Nevada Historical Marker #29
Chinese In Nevada. 1864-1964 This honors the heroism and hardihood of the thousands of Chinese Americans who played a major role in the history of Nevada. From across the Pacific, the Chinese came to California during the Gold Rush of ′49 and on to the mountains and deserts of this state where they built railroads, cut timber, and performed countless tasks. Sizable Chinese communities grew up in Virginia City and other towns. Their contribution to the progress of the state in its first century will be forever remembered by all Nevadans.
Victorian Ave, Sparks, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #43
Derby Diversion Dam. Derby Dam, constructed under Specification Number 1 and Drawing Number 1 of the U.S. Reclamation Service, now the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, diverts the flow of the Truckee River for irrigation use. It was the forerunner of such mighty structures as Hoover, Grand Coulee, Shasta, and Glen Canyon Dams.Derby Dam was authorized by Secretary of the Interior E.A. Hitchcock on March 14, 1903. It was part of the Newlands Project, named in honor of Nevada Senator Francis G. Newlands who worked for passage of the Reclamation Act in 1902. Derby takes its name from a nearby Southern Pacific Railroad station of the day.Charles A. Warren & Co. of San Francisco, the contractor, started work on the dam on October 2, 1903, and finished May 20, 1905. Operational water diversions began in 1906.
Dwight D Eisenhower Highway, Sparks, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #88
Sparks. Engaged in straightening and realigning the old Central Pacific trackage across Nevada, the Southern Pacific Company moved its shops and headquarters from Wadsworth to this location in 1904. The railroad set aside five city blocks for its employees’ residences. Each railroader paid $1.00 for a lot. They had to build a house within 120 days and file their deed of ownership. The company also cut their houses in Wadsworth into sections, loaded the parts on train cars and shipped the houses free of charge to Sparks. The railroad moved its employees, their houses, animals and personal items on July 4, 1904.Sparks, originally known as East Reno, New Town Tract and Harriman, came into official existence. In 1905, the state legislature incorporated the town, named it in honor of John Sparks, rancher and governor of the state of Nevada.Sparks boasted one of the largest roundhouses in the world during the steam era, the Nevada base for a vast stable of steam locomotives. The famous cab-in-front locomotive type known as Mallets, were the huge steamers hauling both freight and passengers over the steep grades of the Sierra Nevada between Roseville, California and Sparks.
Prater Way, Sparks, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #169
Glendale School (1864 1958) “Oldest Remaining School Building In Nevada”. Glendale, as a settlement, preceded Reno and was destined to be the metropolis on the Truckee River until the Central Pacific Railroad was induced to bypass the community for a station at Lake’s Crossing (Reno). E. C. Sessions, the first teacher, organized the school and taught in his home until this building opened in 1864. Archie Bryant built the structure at a cost of $1,446 and it remains as a testament of his craftsmanship. The original School Board of Trustees consisted of John F. Stone, William Steele, and N. C. Haslund. Over the years, many Nevadans attended the Glendale School. Perhaps the most notable student was U.S. Senator Patrick A. McCarran.The school building moved from its original site in 1976 and finally came to rest at this location in 1993.
Victorian Ave, Sparks, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #189
Southern Pacific Railroad Yards. Soon after 1900, laborers reworked some 373 miles of the original Central Pacific (now the Southern Pacific) line between Reno and Ogden, Utah. The effort involved shortening the line in some places. One such change took Wadsworth (Nevada), a division terminal, off the main line. During the summer of 1904, the terminal was moved to this location, which became the town of Sparks.The railroad dismantled a huge forty-stall locomotive roundhouse in 1959. The machine and erecting shops are still standing.Had it not been for the railroad yards being moved here, the City of Sparks would not exist.
Victorian Ave, Sparks, NV, United States
Nevada Historical Marker #63
Truckee River. The Truckee River, seen below, runs from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake. The river’s first recorded discovery was by Captain John C. Frémont in January 1844. He camped by its terminal at Pyramid, and then followed it to the big bend at Wadsworth. Captain Frémont named the stream the Salmon-Trout River. At the end of his 1845 sojourn in Nevada, he followed it into the Sierra and crossed Donner Pass.Beginning with the Stephens-Murphy-Townsend party in 1844, the Truckee River became a route for California emigrants until the advent of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1868-1869 brought the wagon train period to a close. After the Southern Pacific took over the railway in 1899 and relocated much of its Nevada alignment, the old Central Pacific roadbed between Sparks and Wadsworth was deeded to Washoe County in 1904 for road purposes. In 1917, the road became a portion of state road 1, which in 1920 became the Nevada section of the victory highway. In 1925, when federal highway names were replaced by a numerical system, the Victory Highway became U.S. highway 40. In 1958, after reconstruction, this route became the initial section of interstate 80 across Nevada. The river provides water for Reno, Sparks, the Fallon agricultural area and Pyramid Lake.
, Sparks, NV, United States