Today

I received a copy of a new coffee table-sized book on Reno titled Historic Photos of Reno, published by Turner Publishing Company. The author, Donnelyn Curtis, is a librarian with the University of Nevada, Reno, and Director of Research Collections & Services and Head of Special Collections there. Her pictures and commentary cover the first century or so of Reno from around 1868 to the end of the 1970s. I not only read the book and looked at the outstanding pictures culled from the university archives and other collections, I also shared the book with my landlord who has lived in Reno since 1947. We spent several hours browsing the book and reading the captions, and we both came to the conclusion this is the best pictorial volume about Reno we have seen.

Curtis took great care in selecting the photographs, all of them black and white, covering many aspects of Reno's history, including the Johnson/Jeffries fight of 1910; various businesses in and around Reno and Sparks; the rise of gaming in Reno; parades of note which included a parade featuring aviator Charles Lindbergh; the 1950 Reno flood; vintage University of Nevada, Reno, pictures; and even a picture of the original "Biggest Little City in the World" sign and how that came to be. Some of the businesses and buildings still exist, but for older people such as my landlord, those which don't exist anymore but are depicted in the book bring back a lot of memories. Curtis' captions and commentary are brief and to the point.

I can't recommend this book enough for those who are interested in local history as I am.

Interested readers can order the book here.