Ever since the Mapes' Hotel went up in a cloud of blissful dust, putting an end to her nearly 20 years of misery, and even a bit before that, people have been talking of Reno's history. There is much of it gone now, but as I have always said, it still remains in the memories of those who were there. For those who wish to recall those memories, or you youngin's (or transplants) (or those not from the area) out there, I am including this pictoral history of Reno. Well, I guess that pictoral history, per se, is a bit of a misnomer; it's really more of a photo album. Whatever the case, I hope you all enjoy as much as I would have had I not been the one to create it.

We'll start out with that marvelous Mapes implosion of Jan. 30, 2000 (as seen on my Nevada Pictures page).

This event sparked a great deal of controversy not only in Reno, but around the world (I've even seen responses to this from Great Britain even). However, this "historic" structures (many of the things credited to it as "firsts" really had their honors in the hands of other Reno hotels) demolition was yet another historic event in the turbulant and colorful history of Reno. Before this the Harrold's and Nevada Club's were lost to the stick of dynamite. Yet even before this destruction of abandoned structures, there was the Reno of the past; the Reno which was the place to be for gamming, marriage, divorce, &c; the Reno which shone above Las Vegas...then the Reno which paralleled Las Vegas...then the Reno who was foolish and let Las Vegas take it's spotlight away for good. This is the Reno on which I focus...in pictures.

Virginia Street, 1868.----------------------------------------Virginia Street Bridge, 1880.
(Nevada Historical Society)

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