lake street closed between First Street and Plaza Street for several weeks due to the Mizpah Fire.
November 10 - Lake street remaines closed between Second Street and Plaza Streets until November 13.
December 2006 - Lane, road closures and detours on Virginia Street between First and Fourth Streets.
December 16 - From the Reno City Council: A $25 million ballroom will be built where the Pavilion now exists at Fourth and Center Streets. The Ballroom will be part of the Downtown Events Center and boost convention business.
December 31 - Road closures for tonight's newyear fireworks display, along with other New Year's events on Virginia Street.
Virginia Street was closed between 1st and 6th Streets.
Plaza, 5th, 4th and 2nd streets was closed between Sierra and Center Streets.
3ed Street was closed between Virginia and Sierra Streets.
Commercial Row was restricted between Sierra and Center Streets.
January 8 - Virginia street will have detours and closures between 2nd and 4th streets, scheduled until 4-30-2007.
Bebruary 11 - Work Started on the The Regional Transportation Commission's New Sparks Station.
February 14 - The last pieces of the Pavilion at fourth and Center Streets is gone to make room for the new Ballroom and Kitchen for the Reno Events Center, workers todayhave broken up and hauled off the concrete foundation.
February 15 - Heard on Virginia Street from Granite Construction crew, they have received a lot of add, change and/or delete orders, and the demolision of the Fitzgeralds Rainbow Bridge may be included in the Virginia Street work, which may continue the construction through Thanksgiving 2007.
May 25 - Rite-Aid Drug Stores stores swap with 6 Longs Drug Stores in other western states. The stores included three in Washington, two in Oregon and one in California. Rite Aid and Longs did not disclose terms.
October 1 - Save Mart Supermarkets, based in Modesto, said it agreed to acquire Albertsons Northern California Division, which includes 132 Albertsons stores in northern California and northern Nevada, the Roseville and Vacaville distribution centers, and a division office in Dublin, CA. Before this, Save Mart operated 124 stores, 80 of which were full service supermarkets, 75 operating under the banner Save Mart Supermarkets, and five operating under the S-Mart foods banner. Save Mart's 44 price-impact stores operate under the Food Maxx banner. Albertsons and Save Mart did not disclose terms.
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