Historic Photos Of Reno

Reno was first known as a mid-nineteenth century mining town, owing to Nevada’s ample supply of silver and gold. Over the next hundred years, the city became an urban playground, notorious for a lax political environment that encouraged unconventional activities such as prizefighting, gambling, and uncontested divorce. Historic Photos of Reno tells the story of Reno’s development through nearly 200 archival black-and-white photographs. Author Donneyln Curtis transports the reader through the city’s history, illustrating how a sleepy mining community grew into the "biggest Little City in the World.”

Reno was first known as a mid-nineteenth century mining town, owing to Nevada's ample supply of silver and gold. Over the next hundred years, the city became an urban playground, notorious for a lax political environment that encouraged unconventional activities such as prizefighting, gambling, and uncontested divorce. Historic Photos of Reno tells the story of Reno's development through nearly 200 archival black-and-white photographs. Author Donneyln Curtis transports the reader through the city's history, illustrating how a sleepy mining community grew into the ?biggest Little City in the World.”

Oklahoma has an excellent photographic record, largely because the twin territories developed along the same general timeline as modern photography itself. Historic Photos of Oklahoma is not an illustrated history of Oklahoma, nor is it an attempt at a visual chronology of the state. Rather, the photographs included here tell the story of this diverse group of people called Oklahomans as witnessed in their faces, the homes they cherished, and the streets they traveled. Just as viewing a succession of school photos reveals the periods of beauty and awkwardness, innocence and maturity, and hardship and joy in a child’s life, the reader of this book will see the tragedy of Indian removal, the exuberance of land runs, the shame of segregation, the anguish of the Depression, and the optimism for the future in Oklahoma. In between are glimpses of how we used to live, work, and play in the forty-sixth state of the Union.

"I thought it must be the fairest picture the whole earth affords,” wrote Mark Twain of Lake Tahoe. Countless other visitors have agreed, and since the turn of the century the lake’s clear, pure waters and breathtaking natural surroundings have made it a national treasure and an international vacation destination. As one of the deepest and largest of alpine lakes in the United States and the world, Lake Tahoe is said to be one of the most photographed spots on earth. In the clarity and vivid detail of black-and-white photography, Historic Photos of Lake Tahoe showcases nearly 200 images and two centuries of the lake and its surroundings, along with the people, places, and events that have shaped its unique history. Journey with researcher and writer Ellen Drewes as she visits the remarkable past of this scintillating American hideaway.

This guide highlights the architectural and historical significance of more than sixty important homes, ranch houses, and buildings in Reno, Nevada. Known as The Biggest Little City in the World since the 1930s, when quickie divorces and casino gaming were legalized by the Nevada Legislature, Reno has reinvented itself several times during its nearly 150 years of history. Founded in the 1860s on the banks of the scenic Truckee River in Northern Nevada, Reno has had a fascinating journey, from its beginnings as an Emigrant Trail outpost, to its role in the mid-1930s invention of the hotel and casino industry. Cattle barons, mine speculators, and bank presidents in 19th century Reno built their mansions on the high bluff above the Truckee River, surrounded by extensive gardens, transforming the arid little town into what author Walter Van Tilburg Clark called The City of Trembling Leaves. Also featured is the beautiful University of Nevada, Reno, campus, with its Neoclassical buildings designed by Reno s most prominent architect, Frederic Delongchamps. Enhanced with both historical and contemporary photographs, the book includes maps, a glossary of architectural terms with local examples, and a list of architectural styles found in Reno.

Reno, Nevada, has had an unconventional past. Nevada has sometimes been behind the times and sometimes ahead of them in defying conventional morality. The politicians who prevailed were consistently those who spurned hypocrisy and kept the economy strong by allowing activities that were illegal elsewhere: prizefighting, gambling, uncontested divorce. Reno, the largest city in the state until the late 1950s, took advantage of the lax political environment to become an urban playground. But Reno was also the home of ordinary people?merchants, railroad workers, university students and professors, families. The city's two cultures rarely intersected. With a selection of fine historic images from her best-selling book, Historic Photos of Reno, Donnelyn Curtis provides a valuable and revealing historical retrospective on the growth and development of Reno. Remembering Reno captures the flavor of both sides of the city's personality. Included are images of the businesses, the buildings, and the main events that marked the rise of the ?Biggest Little City in the World.” Some of the photographs also capture the beauty of the natural environment in which Reno is situated. In stunning black-and-white photography, this handsome book offers a compelling look into Reno's past that will appeal to newcomers and longtime residents alike.