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Nevada Part VII: To War and Beyond
Plunged back into the nation’s conflicts, Nevada solidifies itself as a worldwide destination with the help of some infamous assistance. BY RON SOODALTER Nevada emerged from the Great Depression in 1939 with barely enough time to catch its breath before being plunged into World War II. Since the 1920s, Nevada had subscribed enthusiastically to America’s […]
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Experience ‘The 36th Star’
Experience “The 36th Star” Emancipation Proclamation is Centerpiece of Nevada Museum of Art Exhibition. BY JERI SINGLEY As Nevada celebrates its sesquicentennial, the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno is giving visitors the chance to explore the state’s heritage through its exhibition, “The 36th Star: Nevada’s Journey from Territory to State.” Three years in the […]
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Nevada Part VI: Gambling, Gold and Government Projects
After struggling to maintain momentum through the Great Depression, Nevadans are aided by the sinful schemes that supported the infamy of the Silver State. BY RON SOODALTER When the Great Depression struck an unprepared nation in 1929, Nevada took its share of blows. As Governor Fred Balzar was assuring constituents that Nevada’s economy was healthy […]
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Bowers Mansion: The Chronicle of a Curious Nevada Landmark
This historic icon’s influence spans more than 150 years. BY TAMERA BUZICK The best view of Nevada’s gold- and silver-mining days can still be seen from the Bowers Mansion porch. On a warm summer afternoon, you can sit back and enjoy the same view once seen through the eyes of early Nevadans. If you use […]
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Railroad Town
Established as a railroad town on the swamps east of Reno, this Nevada community has shimmered for more than a century. BY ERIC CACHINERO | May/June 2014 Although Sparks is often overlooked in the annals of Nevada history, the story of the development of this railroad town is as strong as the steel from which its tracks […]
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Nevada Part IV: Into the New Century
Nevada booms out of a depression, and women’s suffrage highlights a progressive movement in the state. BY RON SOODALTER From its earliest days as a part of Utah Territory, Nevada was known as a veritable mineral mecca. First gold, and then silver, were washed, gouged, and blasted out of Nevada’s rock, generating hundreds of millions […]
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Battle Born Birthday Cakes
BATTLE BORN BIRTHDAY CAKES In 1964, Nevada celebrated its 100th birthday in ‘stupendous’ fashion. It plans to do the same in 2014. BY MATTHEW B. BROWN | MARCH/APRIL 2014 In 1964, Nevada celebrated its 100th birthday in ‘stupendous’ fashion. It plans to do the same in 2014. BY MATTHEW B. BROWN | MARCH/APRIL 2014 The Nevada Centennial […]
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Nevada Part III: Twain, Trains, & The Pony Express
BY RON SOODALTER During the mid-to-late-1800s, Nevada passed in record time from unsettled wilderness, to the nation’s premier gold and silver mecca, to its 36th state. In the process, it underwent a number of improvements designed to bring it up to par with its sister states and to ease its passage into the modern world. […]
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The Metropolis That Wasn’t
THE METROPOLIS THAT WASN’T North of Wells lies one of Nevada’s more intriguing ghost towns, with zero ties to the state’s mining past. BY GREG MCFARLANE Many of Nevada’s ghost towns boomed, prospered, and faded in the 1800s, when the state was largely undeveloped and had no major population centers. It’s hard to believe that […]
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Sinatra Jr. Kidnapped
Sinatra Jr. Kidnapped, December 8, 1963. Looking back at the botched abduction of a Las Vegas crooner 50 years later. BY JONATHAN SHIPLEY While lounging around in a T-shirt and a pair of underwear, Frank Sinatra Jr. enjoyed a chicken dinner seemingly without a care in the world. Joined by John Foss, trumpet player for the […]
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Commemorative Stamps
Commemorative Stamps Nevada has recognized its milestones through the years on various U.S. postage. By THOMAS LERA NEVADA FIRST SETTLEMENT CENTENNIAL On October 3, 1945, Nevada Senator Pat McCarran wrote to Postmaster General (PMG) Robert Hannegan, suggesting the issuance of a commemorative stamp for the first post office established in the Territory and State of […]
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Fort Churchill
Fort Churchill State Historic Park offers a glimpse into Nevada’s pre-statehood past. BY GREG MCFARLANE Almost everything about life in mid-1800s Nevada seems difficult to fathom and even more difficult to have endured. We no longer worry about hostile natives, high infant mortality, and taking weeks to cross the desert on horse-drawn wagons, but at […]
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Nevada Part I: The Unknown Territory
BY RON SOODALTER The establishment of Nevada as a territory, and eventually a state, is a long and dramatic story. It features every type of western character imaginable: Indians, Spanish friars, mountain men, explorers, surveyors, Santa Fe traders, prospectors, cowboys, railroaders, Mormons, desperadoes, and ladies of the demimonde. For some, Nevada merely represented a vast […]
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Mobile Museum
MOBILE MUSEUM Nevada was one of the first states to bring its rich history to children and adults alike. BY PETER BARTON In 1953, Judge Clark J. Guild, founder of the Nevada State Museum, along with James W. Calhoun, recognized that the state’s wide-open spaces prevented many Nevada schoolchildren from visiting the museum in Carson […]
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Tonopah: Then & Now
Tonopah photographer Jim Galli has earned quite the reputation for connecting the past to the present via his black-and white images. But these aren't digital pictures converted with modern computer software—these are the real deal, taken with a circa 1910 Kodak Cirkut panoramic camera.
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The Quaints of DeQuille
Reaching a daily circulation of more than 15,000 copies, Virginia City's Territorial Enterprise was at one time the largest newspaper west of the Mississippi River. Readers of this Nevada publication were treated to the prose and tales of famous journalist and author Samuel Clemens, who used the legendary nom de plume of Mark Twain. But another Enterprise reporter, renowned for his gymnastic vocabulary and whom some considered to be a better writer even than Twain, was William Wright.