Random Stories
Riverside Hotel
Widely considered Reno’s birthplace, the site now occupied by the Riverside Hotel has offered some form of lodging for more than 150 years. It was vacant land fronting an obscure ford of the Truckee River until late 1859, when a bankrupt California…
Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts
When the Pioneer Theater-Auditorium was completed in December 1967, it was going to be named the Apollo Theater. Instead, the golden-domed building came to be called the Pioneer Theater-Auditorium after the statue of a pioneer family that stands in…
Jacob Davis's Tailor Shop (site)
In 2006, the Reno Historical Resources Commission placed a plaque in front of the former location of Jacob Davis's tailor shop and residence at what is now 211 N. Virginia Street. The plaque commemorated Jacob Davis’s important 1871 invention:…
Zellerbach Paper Company
This area around East 4th Street and Valley Road was bustling with activity in the 1930s. After serving as a lumber yard for decades, the entire block was starting to transform from primarily industrial to commercial uses, with four new buildings…
Royal Hotel
John Corsiglia had this three-story brick building constructed on his property at Fourth and Peavine (later Evans Avenue) in 1907 for $20,000. A native of Italy, Corsiglia had immigrated to the United States in 1870, reportedly working for a time as…
Reno Elks Home (site)
Today this site is occupied by the Palladio condominiums, which opened in 2007, but for more than 50 years it was the location of the Reno Elks Home. The Reno Elks Lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E.) was chartered as…
Featured Stories
Piazzo Building
The Piazzo Building at 354 N. Virginia Street, also known as the St. Francis Hotel, embodies the story of Reno in a way that few others could. Contained in one three-story brick structure are the stories of a hardworking immigrant family, the…
Reno National Bank
The 1915 Reno National Bank building was designed for George Wingfield by Reno’s pre-eminent architect, Frederic DeLongchamps, to house one of Wingfield's banks, the Reno National Bank. Designed early in DeLongchamps' career, the building…
Peerless Cleaners
There’s something soapy at the intersection of St. Lawrence Avenue and Forest Street. Two businesses, separated in time but linked by a passion for keeping things clean, have perched on this little hilltop since 1906, when it was still the outskirts…
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Reno Historical
A project by Historic Reno Preservation SocietyReno Historical is a free mobile app that puts Reno history at your fingertips, allowing you to explore the people, places, and moments that have shaped the city’s history. Learn about the history of Reno through layered, map-based, multimedia presentations, use social media to share your stories, and experience curated historical tours of the city. It is a work in progress, so be sure to check in frequently for new tours and stories.
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