The HRPS Watch List
In a rapidly changing city like Reno, one of the most difficult questions facing advocates of historic preservation is where to focus our attention. While the handful of properties listed on the city’s historic register are closely monitored by the Historical Resources Commission, many others only receive widespread attention when facing imminent demolition—which is often too late to save them.
In an effort to help draw attention to some of the buildings we’re keeping a close eye on, HRPS assembled a “watch list” in 2022 and have kept it updated since then. These properties have been selected not necessarily because they face any imminent threat (although some do), but because their future just seems uncertain, for one reason or another. Some of them have been vacant (or partially vacant) for years, while some have recently fallen into disrepair. Some are in use, but appear to stand in the pathway of new development. Some you may know well, some you may not.
With dates of construction ranging from Reno’s first decade to the early 1940s, these properties collectively help tell the stories of Reno’s status as a bustling transportation center, the “Divorce Capital of the World,” a thriving residential and business community, and more.
HRPS presents this list of historic properties not to point fingers or to raise alarms, but to generate awareness and appreciation. We want their owners, whether public or private, to know that we care about these places and that we consider them highly significant to Reno’s history and worthy of preservation. Lastly, we want to offer our support to help ensure that they can remain safe and protected for years to come.
NOTE: Of the El Reno Apartments, which are now scattered around town, the units of particular concern are located at 1461 Lander Street.
Benham-Belz House
The oldest house on the original Reno townsite
The Benham-Belz House at 347 West Street sits on Lot 8 of Block E on the original Reno townsite. There is persuasive evidence that it was constructed in Reno’s founding year of 1868 or early 1869, making it the oldest known house constructed in Reno (not counting older houses that were later moved…
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Nystrom Guest House (moved)
The 1875 Gothic-style residence was a rooming house for a century.
The stately Gothic-style house that originally stood at 333 Ralston Street would be historic enough as the home Washoe County Clerk John Shoemaker built in 1875. However, the Nystrom Guest House also played an important role in Reno’s twentieth-century migratory divorce trade, which gave the town…
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I.O.O.F. Lodge/Reno Savings Bank
Built in 1877 for the Odd Fellows, who met upstairs, the ground floor housed a series of banks, a drug store, and a jewelers.
The IOOF Lodge/Reno Savings Bank, on the southwest corner of Virginia and Second Streets, is one of the oldest commercial buildings in the downtown area. The two-story Italianate-style building was designed by the local architect John S. Sturgeon to house the fraternal order on the second floor,…
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Reno National Bank
Designed by Frederic DeLongchamps, the 1915 Classical Revival bank was built for Nevada powerhouse George Wingfield.
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 is an impressive and exceptional Classical Revival…
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Piazzo Building
Santino Piazzo and his family ran their market on the ground floor and the St. Francis Hotel above.
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 memories of generations of athletes, hunters, and…
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Reno Southern Pacific Railroad Depot
The 1926 Mediterranean-style depot is the fifth to stand on the same site.
The Reno Southern Pacific Railroad Depot was completed in 1926. It was the fifth Reno depot since 1868, the first four having burned down. Constructed of brick with a stucco finish, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 in recognition of the important role it played in…
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Southern Pacific Railroad Freight House
The two-story 1931 Art Moderne building contained offices and storage space for railroad freight.
The Southern Pacific Railroad Freight House was built in 1931, replacing a smaller wood-frame structure that had outgrown its usefulness and blocked a major thoroughfare. Despite the economic problems of the Great Depression, freight traffic through Reno was so brisk that both the SPRR and the…
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El Reno Apartments (original site)
The grouping of 15 prefabricated steel homes designed by Paul Revere Williams opened in 1937.
In 1936, the architect Paul Revere Williams, who had completed at least two commissions in Reno by that time, designed two houses for the illustrious California House and Garden Exhibition. One was a French cottage, and the other was a three-room “Steel House.” The steel house employed modern…
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First Church of Christ, Scientist
Widely known as the Lear Theater, the riverfront church designed by Paul Revere Williams has been a Reno landmark since 1939.
In a town traditionally known for “sinful” institutions, it should not go unnoticed that between 1870 and 1950, downtown Reno had a total of 24 churches. The First Church of Christ, Scientist, which began with a congregation of just four members, was one of them.
In the late 1930s, as its…
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Regina Apartments
An eight-unit apartment building built on Island Avenue in 1941.
The Regina Apartments at 260 Island Avenue is a collection of units encased in a lovely brick building designed by Joseph Tognoni. The building's owner, Jean Sigg, was a successful Swiss-born chef who ran the kitchen at a number of downtown restaurants and casinos including the Palm Room at…
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