Reno

Reno, still know as the Biggest Little City in the World, is located in the northeast corner in the state of Nevada. Although many of Nevada's towns have a history of gold and silver, gold diggers only inadvertently played a role in Reno's beginnings--they had to cross the Trucker River.

It was in 1859 that two Irishmen, Peter O'Riley and Patrick McLaughlin, found gold in Virginia city. Within months of its discovery, Virginia City became the world's most important mining center and the site of the largest body of gold and silver ever found.

Twenty-three miles away, on the site of what we now know as Reno, Myron Lake erected a bridge across the Trucker River and charged a toll to anyone that wished to cross. Fifty cents from every rider, a dollar for horse and buggy, and a dollar and a quarter for a pack wagon. Thus, Lake's Crossing, as it was called was a busy and profitable place during Virginia City's bonanza.

Perceptive Mr. Lake heard the hammering on the wall. Suspecting correctly his land would be needed for the coming railroad, he approached Central Pacific with a bargain. In exchange for deeded lots and an assurance that the railroad would plat a town and build Nevada's central depot on the site, he would relinquish eighty acres.

The railroad agreed and on May 9th, 1868, Reno was established during an auction of 400 lots on the north side of Trucker River.