FootPrints Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows through Education, Advocacy and Leadership.

vol. 18 no. 1 Winter 2015

Disaster on Sierra Street by Jerry Fenwick

Prologue streets. It took a number of days to complete and test the instal- he 1957 Chrysler cars and their unique style gave lation. Each day between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., I would Chrysler Corporation its most profitable year up to walk from our store, Fenwick’s, on the southwest corner of that time. The 1957 high-finned designs, that looked Commercial Row and Sierra Street, south on Sierra Street to its T intersection with Liberty, where I would turn left and walk east like they were speeding along even when parked, had captured the imagination of the automobile buying public, and sales to the intersection with Virginia Street. I planned to do that same were booming. At the same time, negotiations with the United walk on the fifth of February, but my parents had an invitation Automobile Workers Union were not going well. There was to visit the paint company that we represented, Bishop-Conklin a lot of sabotage along the assembly line. Coke bottles were Paints, in Los Angeles on that day. Thus, I had to open and oper- welded into the frames so that ate the store by myself on that there was a thump every time day. Someone was looking out the vehicle came to a stop, wire for me, because otherwise I would have been somewhere on rings with washers were welded the west side of N. Sierra Street into the fins to create a loud between W. First Street and rattle, and parts were deliber- the Truckee River at a landmark ately installed incorrectly. moment in Reno history. I had purchased a Dodge Setting the Scene Custom Royal Lancer hardtop with a hemi V8 engine and Today, fine modern buildings single four-barrel carburetor. line both sides of N. Sierra Street Not long after taking delivery, between the Truckee River and there was a loud clatter and W. First Street. On February 5, the engine stalled. The Chrysler 1957, there were different fine dealer found that the muffler buildings on both sides of the had been incorrectly installed, same block on N. Sierra Street. causing a train of events that On the east side of the street caused a valve to stick so that The blast first occurred in the Nevada Shoe Factory on the left the Elks Club overlooked the a piston struck it, ruining the and spread to Paterson’s on the corner of West First and North river, with the Stack Building engine. Chrysler sent a new Sierra streets. Photo by Jerry Cobb. housing Gray-Reid-Wright engine that actually had been department store on the corner prepared for NASCAR racing. It took some time to obtain all of W. First Street. On the west side of Sierra Street, adjacent to of the necessary parts, but I was able to get all of the parts to the river, was the Sanford-Biltz building with legal, insurance install twin four-barrel carburetors and a manifold on top of and real estate offices. Next door was the building housing the engine, creating a true NASCAR engine. Cambar Fabrics, Tait’s Shoe Store and Nevada Shoe Factory, and on the corner of W. First Street was the new building housing The work was being done at Hermann & Wilson Chrysler- Paterson’s Mens Store and Sunderland’s Shoes. Around the Plymouth on the northeast corner of Liberty and South Virginia Continued on page 2 1 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 Disaster on Sierra Street (continued)

Continued from page 1 as N. Sierra Street near the Truckee River. The announcer soon revised the location to the intersection of N. Sierra Street and W. First streets and gave instructions from the police to stay corner, facing W. First Street and behind Paterson’s, was the J. away from the area. Soon the police began going from store E. Slingerland Insurance Agency. Had it not been for my parents’ to store issuing instructions for store employees to close and trip, I probably would have been in the area of the Nevada Shoe for everyone to leave the immediate downtown area. There Factory at 1:00 p.m. was fear of further explosions because the exact cause of the The weather was typical of early February with temperatures explosion was as yet unknown, though there had been a strong starting in the teens and expected to rise to the low fifties. odor of gas reported by some people in the area. Two blocks up the street to the north, it had been a quiet The Explosion morning in our store located in the northeast corner of the Travelers Hotel building on the corner of Sierra and During the morning, there were complaints of a gas smell by Commercial Row. Our store occupied a space on the first employees and customers of the businesses on the west side floor and basement while the hotel occupied the entire of Sierra Street between the river and First Street. Calls were second floor. There had been some remodeling of plumbing finally made to Sierra Pacific Power Company where employees fixtures in the hotel, and a short time earlier a bathtub had were dispatched to check on the smell. When one of the been improperly installed. The employees entered Paterson’s, plumber had failed to hook up the smell of gas was strong, and the drain, and when a guest he immediately ordered everyone took a bath the water came out of the building. After calling through the pressed metal the power company for more ceiling leaving us with a mess help and the fire department for to mop up. Thank goodness it assistance with fans to ventilate wasn’t a toilet! and disperse the fumes, both men started down the street to I was facing the back wall of the warn the buildings’ occupants. store, where there was a clock The power company employees reading 1:00 p.m., when there were in the basement of the was a loud bang or thump. Nevada Shoe Factory trying to Thinking that the upstairs locate the boilers in the dark workers might have dropped when the explosion occurred. a bathtub, I checked with the Both men survived the explosion hotel, to see if they knew the Looking north from the Sierra Street Bridge, the Elks Club and one even continued to aid cause of the noise. Just then, burns on right and the Sanford-Biltz building burns on the left other victims. there was a second loud thump, with the heart of the blast in the center of the photo. and I saw the doorjamb actually Photo by Jimmy Smith. The force of the explosion and rise above the front doors of the the heat of the fire were so store so that I could see daylight between the jamb and the top intense that the steel girders supporting the roof and walls of of the doors. the Nevada Shoe Factory building were twisted like a nest of snakes. Flaming debris was blown across Sierra Street, setting Now I knew that it was something more serious than a fire to the Elks Club and Gray-Reid-Wright’s store. Directly dropped bathtub and hurried outside to try to see what had north of the Nevada Shoe Factory, the Paterson’s-Sunderland’s happened. The wails of sirens were coming both from the store was destroyed with only the north wall along First direction of the fire station a block away and the vicinity of the Street remaining. Debris set fire to the Biltz-Sanford building police department on E. Second Street. I looked south down to the south, destroying the building and its contents, which Sierra Street where the thumps seemed to have come from to included a large legal library belonging to the building owner, see a large, billowing plume of black smoke rising. There were attorney William Sanford. The windows on the north side of large pieces of what appeared to be roofing material floating the Home Furniture business on W. First Street were shat- down like tree leaves in the fall. tered, resulting in extensive damage from flying glass to the merchandise on display. Since there was nothing else that I could see or do, I returned to the store to listen to the radio, hoping to hear where and why Automobiles parked in the rear of the buildings on the west the explosions had occurred. The first reports gave the location side of Sierra Street were crushed by falling brick walls. Other 2

FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 historicreno.org Disaster on Sierra Street (continued) autos were set on fire, and one gas tank exploded, sending a Aftermath ball of fire into the air. Tow trucks did manage to move some The Stack Building which had housed Gray-Reid-Wright of the automobiles in the area and others along the streets to department store was rebuilt. However, Gray-Reid’s had moved safety out of the explosion area. first to a temporary location, then north to 525 Virginia Street, The first fire vehicle on the scene arrived just in time for the on the northwest corner of Virginia and Fifth streets, today’s explosion and was struck by debris, resulting in considerable location of Circus-Circus. The newly rebuilt Stack Building was damage to the truck as well as its occupants. All of Reno’s converted into two theaters, United Artists Cinemas 1 and 2. emergency equipment was called to the scene. The City of Combined with the Granada Theaters 1 and 2 to the east on Sparks and others sent equipment, and the Stead Air Force Base First Street, they formed a small theater complex. sent personnel to aid in rescue and security. Following the fire, The Elks Club was not rebuilt on the site that it had previously many of the airmen stood guard in the area to prevent looting occupied; the area became a parking lot. The club was instead and keep lookers out of the area to prevent more injuries. The rebuilt south of downtown on a short street named Kumle roofs of adjoining buildings, the Granada Theater to the east Lane, after the secretary who saved the men who were eating and the City Garage to the west, were used to spray water on lunch just before the explosion. At the Kumle Lane location, the fires to prevent further damage. there was plenty of space for a swimming pool and parking.

Two people were killed outright The buildings on the west side that day. The first was one of N. Sierra were rebuilt with of the owners of the Nevada some of the previous tenants Shoe Factory who took time to returning. The Sanford-Biltz put away the money and was building was rebuilt and blown under a vehicle in front reoccupied by professional of the store where he was not offices that included lawyers, found until later. The second financial advisers, real estate was a woman shopper on the brokers and Walston & street; she was hit by debris. A Company Stock Exchange. The third victim was a woman in a Nevada Shoe Factory returned passing vehicle who was struck along with Cambar Fabrics, by debris and left in a coma; Tait’s Shoes and Paterson’s men’s she survived for seven years clothing store. Home Furniture before passing away. Some forty moved south of the Truckee others, including firefighters, River into a new multi-story were injured, some seriously and All that remains of the blast origin is twisted steel and rubble. Note the abandoned automobiles. Photo by Steve Johns. building on the corner of Island others, luckily, just slightly. Avenue and S. Sierra Street.

Manufactured gas and oil were the fuels of choice in use in the Today the east side of the block on Sierra Street is occupied Reno area at the time; no natural gas lines had as yet reached by the Palladio Condominiums and the west side of the street the area. Many of the buried gas lines were old, and their exact is filled with restaurants, shops and the downtown Century locations were not known. A call for all former and retired gas Theater complex, part of the rebirth of downtown Reno. employees to report in was issued by the Sierra Pacific Power Company and the City of Reno in the hope that these former As with so many disasters, many Reno locals will forever recall employees could assist in the location of the gas lines and their where they were on February 5, 1957. shut offs. The fear of further explosions decreased as lines were located and shut down, and the fires were contained and finally Jerry Fenwick is a HRPS member, part of the HRPS team brought under control. Businesses away from the area of the that does Fourth Grade History Tours, and the co-author, explosion were allowed to open by the next day. Interesting, with Neal Cobb, of Reno Now and Then and Reno Now but not surprising, gambling went on unabated during the and Then II. emergency; no clubs were shut down.

Have you checked your mailing address on this issue of FootPrints to see when your membership expires?? If you have not renewed for 2015, this will be your last issue of FootPrints. You can renew with the membership form on page 11 or on the HRPS website http://www.historicreno.org/.

3 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 The Peleg Brown / Louis Damonte Ranch by Holly Walton-Buchanan

arly in the spring of 1864, call from church leader Brigham Young, Prospectors discovered nearly pure a newly-wed young rancher who feared a confrontation with silver deposits laced with gold just Enamed Peleg Brown built an federal troops over the polygamy issue. 13 miles away, on the slopes of a bare elegant three-story house in the South The Brown brothers picked up about mountain soon to be home to Nevada’s Meadows that had a whopping 14 1,000 acres with natural meadows and first boomtown, Virginia City. bedrooms on the second floor. He had abundant water at the bargain price of been married for little more than a $250. Peleg set up housekeeping in a Now scores of miners, bankers, mer- year and so far his family consisted little stone house on their land close chants and teamsters driving freight only of an infant son. Was this pio- to the booming geysers of Steamboat wagons pulled by oxen plodded by his neer rancher hoping to fill the tiny Springs, while Joshua hurried over front door on Virginia Road. He real- rooms with his future offspring? No, Carson Pass to San Francisco. There he ized he could supplement his income he had grander designs on their use. took a ship back to Rhode Island, with by offering them food and lodging if he He would rent them had a bigger house. His large vegetable out on a nightly basis garden and abun- to the steady stream dant supplies of beef, of travelers who were lamb and cheese were stopping at his ranch already much appreci- on the road to the ated by travelers who Comstock, weary from hadn’t seen fresh food their journey by stage- for weeks. coach or horseback and hoping to find a soft It wasn’t until he met bed and hot meal. Just a young lady on a pass- six years had passed ing wagon train – his since he and his broth- future wife – that he er Joshua had arrived realized his dream of here, finding the val- building a large house ley mostly devoid which could accommo- of people but ideal date guests on the sec- for cattle ranching. ond floor and his own Peleg certainly never The Damonte Ranch House on Old Virginia Road as it looks in 2014. children on the ground dreamed he would floor. In a March 1864 soon be running “some kind of hotell plans to bring his wife and two children letter to his parents, he [sic],” as he described his house in one back to Nevada the next summer, along wrote that he will furnish all the lum- of his frequent letters to his parents with another herd of cattle. ber from his own trees nearby and that back home in Rhode Island. Indeed, the $4,000 price for the construction the two brothers had only one goal in Peleg’s first winter in the Truckee will produce “one of the best houses in 1857 when they headed west: Go to Meadows was lonely indeed. In 1857, this part of the country.” only a handful of men lived here, Kentucky and buy some “choise [sic] The next year he splurged on a new stock” and push them across the con- scattered around at trading posts on the various emigrant trails crisscrossing barn, hay press and blacksmith shop. tinent to California, where they would In the 1870s, when the Virginia and set themselves up as cattle ranchers the valley. In his letters, he longed for “some kind of society,” but his only Truckee railroad tracks connected the and supply beef to the miners toiling new town of Reno to Carson City, away on the Mother Lode. companions were two young men he hired to milk his cows and make the tracks ran right behind the ranch The plan had worked fairly well until butter and an occasional Washoe house and Peleg built a loading dock for they arrived in western Nevada (still Indian who supplied him with fresh passengers, hay and lumber. Brown’s part of Utah Territory) in late fall and “salmon trout” from the Truckee River. Station was an important stop on the their cattle were too tired to make Finding the little stone house far too line until the 1950s, when the V&T the final push over the Sierra. As they cold for comfort, he built a little house ceased operation. searched Washoe Valley and the Truckee of lumber from his own trees and In 1878, Peleg donated the huge sum Meadows for a place to spend the put the stone house to its best use: of $2,400 for the extension of the winter, they ran into several Mormon cold storage for his dairy products. Steamboat Ditch from the river above families who were reluctantly heading Then suddenly the quiet pastoral Verdi to Steamboat Creek near his back to Utah in response to an urgent scene was transformed in spring 1859. ranch, bringing much-needed irrigation

4

FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 historicreno.org The Peleg Brown / Louis Damonte Ranch (continued) water to South Meadows ranchers. He and how much water to run – without overlooking his ancestral land and also donated the land for the Brown any instruments.” video-taped the monstrous earth- School, where a one-room school house movers in action, ripping into his was built in 1878. When it proved too As the new owners of the old Brown family’s once-green fields of alfalfa. To small, a large brick school was built ranch house, Louis and Louise Damonte this day he still hasn’t watched that on the site, which is currently used by unwittingly made a supremely impor- tape. Shopping malls and subdivisions the Washoe County School District as tant decision. They basically did noth- now fill much of what was once broad, an office building. The “new” Brown ing to it, other than replacing the old green pastureland. Elementary School was erected nearby, stone foundation with a cement base- on Spelling Court, in 1989. ment and the old stoves with a central In August 2014, Ben and his wife Anna furnace. Even when they remodeled the Maria (“Pinkie”) graciously opened Peleg and his wife Elizabeth raised upstairs in 1955 and expanded the tiny their home to a limited number of four children, the oldest of whom tour participants in honor of their (Albert) ran the ranch after his father’s home’s 150th anniversary, which also unexpected demise at the age of 42 happened to coincide with Nevada’s in 1878. Peleg’s death apparently Sesquicentennial. Docents from the caused Elizabeth to suffer mentally Great Basin Costume Company regaled for several years afterward, and she visitors with tidbits about the history was temporarily committed to Dr. of the house and its many interesting Clark’s Asylum in Stockton, California. photographs and antiques. Later in Elizabeth recovered eventually and the day, the newly-arrived plaque from passed away in 1918, leaving Albert to the National Register of Historic Places co-manage the ranch with his brother- was officially dedicated and placed on in-law George Wilcox until most of the a large stone in front of the house. A family was gone. In 1939, the ranch was The National Register plaque at the couple of the youngest members of the put up for auction and Louis Damonte Damonte Ranch House. Damonte family were ceremoniously bought it. charged with maintaining the venerable old house in the future. “Remember An optimistic but illiterate young bedrooms into fewer, but bigger bed- that this house is a gift and it is your immigrant from northern Italy, rooms, they still didn’t make enough duty to take care of it the best you can,” Damonte had arrived in the United changes to cause trouble later. Ben Damonte told the toddlers. States in 1911 with only $2 to his name. Working with other Italians in That trouble didn’t appear for 40 years, the valley, Louis and his wife Louise but in 1994 the news was devastating. Information for this article gradually bought up thousands of According to plans, the new freeway to is adapted from The Land of acres of farm and ranch land before connect Reno with Carson City would the Buckaroo: Historic Ranches they added the Brown Ranch to their go right through the living room of of Western Nevada, by HRPS vast empire in 1939. Louis learned to the iconic ranch house. Ben Damonte, member Holly Walton-Buchanan, read and write in Italian first and then Jr., was in charge of the house by then, Ph.D., published by Jack Bacon & English, in order to sign paychecks of having inherited it from his father, Ben, Company, Reno, NV, December his many employees. As Reno grew, the Sr., and the only thing to do was get 2013. Damontes sold land to Boeing Aircraft it placed on the National Register of for the new airport, as well as what is Historic Places. The process was fairly Holly is a former Washoe County now known as the Double Diamond easy and quick, for nobody contested School District teacher and is the ranch to department store magnate its placement. It had not been visibly author of Mackay Memories 1908- Wilbur May. altered since 1864, clearing the way for 2008: The First 100 Years of the its listing on the Register. The house Mackay School of Mines, Historic Louis Damonte was a visionary and about eight acres were spared, Houses and Buildings of Reno, when it came to water for the South forcing the freeway to make a wide Nevada and her latest book, Land Meadows, continually deepening and curve around the property. of the Buckaroo: Historic Ranches maintaining the Steamboat Ditch and of Western Nevada, highlights the nearby streams. Indeed, ditch rider Meanwhile, the 7,000-acre Damonte important role that ranching and Nick Gardella described Louis as a “self- Ranch was in the cross-hairs for farming in western Nevada played educated engineer who could look at a urban development, and the Damonte in the state’s development. piece of land and tell how many acres it family knew they couldn’t save all of contained, how much leveling it needed it. Ben Damonte, Jr., went up on a hill

5 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 HRPS Home Tour Sets New Records Article and Photos by Sharon Honig-Bear

ven rain and surprisingly cool ability to view the entire temperatures couldn’t deter a Tour Program in advance Ehearty group of history lovers on the HRPS website. from attending the 5th Reno Harvest of This allowed participants Homes Tour. The Tour has reached new to prepare better and heights, topping 1,000 participants for enjoy the fine writing the first time. We counted almost 900 and information con- ticketed people in attendance (about a tained in the Program. 16% increase from last year) and over We also happily placed 100 incredible volunteers. The Tour vintage cars at three raised $22,000 for the Neighborhood of the sites and want Preservation Fund, to be used to to applaud Clay Carlson, Loren fund grants to improve older build- Jahn and John and Yvonne Fuller ings in Reno neighborhoods. for bringing these beauties. This net income was also a hefty increase over last year. Some of the homes had wait times but the attendees took One of our guests said it best: it in stride for the opportunity “Each home had its own charm.” to experience the pleasures of Each year’s Tour has had its own these classic residences. “We are character and we called this one our looking into ways to avoid waits Bookends Tour, since we offered in future Tours,” commented a home in each of Chair Sharon Honig-Bear. Reno’s two con- Some ideas, like holding servation districts the Tour over two days or that serve as the giving assigned times at bookends, with homes, aren’t practical, three homes in but many other options Southwest Reno will be considered. in between. We featured One of our favorite homes in both comments came from the Powning’s Dawn (Ayer) Rusk, Conservation whose father E.J. Ayer District and bought Greystone Castle at in the Wells Avenue auction on the Court House steps in 1938 Conservation District, illuminating for $6,005.30 — and whose family lived the fact that there are homes with in Greystone Castle until 1998. great character found throughout the city. Special thanks to the owners of the five homes: Jack Hursh, Nancy and Tim Gilbert, Francoise Batteauw, Doug and Lisa Bennett and Loretta Wright. Although all the homes had their fans, the standout on this year’s tour was 587 Ridge St., elegantly and authentically restored and expanded by the Bennetts. There were some innovations this year and one of the most appreciated was the

6 FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 historicreno.org HRPS Home Tour Sets New Records (continued)

“Your house tours are wonderful, and reach as many people without our my mother would be so pleased to know valuable ticket outlets. Sundance that her beloved cottage was honored Bookstore again topped the sales by your society.” chart but all the vendors did their part. Thanks to returning ticket We would like to bring special rec- outlets St. Ives Florist, Ryrie’s Art ognition to the amazing leadership and Home and Rail City Garden team that pulled off this multi- Center. We were happy to wel- faceted event. This team includes come new outlets at Moana Committee Members and Home Nursery, Freckled Frog, Napa- Hosts—many are both—and they Sonoma Grocery Co. and Paper provide the guidance and sta- Moon. Other thanks go to bility that are necessary to Renown Health, Raley’s, ensure a safe and pleasur- Kenneth N. Bickford, able experience for all: Cindy Anthony R. Velasco, win- Ainsworth, Byllie Andrews, dowinserts, VSAarts of Sandi Bitler, Phyllis Cates, NV, Café DeLuxe, RBC Rosie Cevasco, Terry Cynar, Wealth Management, Charlotte Eckmeyer, Ellen Charlie B Gallery, Sage Fockler, Marcia Growdon, Green Design, Kitty Debbie Hinman, Sharon Howard Realtor, Honig-Bear, Jack Hursh, Race 178, Wild River Elizabeth Iverson, Nancy Grille, Antiques and Manfredi, Marty Matles, Treasures and Kathy Joy Orlich, Denise Page, Williams Realtor Tracy Soliday, Dave Vill, for Program ads. Public Charlotte Voitoff, Shirie awareness was supported by Sharon Wallace and our Volunteer Walbridge, Jean Green, Sharon Co-Coordinators Jean Honig-Bear, Greg Newman Green, Rosemarie Nelson and House Detective, Dickson and Brian Cueva. Realty TV, Guy Clifton and the Reno Gazette-Journal, and Beyond our volunteers, there Alyx Sachs for coverage on Fox are many others to thank 11 and KRNV. for the Home Tour success. Students from the Performing The Tour, based on popular Arts Center at Damonte Ranch demand, will be back in 2015. If dressed in costume for the you are interested in getting more event. We couldn’t involved with the Tour Committee or have a lead on a house you would like to see on next year’s Tour, please contact Sharon Honig-Bear at sharonbear@ sbcglobal.net.

7 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 The Missing Piece of Reno’s Divorce History by Kim Henrick

irst of all, this is not an article divorce ranches that catered to these walls of our courtrooms and the ever- about the history of Reno’s “refugees,” while they fulfilled their changing laws of our state, in order to Fdivorce trade—or, if you prefer, residency requirement, and realize how end their marital bonds. Reno’s divorce industry, racket, mill, the divorce trade affected so many colony, headquarters, mecca, or capital. aspects of our community. Learn how The end product of this massive under- That history (which generally spanned the divorce industry helped Nevada sur- taking, what I’ll call The Project, will the first 60 to 70 years of the twentieth vive during the Depression, while many be an online exhibit tentatively titled century) has been reported, analyzed, other states sank to their lowest point. “Illuminating Reno’s Divorce Industry,” romanticized, mythologized, ridiculed, and the work is in progress today in the celebrated, scorned and defended from On this website you’ll be able to read Special Collections Department of the every conceivable angle for decades. You about the pressures brought upon our University of Nevada, Reno, Libraries. won’t find anything new here about that. state legislature to change the original Funded by a $79,500 grant awarded by (1861) residency period of six months the Nevada State Library and Archives, This article is about what hasn’t, before to one year in 1913, then back again it is estimated to take a year and wrap now, been attempted with this impor- to six months in 1915, then down to up around July 1, 2015. Coordinating tant and historically-significant part of three months in 1927, and finally to the and co-curating The Project is Donnelyn our city’s story. As I write this, a team of Curtis, Head of the Special Collections researchers is tackling the monumental Department. Mella Harmon, adjunct task of consolidating, organizing and assistant professor in the Department presenting to the general public, moun- of Anthropology at the University of tains of divorce-related media such as Nevada, Reno, and recognized expert magazine articles, diaries, poetry, post- on Reno’s divorce trade, serves as co- cards, books, correspondence and court curator and project historian. Assisting records, in addition to photographs, Mella is intern Bryana Dickens, a paintings, maps, music scores, films, UNR anthropology student, and Alicia interviews and audio recordings (for a Barber, Ph.D, acts as project consultant partial list). Much of the available mate- and advisor. To facilitate the size of rial that will be used is primary data The Project, it will generally be broken (as opposed to second- and third-hand up into three sections: (1) the laws accounts) and will for the first time be and their effects on society, (2) how readily accessible to us all, so we may divorce worked (from the viewpoints research this important part of our his- of the various participants) and, (3) tory and draw our own conclusions. depictions of the industry as found in magazine articles, films, fictional and Imagine visiting a website and clicking Bryana Dickens and Mella Harmon examine academic writings. on an audio file to hear the reflective Judge George A. Barlett’s divorce case records at voice of a Reno divorcee who was stung UNR Libraries, Special Collections Department. Photograph courtesy Kim Henrick. Reno’s divorce trade spawned a lan- (or in some cases liberated) by a divorce guage all its own, with many of the action. On the same site, quickly access terms and expressions so familiar an amazing bibliography of resources incredibly-short residency period of six now they need no attribution, such on the subject for your further research, weeks in 1931. Find out the “grounds” as the familiar “Sin City” and “quickie or read an article from a top national upon which a divorce could be based, divorce,” and “the cure.” Thanks to pop magazine from the 1930s about its take like the most common grounds of culture at the time, many Americans on Reno’s thriving business. View post- “extreme cruelty of a mental nature,” learned of Reno’s divorce trade through cards and drawings that spotlighted the according to divorce historian Mella popular magazines. divorce trade and often exaggerated the Harmon. Read from court records (many humor of the times. See photographs from an extensive 13-box collection once In 1909, Allen D. Albert Jr. wrote an of celebrity divorcees (like actress Mary belonging to Judge George A. Bartlett) article for Munsey’s Magazine and was Pickford) and scenes at our Washoe and empathize with real people from using the already-familiar description County Courthouse (at times referred our past, who for better or for worse, of Reno as the “divorce headquarters of to as the “House of Divide”). See some paid a significant price (literally and the United States.” [Note: The residency of the homes and boarding houses and emotionally), to maneuver within the requirement for the plaintiff in a divorce 8 FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 historicreno.org The Missing Piece of Reno’s Divorce History (continued) action in South Dakota, the country’s prisingly, this issue of Life showed previous divorce headquarters, was several photographs of prominent changed in 1908 to one year. That people, divorce ranches, drinking and left Nevada as the only state requir- gambling, and even a few images ing a divorce seeker to stay only of Reno’s red-light district. To its six months to become a bona fide credit, though, it also included a resident.] Coverage of Reno’s divorce few photographs of churches and trade could be negative and judg- some everyday people of Reno. On mental, but some was surprisingly the flip side, in December of that positive, or at least benign. The title same year, the Saturday Evening of Albert’s article, “Reno, the Refuge Post—so closely associated with the of Restless Hearts,” sounds rather quaint, common-citizen drawings of disheartening (no pun intended), Norman Rockwell—focused only on but his first-hand account describes Divorce caricature by popular Reno artist Lew Hymers, no date. the divorce scene and ignored any- Courtesy UNR Libraries, Special Collections Department. our city in an almost-magical fash- thing to do with the everyday side ion: “It lies, as the Psalmist wrote macist N. E. Wilson was less heartbro- of our community, upsetting some of another mountain settlement, like a ken over the endless flow of dissolved vocal residents. jewel among the hills. As in the hollow of marriages he witnessed, than he was Mother Nature’s hand, it rests secure in A critical component of The Project is over the loss of his migratory cash cows. its mountain amphitheater; and the tips providing access to the voices (in audible of all the fingers that hold it are snow.” You (or your parents or grandparents) and transcribed form) of actual people In a matter-of-fact fashion Albert dis- might remember the interesting Life involved with a Reno divorce at one cusses the divorce laws of the time and magazine cover on the June 21, 1937, time. A recent Associated Press article describes the daily routine of the “two issue. It showed a newly-divorced lady by Martin Griffith quoted Donnelyn hundred” refugees “of all classes.” kissing a pillar in front of the Washoe Curtis: “Reno changed the national County Courthouse. (Getty Images attitude about divorce. We’re finding In 1932, a year after the residency wants a great deal of money to publish a feeling of liberation from the letters requirement was reduced to six weeks, that cover in this FootPrints, so in lieu of women we have in our collection.” The American Druggist published of that, local photographer and author Co-curator Mella Harmon added, “We an article by Lyman N. Clark titled, Paula Riley agreed to re-enact that thought it’s something that needs to “Running a Drug Store in America’s famous pose for this article.) Not sur- be captured in some way so people Great Divorce Center Is A Heartbreaking can understand the significance of the Job.” The article is about pharmacist N. industry to the area.” E. Wilson, who worked out of the hand- some Masonic Temple building across The Project is hoping to talk to people from the Federal Building on North from all over about their Reno divorce Virginia Street. Wilson laments the con- experience. If you can share a story, stant turnover of the migratory clientele please call 775-682-5640 and leave your who visited Reno for the “cure.” After name and contact number. Someone six weeks here, many obtained their with The Project will contact you for an freedom and moved on. According to interview. And please spend some time Wilson, his losses were from fewer sales online next summer learning about this of perfumes, cigarettes, candies, cam- important part of our history. eras and banana splits (called “Lover’s Delight” in his store). According to Information for this article, if not Clark, “The untying of the tied, Reno’s listed in the article, is from an biggest and best paying industry, is seri- Interview with Mella Harmon on ous enough, viewed from any angle. But August 7, 2014. many of the visitors view their Reno Local Reno photographer and author sojourn as a perfectly swell vacation, Paula Riley re-enacts the pose shown on the Kim Henrick is member of HRPS and their purchases are typical of people cover of the June 21, 1937 LIFE magazine. and the HRPS Editorial Staff. away on vacations.” It sounds like phar- Photograph courtesy Kim Henrick. 9 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 Message from Your HRPS President HRPS Byllie D’Amato Andrews Neighborhood Preservation Fund fter almost one and a half years not only educated the merchants about 2015 Grant as president of the board of the buildings that house their businesses, HRPS, I am finally getting a grip she has created a new HRPS Historic A RPS is pleased to announce on this job, which brings challenges and Walking Tour for our 2015 season. the opening of its fifth new learning opportunities each week. annual Neighborhood In my Spring 2014 President’s Message, Change is on the Horizon H Preservation Fund (NPF) grant sea- I wrote about HRPS’ place in Judith With time and growth comes change. son. Applications will be accepted Sharken Simon’s The Five Life Stages of Jack Hursh and Cindy Ainsworth will be starting January 1 and will be due Nonprofit Organizations. HRPS is ready retiring from their HRPS jobs — Jack has March 31, 2015. Guidelines and to move solidly into Simon’s Stage Three: been Program Chair for fifteen years. application information can be Produce and Sustain. The primary ques- Both Jack and Cindy want to devote more found on HRPS’ website at www.his- tion for this stage is “How can we sus- time to working on the Neighborhood toricreno.org. For more grant infor- tain the momentum?” In the next six Preservation Fund Committee. We mation please call 775-747-4478. months, your board will be looking at welcome Steve Davis, former Assistant ways in which we can guarantee that our The NPF allows property own- Director of Nevada Humanities and organization and all of its wonderful pro- ers the opportunity to apply for noted Nevada historian and documen- grams continue to produce and sustain. grants for the rehabilitation of his- tary photographer, who has agreed torical structures. Applications are to assume the Chairmanship of the A look back at 2014 reviewed by an awarding jury and Program Committee starting in 2015. priority is given to projects that The added attention to Nevada History complement and enhance original in this year of celebrating Nevada’s The board will be grappling with the loss historical neighborhood character Sesquicentennial spiked the interest in of HRPS Administrator, Cindy Ainsworth and the original architectural style HRPS’ programs. Throughout 2014 we who will be resigning her position at the of the structure. Structures must be had unprecedented attendance numbers end of 2014. Cindy will continue to be a located within Reno city limits, be come out for our Historic Walking Tours, HRPS volunteer extraordinaire and assist at least 50 years old, or of historical our monthly Programs, and our Harvest whenever she is needed. and/or architectural significance. of Homes Tour. Even after moving to Felvia Belaustegui reports that new Funds raised by the very successful the Laxalt Auditorium with over double schools have requested to participate in annual HRPS Harvest of Homes Tour the capacity of Mount Rose Elementary our Fourth Grade Education Program. support the NPF Fund. Additional School, we unfortunately had to turn With the increase in schools, HRPS funding comes from HRPS’ Lifetime people away from our February, March welcome two new volunteer members, Memberships. We encourage you to and October programs because we had Donna and Paul Erickson, who will be make an extra donation towards the reached the capacity set by the Fire accompanying Felvia, Terry Cynar and NPF when renewing your member- Marshall. We were able to work with the Jerry Fenwick on the next fourth grade ship. HRPS would like to see this Washoe County Libraries to offer the field trip. fund grow so we are able to contin- February and March programs and we ue to offer these major grants. are currently working to arrange another Other changes in the future for HRPS presentation by Richard Hill, who, in will be the addition of two or three new October 2014, showed home movies of board members to replace those who Reno and Northern Nevada taken in the have resigned due to family and work 1920s and 1930s. obligations.

HRPS continues to work with other city In closing, we welcome Charlotte and groups to further our mission of pro- Dick McConnell and Jan E. Chik, our new- moting Reno’s historic resources. Barrie est Lifetime members, who join 28 other Schuster has been giving walking tours couples and individuals who have made to groups from the Midtown Merchants this commitment to HRPS. Income from Association to help them appreciate Lifetime Membership is used to support our the history of buildings on and around Neighborhood Preservation Fund. An NPF grant was awarded to repaint this the Virginia Street Corridor inside the lovely ca. 1898 Victorian style house at Midtown boundaries. As a result, she has 216 E. Liberty Street. 10

FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 historicreno.org Thank you for joining HRPS. There are many areas in our HRPS organization where your enthusiasm, skills and dedication will be invaluable to us. Please indicate your interest in Lifetime Members serving on the following committees by marking the appropriate committees: Darleen Azizisefat Jacqueline Black Lynn Bremer q Communications Committee: Media, public relations, newsletter, website. Florence Ann Burgess q Special Events Committee: Fundraising, planning, organizing, soliciting in-kind donations. Phyllis & Tom Cates q Outreach Education Committee: Walking tours, school curriculum, monthly programs, membership. Jan Chik q Preservation Issues Committee: Preservation advocacy, public policy, grant writing, historical & architectural research. Becky Czarnik Betty Easton Ted & Francine Gray Melinda & Dan Gustin John & Susan Hancock Sharon Honig-Bear Name(s) ______Annual Membership Includes: Jan & Jim Loverin ______Jon and Linda Madsen Free participation in walking tours Dr. Francine Mannix ______HRPS Quarterly (FootPrints). Preference (Check One): q Mailed Hardcopy q Emailed Electronic Copy Charlotte & Dick McConnell Address ______Marilyn Melton q New Member q Renewal City ______State ______Al & Nancy Pagni q Student ...... $15.00 Butch & Susan Peachy ZIP ______q Individual ...... $25.00 Marshall & Pat Postman q Family (Children 18 yrs & younger) ..... $40.00 Day Phone ( ) ______Jonnie Pullman q Business Contribution ...... $100.00 Hannah Satica Evening Phone ( ) ______q Tom & Leanne Stone Supporting ...... $100.00 Terry & Fran Terras E-Mail: ______q HRPS Angel ...... $250.00 Charlotte Voitoff q Lifetime Member ...... $500.00 All contributions are tax-deductible q Additional donation to help our Sharon Walbridge to the extent allowed by the law. Neighborhood Preservation fund .... $ ______Betty Watts Please make checks payable to HRPS. q Additional donation to help our Kathy & Scott Williams Pat Klos Volunteer Award fund ...... $ ______THANK YOU! RV 4.15.2014/FO-DCD

Opinions expressed in FootPrints are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial staff, the Historic Reno Preservation Society executive board or the general membership. FootPrints is a quarterly publication printed in Reno, Nevada. Articles may be reprinted in print or electronic formats only with permission of the HRPS Editorial Board. All rights reserved. ©2015 Historic Reno Preservation Society (HRPS)

Thanks to the NHS Docent following HRPS Training Business Members who are supporting Would you like to assist the Nevada Historical Society and its the works of HRPS professionals by volunteering as a docent? To become a NHS Docent Robert H. Broili Law Office you complete a 4-hour training Scan me program, two shadow sessions and Phillip W. Brown attend three lectures. You must with your become a member of the Nevada Gilbert Properties Historical Society and the Docent smartphone Harold & Alice Jacobsen Council and work a minimum of 48 hours per year. John H. Johnson and I’ll take The next docent training will be Eric Lerude Friday, January 23, 2015, from you directly 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Bert Pincolini Nevada Historical Society, 1650 to the North Virginia Street, Reno, NV Paul E. Quade 89503. For information, please call 688-1190, and ask for Acting HRPS website Law Office of Tammy M. Riggs, PLLC Director Shery Hayes-Zorn.

11 historicreno.org FootPrints Vol. 18 No. 1, Winter 2015 P.O. Box 14003 Reno, NV 89507

Bulk Rate Mail Bulk Rate mail is not forwarded. FootPrints is mailed using a Bulk Rate Mail permit. If your address changes, please notify us at HRPS, P. O. Box 14003, Reno NV 89507, with your address change, to keep FootPrints coming.

HRPS Officers fa ll 2014 Programs President: Byllie Andrews Steve Davis – Program Chair: [email protected] Vice President: David Vill Secretary: Gene Williams Historic Reno Preservation Society’s free programs offer an assortment of Reno historic Treasurer: Roger Steininger Past President: Sharon Honig-Bear topics. All program events are on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm at The Board of Directors Laxalt Theater in the Nelson Building at 401 W. Second Street, Reno. For more program Garrett Barmore, Eric Broili, Betty Dodson, information contact Steve Davis at [email protected] or call 747-4478 and leave a message. Charlotte Eckmeyer, Steve Ellison, Sheryln More organization information can be found at www.historicreno.org or on Facebook. Hayes-Zorn, Kimberly Roberts Administrator & Publicity Wednesday, January 28: Elvis, Marilyn, and the Space Aliens, A Look at Nevada Films. Cindy Ainsworth 747-0340 Robin Holabird examines the intriguing ways Nevada’s movies combine with iconic people, Program characters and places. From James Bond to Area 51, world famous names fit the extremes found Steve Davis, [email protected], in the Silver State. Robin Holabird, movie reviewer at Reno Public Radio and a retired state film 747-4478 commissioner, provides photos and observations. Membership Director JoAnn Newbury Wednesday, February 25: The 4th Street|Prater Way History Project. Historian and Walking Tours author Alicia Barber heads the 4th Street|Prater Way History Project, a collaborative effort Betty Dodson initiated by the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC) in 2011. Dr. Webmaster Barber will share stories from this historic Reno-Sparks corridor—once the Lincoln and Victory Rosie Cevasco Highways and U.S. 40—through oral histories, photographs, maps, permanent displays, smart FootPrints Managing Editor phone apps and a comprehensive historical website. Carol Coleman Wednesday, March 25: LaVere Redfield. Jack Harpster is a twenty-nine year Nevadan, who Editorial Staff retired to Reno nine years ago. This program is based on his seventh and most recent book Joyce Cox, Kim Henrick entitled, The Curious Life of Nevada’s LaVere Redfield: The Silver Dollar King. The biography is Debbie Hinman 322-9400 look at the life of Northern Nevada’s most famous and eccentric multi-millionaire, and a man Editorial Board whose outrageous antics were page-one news for four decades. Mella Rothwell Harmon Editor Emeritus & FootPrints Founder Wednesday, April 22, Let the Cowboy Ride: Ranch Life in Northern Nevada: Paul Starrs, Sharon A. Walbridge a UNR geography professor, will speak about his decades of research on western ranching. A Graphic Design: former cowboy himself, Starrs will discuss ranching in the Great Basin. Starrs is the author of Double Click Design • www.dcdreno.com several books, including Let the Cowboy Ride: Cattle Ranching in the American West.