Reno Historical

A project by Special Collections, University of Nevada, Reno Libraries

Reno 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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Ice Company

Crystal Springs Ice CompanyBy Cindy Ainsworth

By the mid-1920s, commercial ice production had shifted from ice harvesting along the Truckee River and Boca Dam to large mechanical ice production companies. Reno businesses and homes relied on these…
Levy Home, ca. 1915

Levy HouseBy Patty Cafferata

Merchant Wilhelm Levy immigrated to America from Prussia (Germany). Later, he moved to Nevada and operated dry goods stores in a couple of mining boom towns. In 1887, he moved to Reno and with his…
Street widening, 1965

Benetti BlockBy Alicia Barber

March of 1946 marked the greatest building boom in the history of Washoe County. Just six months after the close of the Second World War, forty major construction projects were underway in the…

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Random Stories

“If Mama Ain’t Happy, Ain’t Nobody Happy.” The clever motto—part description, part good-natured warning—graces an arched doorway inside Casale's Halfway Club, which has been operating as a…

In August of 1895, Lewis D. Folsom purchased a lot in the center of the 800 block of Center Street for $450. Here he built the stylish two-story, eight-room home at 829, with its typical Queen Anne…

Rex Arlo Crider was an established chiropractor when he had this two-story combination commercial and apartment building constructed in 1936. An Iowa native, Crider had moved to Reno in 1915 to…

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…

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