November, 2009
By John Evanoff
November in the Truckee Meadows cannot be matched
anywhere else on the east side of the Sierra Nevada for the changes
in the colors of the trees and the perfect touch of autumn in the
air. Thanksgiving is truly remarkable when it is spent with family
and friends in Reno and vicinity, plus you get to walk off that
huge turkey dinner with a casual stroll around Idlewild Park. My
top ten favorite walks, hikes and treks would not be complete without
saying something about the walk along the Truckee River at Idlewild.
More to the point, the walk around Idlewild Park and down Riverside
Drive is well worth the time and the memories of Reno’s past.
First of all, find a place to park near the California Building
which was built in 1926 for the Transcontinental Highway Exposition
of 1927 in honor of the completion of the Lincoln and Victory Highways.
At the time of the exposition, the park, built over two years from
1925 to 1927, was full of huge exhibit tents, grandstands, carnival
rides and several temporary buildings that served the purpose of
telling the story of the construction of these highways across the
United States. One exhibit tent held more than fifty cars hot off
the original auto assembly lines in Detroit. The Victory Highway
was built primarily over the great National Road and traversed across
what is the current Highway 80 through Nevada. The Lincoln Highway
was the culmination of many moves of new and old roads to cross
twelve states and more than 3,100 miles. Now called the Loneliest
Road in the America, Highway 50, it stretched some 270 miles through
the middle of Nevada and is my favorite for trips to such places
as Fallon, Austin, Eureka and Ely. The parallel roads of the Victory
and Lincoln competed against each other for traffic through Nevada
at one time and ended up coming together through the Truckee Meadows.
The Lincoln Highway, originally Highway 40 and now called Interstate
80, is used by just about everyone in the Truckee Meadows to get
to points east and west from Reno, but the original Lincoln/Victory
Highway actually runs along East and West 4th Street through Reno,
Third Street through Verdi and Victorian Avenue in Sparks. The Transcontinental
Highway Exposition was a great success attracting thousands of people
from all over the country, but mostly by train. The automobile was
just beginning its inception as a major mode of travel and it was
still tough traveling more than a couple hundred miles a day. Gas
stations were few and far between. The highways brought money to
the stops along the way and Reno was one of the first town to take
advantage of the needs of these old buggies with rather large garages
built exclusively to aid auto visitors. Several large tire and maintenance
shops were built along the entire length of 4th Street and gas stations
and motor lodges sprang up everywhere along the route. The only
remnant of the exposition that lasted six weeks in July and August
of 1927 is the building that was produced by the State of California
just for the event and of course the park itself. Most of the architectural
plans for Idlewild Park were produced with the intent of producing
a one of a kind exposition. The park was an immense undertaking
from its very beginnings. Acquired from the estate of Francis Newlands
who promoted the Newlands Project, a vast federal water and dam
project throughout the west, the park became a reality when the
San Francisco architect, Donald McClaren, who designed the landscaping
for the 1915 Pan-Pacific Exposition donated his time courtesy of
the State of California to design Idlewild. McClaren also later
designed Wingfield Park downtown. With many large donations from
entrepreneurs in the region, Idlewild was constructed. More than
two hundred large trees were planted including forty-five pines
along the Truckee River. With money raised by automobile industry
tycoons and the State of California, tents and buildings were erected
for the exposition. Some of the more prominent citizens of Reno
put together funds and had an arch built at Virginia Street next
to the Railroad tracks with the inscription “Reno Nevada’s
Transcontinental Highway Exposition, July 25th – August 11th
1927.” The Commercial Street ventures and hotels filled every
day of the event with visitors, many of whom had never been to or
through Reno. It was the first of three arches to be built at that
intersection. The original neon and iron arch, which was the second
arch and that first proclaimed the Biggest Little City now sets
across Lake Street next to the Truckee River. The California Building
still stands as a proud symbol of that momentous exposition and
has been used for functions throughout Reno’s illustrious
history as well as today for everything from square dancing to campaign
victory parties. The adjacent Rose Garden is amazing in the summer
for its colors and sweet scent and lends an attractive backdrop
to many weddings. The building, owned by the City of Reno, is also
noteworthy because it is on the National Registry of Historical
Places. All of the hoopla of the exposition brought Reno into the
national limelight and soon after, because of the increased auto
traffic, the railroad town grew into a prospering city and with
the advent of gambling, easy divorces and marriages, into the Biggest
Little City in the World.
If you were to look back at certain times at the
park and surrounding area, Idlewild included a zoo, a fifty Quonset-hut
Civilian Conservation Corps camp during the depression, a large
Boy Scout camp and a trout fish hatchery. A hydroelectric generator
was built years earlier and still currently sits near Booth Street.
You could skate in the winter on the lower pond and every year until
the late 1950’s, a fishing derby was held at the beginning
of every summer. The park was a favorite for kids learning to swim
every summer at Idlewild Municipal Pool and was the place I earned
my life guard certificate which I never used. Many kids also played
little league at the park at one of three diamonds and still today,
many of those who are now adults play softball there.
The park lies along a large bend in the Truckee
River and as such is part of the City of Reno Parks and Trails project
to eventually bring all the trails from throughout the Truckee Meadows
to the greenbelt along the river. The paved pathway will eventually
link Verdi in the west all the way to Vista at the east end of the
valley. The route now consists of paved paths, dirt trails and streets.
Every year in April, the park is home to Reno’s Earth Day
Celebration. The park is also on the route of the annual Journal
Jog every September.
Walking or biking through the park and along the
many paths, you get a great workout and fantastic scenery. The walk
around the park and east to the Booth Street Bridge and down Riverside
Drive to Wingfield Park and back is a classic. At different times
in the fall, the changing colors of the maples and elms, and the
crisp aroma of pine and the Truckee River give you respite from
any tribulations and will bring an enthusiasm back into your step.
This is the path that reminds you Reno is definitely the City of
Trembling Leaves.
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