Reno tourist information

As early as the 1850s a few pioneers settled in the Truckee Meadows, a relatively fertile valley through which the Truckee River made its way from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. In addition to subsistence farming, these early residents could pick up a bit of business from travellers along the California Trail, which followed the Truckee westward, before branching off towards Donner Lake, where the formidable obstacle of the Sierras began.

Gold had been discovered in the vicinity of Virginia City in 1850 and a modest mining community developed, but the discovery of silver in 1859 led to one of the greatest mining bonanzas of all time as the Comstock Lode spewed forth treasure. The Comstock's closest connection to the outside world lay in the Truckee Meadows.

To provide the necessary connection between Virginia City and the California Trail, Charles Fuller built a log toll bridge across the Truckee River in 1859. A small community to service travellers soon grew up near the bridge. After two years, Fuller sold the bridge to Myron Lake, who continued to develop the community with the addition of a grist mill, kiln, and livery stable to the hotel and eating house. The tiny community acquired the name Lake's Crossing.

In 1868, the Central Pacific Railroad, building tracks across the west to connect with the Union Pacific, built from the east to form the first transcontinental railroad. Myron Lake, realizing what a rail connection would mean for business, deeded land to the Central Pacific in exchange for its promise to build a depot at Lake's Crossing. Once the railroad station was established, the town of Reno officially came into being on May 13, 1868. The new town was named in honor of Major General Jesse L. Reno, a Union officer killed in the American Civil War. (Had Jesse Reno not changed the spelling of his name early in life, presumably the biggest little city would today be Renault, Nevada.)

The extension of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad to Reno in 1872 provided another big boost to the new city's economy. In the following decades, Reno continued to grow and prosper as a business and agricultural center and became the principal settlement on the transcontinental railroad between Sacramento and Salt Lake City. However, political power in Nevada remained with the mining communities, first Virginia City and later Tonopah and Goldfield.

As the mining boom waned early in the twentieth century, Nevada's centers of political and business activity shifted to the non-mining communities, especially Reno and Las Vegas, and today the former mining metropolises stand as little more than ghost towns. Despite this, Nevada still accounts for over 11% of world gold production.

It was in Reno in 1871 that Jacob Davis, a tailor, started reinforcing his canvas pants with copper rivets. Davis later pantented his idea with Levi Strauss, his canvas supplier to create the product now known as Levi's.

Nevada's legalization of casino gambling in 1931 and the passage of liberal divorce laws created another boom for Reno. The divorce business eventually died as the other states fell in line by passing their own laws easing the requirements for divorce, but gambling continued as a major Reno industry.

In more recent years, Reno has experienced rapid growth as a strong economy and a cost of living less than most of California has resulted in a housing boom. New construction is widespread emanating from all sides of the city and into the surrounding valleys. A direct result of such rapid growth has been a dramatic increase in housing prices in the area, with Reno-Sparks being named one of the most overvalued housing markets in the nation in 2006. On March 15, 2006, a new upscale shopping center, The Summit Sierra, opened in the southern suburbs of Reno.

The Truckee River runs through town, as does the Union Pacific Railroad, Interstate 80 (east-west) and US 395 (north-south).

Reno has an extensive bus system called RTC RIDE, which is provided by the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County. The bus system has its main terminal in downtown Reno and secondary terminals in Sparks and at Meadowood Mall in south Reno. The RTC also has a service called RTC ACCESS that provides transport for handicapped people. RTC INTERCITY buses link Reno to Carson City.

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The city also provides a free bus service up and down Virginia Street called RTC SIERRA SPIRIT, whose bright yellow buses are easily recognizible. This regular service is free of charge.

Amtrak also serves the city of Reno. Amtrak train 5, the westbound California Zephyr, departs Reno every morning and serves the cities of Truckee, Colfax, Roseville, Sacramento, Davis, Martinez, Emeryville, and Sacramento. Amtrak train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr, departs Reno every afternoon and serves the cities of Sparks, Winnemucca, Elko, Salt Lake, Provo, Helper, Green River, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Omaha, Galesburg, and Chicago. Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoaches also arrive and depart Reno four times daily in each direction connecting to and from the Coast Starlight, Capitol Corridor, and San Joaquin trains at Sacramento, California.

The city is served by Reno/Tahoe International Airport, with general aviation traffic also handled by Reno Stead Airport.

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