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FootPrints Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows through Education, Advocacy and Leadership. vol. 18 no. 3 Summer 2015 The Virginia Street Bridge 1905 - 2015 by Carol Coleman e are losing another piece The Carnegie Library was built at the of our history — our iconic southeast corner of the bridge in 1904, Wand beloved Virginia Street with land donated by the Lake family Bridge is coming down after 110 years and funds from Andrew Carnegie. of connecting the north and south Quoting Cindy Ainsworth, from sides of Reno across the Truckee River. FootPrints Vol. 10. No. 2 Spring 2007, The four corners of the bridge have “Built in 1905, the Virginia Street been through significant changes in Bridge has withstood countless floods this time. We commemorate the life and the wear and tear of daily traffic of the bridge and its corners in this of every description from buggies to photo essay. street cars and bicycles to automobiles. At the center of Reno’s early history, In the first decade of the 1900s, Reno Nevada’s oldest functioning bridge is a and Nevada were benefitting financially significant part of our city’s heritage.” The Virginia Street Bridge under from the mining booms in Tonopah The reinforced concrete building meth- construction (1905). The Thoma-Bigelow and Goldfield, Nevada. Reno saw major od for the bridge was new in 1905, Building is in the background; it housed construction happening in its down- and has certainly withstood the test of Gray, Reid, Wright Department Store; town area during this time. time. In 1980, the bridge was placed on in 1928, it became the Mapes Building the National Register of (not the hotel). Courtesy of the Historic Places because Neal Cobb Collection. of its architectural, engineering and trans- County Courthouse would be com- portation significance. pleted by 1911. By 1906, the rebuild- In 1906, the Masonic Building was ing/building of the built at the northwest corner of the Riverside Hotel to be a bridge (see photo bottom page 7). The chateau-like brick struc- first Masonic Building was built at the ture was completed. southeast corner of Commercial and Fire will destroy the Sierra in 1872, where it still stands building in 1922 and a today as a storage facility — the oldest new Riverside will rise commercial building in Reno! Carnegie Library (1904) to the left, the chateau-like in 1927. Just south of Riverside Hotel (1906) to the right. Glimpse the 1873 the Riverside, Frederic The Federal Building and Post Office two-story Washoe County Courthouse between the two DeLongchamps’ design was built at the northeast corner of buildings. The little frame single-story building to the left of a major front addi- the bridge in 1908. The elegant build- of the Riverside is Jones Grocery. Courtesy Mella Harmon. tion on the Washoe Continued on page 2 1 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 3, Summer 2015 The Virginia Street Bridge 1905 - 2015 (continued) Continued from page 1 ing would come down sometime after 1934, when the new Downtown Post Office was built at the southeast corner, replacing Carnegie Library. (In 1930, the library would become the Washoe County Library and move into the new State Building, constructed south of Mill Street on South Virginia, where the Pioneer Theater stands today.) In 1947, the Mapes Hotel was at the northwest corner of the bridge, becoming the tallest building in the state of Nevada at that time. After a long legal battle, the Mapes was imploded on Super Bowl Sunday 2000, to be replaced by an ice rink. Northwest corner of the bridge. Center building is the A success story in repurposing a structure is currently happen- Federal Building and Post Office (1908) and to the right, the ing with the Downtown Post Office. Built in 1934 and decom- YMCA Building (1910). The Federal Building will be replaced by the missioned in 2012, the private party 50 South Virginia, LLC Mapes Hotel in 1947 and by an ice rink after 2000. purchased the building from the City of Reno. They are nearing Postcard courtesy of Debbie Hinman. completion of turning the facility into a commercial building, with small shops and businesses throughout, and reworked the interior to resemble the structure as it was in 1934. Sadly, the very characteristic that made the old bridge so love- ly and architecturally significant, its graceful twin arches, has largely led to its demise. Debris, carried by the rapidly rising Truckee, became caught by the center post, impeding the flow. With the new bridge design, the city center may be more easi- ly saved from future floodwaters, but we will lose 110 years of revered history. For those of us who have paused on our way across to gaze up or down river, leaning on the sun-warmed concrete, it has been our bridge. We will miss it. A new, brick Riverside Hotel at the southwest corner of the bridge was completed in 1927. An island with trees and flowers graced the Truckee River at one point. Postcard courtesy Cindy Ainsworth. Above: Looking north on South Virginia, (l-r) the reconstructed Frederic DeLongchamps’ Washoe County Courthouse (1911), the Frederic DeLongchamps’ Riverside Hotel (1927) and the Mapes Hotel (1947). Postcard courtesy Cindy Ainsworth. At Left: The new Frederic DeLongchamps’ Downtown Post Office replaced the Carnegie Library at the southeast corner of the Virginia Street Bridge in 1934. Courtesy Nevada Historical Society. 2 FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 3, Summer 2015 historicreno.org A Medieval Gem in Reno by Debbie Hinman n a quiet street in an older, my and physics at Hug High School and mid-century neighborhood also worked part-time for a geological Osits a two-story brick home firm. Combined, the Gandolfos spent half hidden by a luxurious growth of more than fifty years in the service of mature trees, shrubs and flowers. The Reno schools. neighborhood is often thought of as the “Famous American streets,” with Though the couple traveled in the streets named for Alexander Hamilton, United States, Gary had no interest in Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, seeing other countries. Finally, Yvonne Daniel Webster and our featured loca- insisted and the Gandolfos traveled to tion, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson forms Ireland with friends. Gary enjoyed it the south boundary of the neighbor- more than he expected and it was easier hood, with many of its homes sitting to convince him to take a second trip, high above street level, backing onto this time to Barcelona, Spain. Gary was open land owned by the Carmelite overwhelmed by the architecture he Monastery. The home at 2590 Thomas found there and discovered a real kin- Jefferson occupies one of these lots. ship with the medieval era churches, in particular. Always interested in wood- At first glance, you would notice noth- working though untrained, he arrived ing extraordinary about this home; back in Reno endeavoring to recreate it is typical for the neighborhood of Yvonne’s leaded glass work in an some of what he saw in Europe. Gary solidly constructed, upscale 1950- oriel window in the master bedroom also began to amass a library of full- 60s houses. But if you look carefully of the home. color books on medieval and gothic across the rolling green lawn, through Who are the Gandolfos? architecture. the greenery, you can catch a glimpse of a square, slate oriel window with Gary grew up in Austin, Nevada, The couple first lived in the northwest mullioned glass, and a gothic-arched where his family had lived since of the city. They had a son, Mark, and wooden garage door with iron hinges Austin’s earliest days. He met Yvonne were both immersed in their careers. and latches. These enhancements and in Reno, though she was originally One day, Gary decided to build a so many others occurred between 1977 from California; Yvonne describes wooden chest for Yvonne and from and 2004 and were the work of owners their meeting as love at first sight. The that day on, never stopped building. He Gary and Yvonne Gandolfo. But before young couple married in 1955, Gary began remodeling that home and add- we enter this incredible transformation attended the University of Nevada, ing his custom woodworking touches, of a 1960s-era home to a medieval fan- Reno, and then entered the teaching a cathedral ceiling and a half second- tasy, let’s go back some years. profession in Reno. Yvonne then earned story addition. When Gary announced her degree and secondary certification. he could tear down the walls of the Gary taught first at house and gain another 5 feet all Elmcrest Elementary around, Yvonne said, “I’m going to get and then when the you another house.” Gary’s only stipu- sixth grade was lation was that it had to be in original moved to Clayton condition; he said he didn’t want to Junior High, he fol- undo another man’s work. The Thomas lowed his class, Jefferson house was perfect and quite remaining there even original, with more than 1600 feet when the sixth grade upstairs and another 1100 on the lower returned to elemen- level. There would be room for a wood- tary school. He loved working shop and the home featured an teaching Nevada his- extensive backyard, which now contains tory and also taught patios, trees and vegetable and flower remedial math. gardens. Gary even built a small art stu- Yvonne taught sci- dio for Yvonne. ence, math, astrono- The Gandolfos’ brick home at 2590 Thomas Jefferson Drive. Continued on page 4 3 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol.

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