J.E. Sweatt sold a parcel of land to Cecil Washington and his wife, Mildred, in December 1957. Cecil had been working in Nevada, and purchased the property in Black Springs while living in Sparks. Once the land was purchased, he moved his wife and…

Douglas and Essie Finley moved into the house at 380 Westbrook Lane in the 1960s. Unlike many of the early houses that were moved to Black Springs from other locations, the original Finley house was built here in 1963. The Finley's son, Donald,…

Ruffen and Gertha Lee Pettis bought a parcel of land in Black Springs, now known as 280 Medgar Avenue, from J.E. Sweatt in December of 1956. The couple had been living in Loyalton, California where their daughter, Bobbie Jean, went to high school. …

Hosea Stevens bought a lot from J.E. and Dorothy Sweatt in August of 1958. Stevens and his wife, Johnnie, were both natives of Texas, where three of their children were born. Born in 1910, Hosea served in World War II, and in 1946, the family…

The Osbornes' house was moved to 290 Westbrook Lane in 1964 from a site around 6th or 7th Street in downtown Reno that was being cleared for the construction of Interstate 80. Phillip Osborne purchased the house at auction for $250 and had it…

The house where Barbet and Jewell Bufkin lived, at 375 Westbrook Lane, dates to approximately 1940 and was likely moved here from its original location sometime in the mid-to-late 1950s. Additional living space was subsequently added to the rear of…

The Black Springs community faced serious challenges in the 1960s as it became the target of campaigns to clean up what the local government and media often labeled "blight" and an "eyesore" while its residents were still…

J.E. Sweatt sold a parcel in Black Springs, now 295 Kennedy Drive, to Cecil G. and Nola Mae Carthen in December of 1956. The couple was from Oklahoma, where Cecil had been working as a mechanic for a lumber company. In Reno, he worked for many…

The house at 265 Kennedy Drive is one of the few from the early years that was constructed on site rather than moved here. It likely dates to the early 1950s. Thurman Carthen remembers it as the prettiest one in the neighborhood when he moved to…

The house at 320 Westbrook Lane was the second home that the Lobster family owned in Black Springs. William (Bill) Lobster was the Fire Chief for the Black Springs Volunteer Fire Department for many years. This house is one of the few in Black…

Ollie and Helen Westbrook were some of the first residents to purchase property in Black Springs from J.E. Sweatt in the early 1950s. They quickly became community leaders and became known to everyone as "Mama Helen" and "Big…

Black Springs did not have a community center of its own until 1970, when the neighborhood's youth group, P.O.W.E.R. (People Organized to Work for Equal Recognition) took the lead to establish one. The group had been organized in May of 1969.…

We're still piecing it together, but the story of the First Baptist Church appears to have begun in 1952, when three individuals sought support to establish a church and recreational center at Black Springs to service the African American…

Willie Stevens had the house at 415 Medgar Avenue moved to his lot in Black Springs in late 1957. Before it was moved there by Dario Bevilacqua, the top of the house was removed, as was customary at the time, in order to avoid hitting power lines…

This modest building was constructed in 1970 to serve the Black Springs Volunteer Fire Department, which had been established in 1956. By the late 1960s, a station in the neighborhood was an absolutely necessity. The Black Springs community had…

The Mt. Hope Baptist Church was founded in July of 1959 and was the second church to be built in the community of Black Springs. Residents say that the building was moved here that year from another location and adapted for this use. Started by A.N.…

This small house, constructed of field stone, is one of the oldest structures in Black Springs and may date back to the 1920s. Thurman Carthen remembers it standing when he first arrived in 1956, and believed it to be a well house. Others recall it…