Historic Photos of Reno [Hardcover]

Donnelyn Curtis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

As an amateur photographer and writer, a graduate of the University of Nevada, and a former resident of Reno, I assumed I would find great pleasure in combing through the composition of someone who has made a career out of compiling and organizing historical information about the area. I was not disappointed. Donnelyn Curtis is the Director of Research Collection & Services and head of Special Collections at the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries, where she has been a librarian since 1998. She embarked upon the painstaking task of compiling some of the most poignant and compelling black and white photographs, complete with text and captions that Reno historians have meticulously gathered over the years. The combination of context and imagery provides a window into the raw soul of a city that has weathered a rich and sorted past. --Robert Payne, blog.robertpayne.net

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...I can't recommend this book enough for those who are interested in local history as I am. --snunes.blogspot.com, Susan N.

It's a wonderful book for anyone interested in the history of Reno and surrounding areas such as the Sierra and Virginia City...The first one in the first section is really interesting a train of freight wagons traveling down a snowy hill on Donner Pass about 1896. One of the earliest views of Reno shows Myron Lake's hotel and the first (steel) bridge across the Truckee about 1883. The foreground is vacant land. Some of the others that caught my eye were bridges under construction and aerial photos. A photo that surprised me was one of a shantytown on the Truckee River in 1944. Another thing that surprised me was how city-like downtown Reno looked in the 1940s biggest little city might have been the perfect slogan. And I always love to look at old photos of the university because it has preserved most of its buildings; it's easy to compare its past with its present. --Ann on Everything, blog.annonn.com

The Biggest Little City has come a long way since its days as a tiny settlement at Lake's Crossing on the Truckee River. Follow the city through its early years of loose gambling regulations, prize fighting, and easy divorce to its emergence as a tourist destination and urban center. --Nevada Magazine

Product Details

• Hardcover: 205 pages
• Publisher: Turner (April 8, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596524383
• ISBN-13: 978-1596524385
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,870 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book., May 2, 2008

By 

Susan Nunes (Medford, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Historic Photos of Reno (Hardcover)

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, 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.