Truckee River & the Virginia Street Bridge

The river Reno grew along — and the river a whole neighbourhood lived beside.

Key facts

The Truckee River runs straight through downtown Reno; the city grew up on its banks, and Reno's Chinatown lived right along it, just east of here at Lake Street.
Wingfield Park, on an island a few steps west, is downtown Reno's riverside green — a kayak play-wave in summer, concerts in the band shell.
The Washoe County Courthouse across the street (built 1910–11, architect Frederic DeLongchamps) was the heart of Reno's “divorce capital” decades — a trade that faded as other states, California among them in 1969, made divorce easier at home.

Narration transcript

Here's the Truckee River — and here's the reason Reno is where it is. The river comes down from Lake Tahoe, and the town grew up on its banks around the railroad and the river crossing you're standing on. Wingfield Park is just to your west, on its own little island; in summer there are kayakers on the play-wave and music in the band shell.

Look across the water and east, downstream. That riverbank is where Reno's Chinese community made its home — a whole Chinatown strung along the north side of the river. We're walking to it. The river was their front yard.

One quick aside, because you can see it from here: that grand old building across the street is the Washoe County Courthouse, from around 1911, and for decades it was the busiest divorce court in America — Reno was the place you came to end a marriage quickly. That trade faded when other states, California included, made divorce easier at home around 1969. It's the Reno the movies remember. But it isn't our story. Our story is along the river. Let's follow it toward the first Chinatown corner.