September 2025

HRPS News & Updates

Dear HRPS Members and Friends,

Happy Labor Day! The unofficial start to fall, and a day to recognize and appreciate those present and past whose efforts contributed to building the beautiful community we live in.

We have much to share with you this month so let's get started!

You should have just received the fall edition of FootPrints either in print or electronically, with details on the Home Tour, a description of our fall programs, and an engaging article on "The Hirsh Estate: When Beverly Hills Came to Reno", by new member and the home's current owner, Linda Smith. Keep this issue handy as it also serves as your program guide to the Home Tour.

Home Tour tickets are $40 for Members in advance, $50 for non-members and $50 for everyone at the door. We encourage you to purchase your tickets in advance. If you have difficulties purchasing your tickets online, please contact our Administrator, Peggy Boni - board@historicreno.org or 559-799-8971, and she'll get you taken care of!

Our Home Tour relies on over 100 dedicated volunteers, many of whom volunteer year after year. We were saddened to learn of the recent death of one such volunteer - Carolyn Bartlett, retired teacher and veteran of many home tours. She always worked the registration table along with good friend Gina Jacobson. You can read her obituary here. Carolyn will be missed!

Our monthly speaker programs resume this month, with local author, Jane Sweetland, talking about the Boxcar Diplomacy program at the end of WWII, on Sunday, September 14. This is a fascinating tale with a Reno connection.

Congratulations to legendary Casale's Halfway House which was just awarded a $50,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation!

In that same vein, the Bethel AME Church was recently named to the City of Reno's Register of Historic Places.

The Newland's Neighborhood pillar refurbishment project is finished. Thanks to Reno City Councilmember Naomi Duerr, for providing a grant to get the work completed. We have a couple of photos below.

Don't miss the Langston Hughes exhibit at the Nevada Museum of Art, titled, "When Langston Hughes Came to Town". Hughes was an author and leader of the Harlem Renaissance in the first half of the 20th Century. Few people know he had a Reno connection.

Lastly, FootPrints, a discount on the Home Tour, free admission to our walking tours, this monthly digital newsletter - are all benefits that come with your $25/year individual membership or your $45/year family membership. We hope you agree it is a great value, and a vote of support for historic preservation in our community. Thank you!

Joy Orlich, President

president@historicreno.org

775-544-0686

Donate to HRPS

Check out Our Fall Speaker Programs

Jane Sweetland

Author, historian

"Boxcar Diplomacy: Two Trains that Crossed the Ocean"

Sunday, September 14, 2025, Noon

Downtown Reno Library, 301 S. Center Street

Admission is free and open to the public, but the Library asks everyone to register in advance to ensure there is enough space.

The story begins as World War II was ending and the Cold War was beginning. With so much devastation in Europe, there wasn’t enough food, and governments, churches, and charitable organizations were attempting to fill the gap.

Boxcar Diplomacy began as a simple idea and grew to encompass the generosity and imagination of the nation.

UPCOMING

10/12 - Garrett Barmore, "The Mackay School"

11/09 - Jeff Kintop, "Dayton's Mystic 12: A Nevada History Mystery"

2025 Harvest of Homes Tour

Saturday, September 20, 2025, 10am - 3pm

603 Humboldt Street

PREVIEW THE HOMES

PURCHASE TICKETS

Members - $40 in advance

Non-Members - $50

Same Day Tickets - $50, available only at 603 Humboldt Street.

NEVADA HISTORICAL SOCIETY EVENTS

Join NHS

We encourage you to join NHS. Your membership gets you free admission to all State Museums!

Individual - $45

Senior/Student - $25

Nevada History on the Go!

September 6, 1:00pm

American Gaming Archives Fireside Chat: Nick Ableman, the man behind Graham and McKay

September 10, 5:30pm

Writer's Wednesday - Profiles in Judicial Excellence: Territorial and Supreme Court Justices of Nevada, David Hardy

September 18, Noon

High Noon with Neal Cobb - Lost City Museum, A Hidden Gem on Southern Nevada's Arrowhead Trail

Detailed Schedule of all Events

Congratulations to

Casale's Halfway Club!

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express announced this year’s grantees of the “Backing Historic Small Restaurants” program, marking five years of celebrating investing in small, independent restaurants that serve as cultural and culinary landmarks across the U.S.

Reno’s Casales Halfway Club is among the restaurants getting a $50,000 grant to help renovate and grow their businesses.

Reno's Casale's Halfway Club Among Historic Trust Grantees

“These restaurants demonstrate the power that places hold. For generations, neighbors have gathered here, shared stories, made new connections, and enjoyed regional cuisine that often reflects our nation’s global roots,” said Carol Quillen, CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Opened in 1937, Casale’s, named for its location halfway between Reno and Sparks, has a long and storied history. For nearly 100 years, the family-owned hotspot has been a mecca for locals looking for good food in an unfussy environment. What started as a fruit stand and small market has morphed into one of the most delicious and authentic Italian restaurants around.

Newland's Pillars Get a Facelift!

Thanks to "Memories Etched in Stone" in Sparks, and a grant from the City of Reno which paid for the work, the Newland's Neighborhood pillars have been refreshed. Street names are much more readable!

Bethel AME Church named to Reno Historic Register

Bethel AME Church at 220 Bell Street in downtown Reno is the latest historic property to be listed on the City of Reno's Register of Historic Places.

This church building was constructed in 1910 and remodeled in 1941 by Reno's Bethel AME congregation. It has been listed on the National Register since 2001 for being a center of religious, social, and political life for Reno's African American community for its association with Reno's Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. (read more via Reno Historical, below)

Bethel AME Church, 220 Bell Street

Complete list of Reno Historic Register Buildings

When Langston Hughes Came to Town - A Reno Connection

When Langston Hughes Came to Town explores the history and legacy of Langston Hughes through the lens of his largely unknown travels to Nevada and highlights the vital role Hughes played in the Harlem Renaissance and beyond.

James Mercer Langston Hughes (1901-1967) was born in Joplin, Missouri. Hughes studied at Columbia University in 1921 for one year and would eventually become one of the leading writers of the Harlem Renaissance. A writer with a distinctive style inspired by jazz rhythms, Hughes documented all facets of Black culture but became renowned for his incisive poetry.

The exhibition begins by examining the relationship of this literary giant to the state of Nevada through a unique presentation of archival photographs, ephemera, and short stories he wrote that were informed by his visit to the area. The writer’s first trip to the Silver State took place in 1932, when he investigated the working conditions at the Hoover Dam Project. He returned to the state in 1934, at the height of his career, making an unexpected trip to Reno, and found solace and a great night life in the city.

When Langston Hughes Came to Town - Nevada Museum of Art

Bethel AME Church

The Bethel AME Church was a religious, social and political center of the African American community, initially for Reno's small community of Black residents in the 1910s, and later for local civil rights activists during the 1960s.

From its inception in 1907, Bethel AME has held to the principles of the AME church (the initials stand for African Methodist Episcopal) to provide self-expression and fuller involvement in society as a means through which members could gain a sense of dignity and self-respect.

Bethel AME Church

Source: City of Reno

Bethel AME Church - A religious, social, and political center for Reno's African American community since 1910 | Reno Historical

Join HRPS Today!

HRPS is "Dedicated to Preserving and Promoting Historic Resources in the Truckee Meadows through Education, Advocacy and Leadership". With over 500 members, your membership is a vote and a voice for historic preservation.

Do you have friends, neighbors, or family members who share an interest in local history? If so, forward a copy of this newsletter and encourage them to join HRPS! Or have them go to our website - Historic Reno Preservation Society - and click on the "Join Us" tab at the top of the page.

A single membership is just $25/year ($45 for a family membership), and you can now join and pay online.

Benefits of Membership