Reno's glitter fades with suburban expansion
by Jennifer Sweeney, Outpost contributor
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In this package Vacant hotels hold keys to Reno's heritage Residents remember Reno in the glory days On the Web |
"It was the great glamour spot and sin spot of the whole world," John Sanford said in his recorded oral history. In the 1950s anything that had a Reno dateline was front-page news. Reno was the "number three" dateline after Washington and Hollywood, he said.
The rich and beautiful flocked to the "Biggest Little City in the World" for 24 hours of gambling and a virtual who's who of top rate entertainers of the day? Plus, it was the best place for a quick and easy divorce.
Nevada divorce law required a mandatory six-month state residency. Women moved into town and set up temporary housekeeping to meet that prerequisite. Newcomers to the area included a throng of celebrities. Anna Roosevelt took up residence in Sutcliffe. Mary Pickford chose Genoa.
As a result, big city papers like the New York Daily News gave reporters a Reno beat so they could cover the popular topics of sex and divorce. In 1952 Rita Hayworth drove across country from New York to avoid the press at the airports and train stations when she divorced Aly Khan.
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The Riverside, an icon of Reno's past, faces an unknown future. Photo by Amanda Hammon |
Curator of History at the Nevada Hisorical Society, Phillip Earl blames the expansion of Reno into the suburbs for the deterioration of the downtown core. Shopping, gambling and entertainment moved out of the city, leaving residents with no reason to head into the once alluring downtown area.
"Downtown was the place for everything," Earl said. "Until the 1970s, the area north of the railroad tracks was still considered glamorous."
Earl said when Reno moved beyond the central core, business downtown had a hard time surviving. Casinos started to move outside of the central perimeter and their advertisers stopped promoting downtown.
Unfortunately for the Mapes and the Riverside they were too small to compete. Not only did the business leave downtown -- it left Northern Nevada.
"Reno took a back seat to Vegas," Earl said.
Families followed businesses out of downtown causing residential areas to fall into disuse. Two downtown schools, Mary S. Dowton and Evans Avenue, closed. Reno High school relocated to Booth Street outside of the city. Central Junior High school is now a parking lot.
"The signal was that downtown was no place for families," Earl said.
Binney Evans, a Reno resident since 1931, recalled how the downtown core was the place to be.
"Renoites used to enjoy going into town," Evans said. "It had the best shopping and all the great stars were here, Sammy Davis, Jr., Red Skelton -- anyone who was anyone."
Now Evans avoids the area as much as she can. "There's nothing to draw us Renoites," Evans said. "I drive down Virginia Street and it's nothing but sleaze stores across from sleaze casinos."
She also blames Reno's downward spiral on corporate gambling interests. Once the industry moved throughout the country, Nevada lost its niche, she said.
"Gambling was no longer unique to Nevada," Evans said. "The gaming industry destroyed itself and today's sleazy downtown is a direct result of that."
Honor Jones, a Nevada native, said Nevadans must work harder to preserve its past. She said it is time to teach Reno history in our schools.
"We don't have Bill Harrah out there promoting us anymore," Jones said. "The big names are gone."
Jones worked on the "Save the Mapes" campaign and found that among the over 60-year-old population she surveyed, 98 percent were in favor of protecting the Mapes.
"We have to keep what we have and capitalize on our past," Jones said. "What more can we do. The only thing that is constant in this world is change."
Posted Oct. 19, 1998
Copyright 1998 Nevada Oupost