Nevada

Reno is situated in northwestern Nevada near the border with California.  It lies in the Truckee River Valley along the foothills of the eastern slopes of the Sierra Mountains.  The Truckee River flows through the city on its path from Lake Tahoe to Pyramid Lake.  The town was originally created as a river crossing for Pioneer immigrants on the California Trail, and then for the Transcontinental Railroad when it was built in 1868.  It was first named “Lake’s Crossing” after Myron Lake who owned the land and bridge.  A railroad station was established in May, 1868, and it was renamed Reno after a Civil War Union General, Jesse Lee Reno.  It became the largest community along the railway between Sacramento and Salt Lake City.  In 1931, Nevada passed legislation that legalized gambling and simplified divorce.  Reno would soon become known as the “Divorce Capital of the World”.  This made it a destination for many Americans who were seeking a divorce, and the city’s economy boomed as a result.  Gambling would take over as the primary economy when other states relaxed their divorce laws during the 1970s.

• Eloyse Ellen Stanton