Cool New Deal Artwork Tucked Away in Nevada Towns

WPA Mural in the Yerington Post Office

  In the mid-1930s and early 40s, Nevada was the beneficiary of several New Deal and WPA (Works Progress Administration, and later, Work Projects Administration) art-related projects. These efforts were part of federal government initiatives designed to put people to work in the aftermath of the Great Depression, which began in late 1929.

  Fortunately, a handful of these projects can still be found in the state, including in rural post offices, civic buildings and at Hoover Dam.

  Perhaps the most well-known pieces are the “Winged Figures of the Republic,” a pair of large, winged Art Deco-style bronze statues found at Hoover Dam. Measuring 30-feet tall, they are part of a black stone display (which also includes a flagpole) that commemorates the 96 men who died during construction of the dam.

  An adjacent plaque reads: “They died to make the desert bloom. The United States of America will continue to remember that many who toiled here found their final rest while engaged in the building of this dam. The United States of America will continue to remember the services of all who labored to clothe with substance the plans of those who first visioned the building of this dam.”

  The statues, created in 1934, were the work of artist Oskar J.W. Hansen, a Norwegian-born American artist who also created concrete base relief images on the Nevada and Arizona elevators at the top of the dam.

  In addition to Hansen’s work, Nevada is also home to three murals that were created by artists working for what was called the Section of Fine Arts, administered by the Procurement Division of the Treasury Department.

  In order of their completion, the first mural was one painted for the then-new Lovelock Post Office in 1940 by artist Ejnar Hansen, a Danish-born painter. Titled “The Uncovering of the Comstock Lode,” the work depicts a trio of prospectors inspecting gold from a wooden sluice.

  The oil-on-canvas painting, like many completed at that time for the program, was done in what is described as a “simplified realism” style, which was apparently favored by the department. The mural can still be seen on a wall in the Lovelock Post Office.

  The next mural created through the program was “Homestead on the Plain,” an oil-on-canvas painting executed by New York artist Adolph Gottlieb in 1941. The work shows Nevada desert framed by jagged mountains, with a small house, an old car and a rickety shack in the foreground.

  According to the website of the Adolph and Ester Gottlieb Foundation, the artist, who lived for time in Arizona, was his interpretation of a typical southwestern landscape that incorporated his Arizona house and Model T car. The work still hangs on the wall of the historic original Yerington Post Office (a new, main post office was built several miles away a few years ago).

  The final completed project was an oil-on-canvas mural created for the Winnemucca Post Office by artist Polly Duncan, of Denver, Colorado in 1942. Titled “Cattle Round-Up,” Duncan’s work imagined several cowboys guiding cattle into a shed while the bulk of the herd is being driven in from a broad expanse of the Nevada landscape.

  Like Hansen’s work, Duncan’s painting is done in the folk realist style and uses a Nevada-based theme that resonated with Winnemucca’s ranching culture.

  In 1991, the city of Winnemucca acquired the one-story brick post office and converted it into city hall. Despite the change in the building’s use, the mural can still be seen in the main lobby.

  For more information on Nevada’s New Deal artwork and surviving New Deal projects in Nevada, check out the website, Living New Deal, at https://livingnewdeal.org/us/nv/?post_type=projects.

Hidden Reno Monument Commemorates the Donner Party in the Truckee Meadows

Emigrant Trail Marker (Photo courtesy of Ken Lund)

   When it comes to the Donner Party, much of the historical attention is typically focused on either the trail they blazed across the middle of the state or the site where they were trapped for months on the shores of what is now Donner Lake near Truckee.

   But tucked into a small park at the base of Rattlesnake Mountain, is a small commemorative monument and plaque that notes that the ill-fated Donner Party travelers spent five days camped near there in October 1846.

   Known as the Emigrant-Donner Camp, the site was not only used by the Donner Party but also countless subsequent wagon trains heading to California via the Truckee Meadows during the next few years.

   The plaque, known as Nevada Historical Marker 253, states that upon reaching the Truckee Meadows, these emigrant groups turned southwest, toward Rattlesnake Mountain, in order to avoid having to travel through the marshes and sloughs in the basin floor.

   According to the sign, the site at the base of Rattlesnake was a popular resting place for tired travelers because numerous small springs in the vicinity provided good water for the wagon parties and the adjacent hills and mountains provided a measure of protection from the wind and weather.

   It concludes by pointing out that it was at this site that one of the members of the Donner Party, William Pike, was accidentally shot, died and was buried somewhere in the area.

   According to several online sources, the monument apparently was originally located closer to Rattlesnake Mountain, on private property, but was relocated about a decade ago to the city park to avoid any problems with trespassing.

   Of course, the story of the Donner Party is one of the greatest tragedies in western history. In April 1846, a large group of wagons left Springfield, Illinois to travel across the country to California.

   During the course of the journey, some of the travelers decided to head north to Oregon but the bulk of the group chose to take what was called the Hastings Cutoff, a new route that supposedly was more direct.

   Unfortunately, the cutoff didn’t really exist and the party was forced to literally make its own trail through much of eastern Nevada, which slowed down their progress. By the time they reached the Truckee Meadows it was the advent of winter and within days of their arrival it began to snow in the Sierra Nevada range.

   By early November, the group had reached Donner Lake (previously known as Truckee Lake), where they became trapped by record heavy snowfall. As a result, the Donner Party was trapped, with virtually no food, for more than three months.

   The group was finally rescued in February and March 1847. Of the 87 members, only 47 survived the ordeal, with some members resorting to cannibalism during the time they were trapped.

   A good source of information about the Donner Party is Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee (https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=503), which has a small museum devoted to their story.

   The Emigrant-Donner Camp monument is located in the Donner Party Park, at the intersection of Rio Poco Road and Creekside Circle. For additional information, go to http://www.nv-landmarks.com/wa/shl253.htm.

Goldfield Historical Society Does Its Job Well

 

Goldfield High School

   It’s no understatement to say that a community like Goldfield, Nevada, is jammed with history. Once the largest city in the state, Goldfield played an important role in the development of the state in the early part of the 20th century.

   Fortunately, the people of Goldfield cherish and understand their history. In fact, the Goldfield Historical Society has done an excellent job of preserving the Goldfield story and boasts one of the best websites for anyone interested in learning more about the town that long boasted it was the official “World’s Greatest Gold Camp.”

   In recent years, the society has devoted considerable time and energy to raising funds for the restoration of the historic Goldfield High School, which was built in 1906-07.

   The school, which was in use until 1953, is an impressive three-story brick and stone structure that boasts 12 classrooms, an auditorium, offices, bathrooms and a large attic (which once housed a large water tank).

   It was designed to accommodate 450 students and cost an estimated $100,000 when in was completed. Unfortunately, after closing the school remained vacant and abandoned for the next half-decade.

   In recent years, the society has been able to receive funding and grants that have allowed for restoring the foundation, rebuilding exterior walls, and is currently replacing the roof. The society plans to use the school as a community center once the renovations are completed.

   Another aspect of the society’s website that is valuable for anyone interested in the community’s past are its informative sections on the history of Goldfield, the story of the Tonopah and Goldfield Railroad, the city’s early 20th century building boom and the saga of the devasting fire that destroyed much of the community in 1923.

   Additionally, there are short histories on noteworthy buildings such as the Goldfield Hotel, the Charles S. Sprague House, and other local landmarks that have survived the years.

   There are also interesting features on former residents of the community with interesting backstories, such as legendary lawman Claude Inman and George Grahm Rice, a cagey mine promoter during the town’s boom times. 

   Enhancing the site is a nice historic photo gallery with some 16 images of Goldfield during its heyday during the early 20th century.

   For anyone who plans to travel to Goldfield, which is located about three-and-a-half hours south of Fallon via U.S. 95, there is a link to an exceptional Goldfield Walking Tour brochure that can be downloaded.

   The 12-page booklet offers information on nearly 200 historical structures still standing and locations of significant buildings now gone (although ruins may remain). It also provides a good and extensive historical overview of the community, which traces its beginnings to the discovery of gold on the slopes of nearby Columbia Mountain in 1902.

   The pamphlet notes that in addition to the 1923 fire, Goldfield also barely survived a destructive flashflood in 1913, which destroyed many homes and washed out railroad tracks, and a later fire, in 1924, that burned several of the town’s more substantial downtown structures.

   A second walking tour guide that is also downloadable on the site is devoted to the Goldfield Cemetery.

   To access the Goldfield Historical Society’s website, go to: http://www.goldfieldhistoricalsociety.com/.

When a Bookstore is More Than Just a Bookstore

   Anyone who visits Reno’s popular and well-regarded local bookshop, Sundance Books, is immediately impressed by the building in which it is located.

   The structure is a three-story white mansion, graced by six, large columns and wide steps in front. Inside, the structure boasts hardwood floors, wood paneled walls and a large staircase leading to the second floor.

   Obviously, it was not always a bookstore.

   Fortunately, prolific local history writer and former Nevada Secretary of State Patricia Cafferata has compiled the whole story, which she shares in her latest book, “Reno’s Sundance Books and Music: Merchant Holds Sway in Historic Levy Mansion.”

   According to Cafferata’s research, the house was constructed in 1907 by successful Reno merchant, William Levy and his wife, Tillie. Along with partner Jacob Morris, Levy owned Palace Dry Goods in downtown Reno, was a founding trustee in the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and had investments in several profitable mines.

   In designing their home, the Levys, who had two daughters, wanted a showcase that would make a statement about their business success. The 4,800 square-foot house was built in the Classical Revival architectural style with fluted Ionic columns and a triangular porch pediment over the front portico.

   The house was furnished with what Cafferata described as handsome antiques, along with elegant brass-colored light fixtures and a Tiffany chandelier in the dining room.

   Following William Levy’s death in 1920, his wife and youngest daughter, Mildred (called Tinker) continued to live in the house. His older daughter, Fritzie (called Mimi) permanently moved to San Francisco, where she married an obstetrician named Zachariah Coblentz.

   Cafferata noted that Tillie and Tinker Levy continued to operate the Palace Dry Goods store for another 12 years after William’s death. During the Great Depression, however, the store fell on hard times and the family closed it in 1932.

   When Tillie Levy died in 1938, the daughters decided to subdivide the property. Tinker inherited the house while Mimi received the east section of the land along what is now South Sierra Street (called Granite Street at the time).

   It was at that time, that the house was relocated on the lot. Originally built to face Granite Street, it was moved 90 degrees so that it faced California Avenue and received a new address, 121 California Avenue.

   Mimi leased her portion of the property to an oil company, which erected a gas station on the site. The station was demolished in the 1970s, when the city of Reno condemned a piece of her property in order to widen Sierra Street.

   Tinker, who never married, lived in the house until her death in 1978. Cafferata noted that during her ownership, Tinker enjoyed entertaining others, especially neighborhood children.

   Following Tinker’s death, her sister, who inherited the house, decided to sell it to a group of Reno attorneys for their offices. The property had fallen into some disrepair and was badly in need of renovation.

   The work was completed in the early 1980s and for the next two decades, the house served as legal offices.

   In 2003, it was acquired by the Nevada Museum of Art, which began looking for an appropriate tenant.

   A few years later, in 2010, Christine Kelly, owner of Sundance Books and Music, was looking for a new home because the store had outgrown its strip mall space on West Fourth Street.

   The museum and the bookstore eventually connected and, in 2011, Sundance reopened at its new location in the historic Levy Mansion.

   To learn more about the Levy family and the history of the mansion, pick up a copy of Cafferata’s book, available at Sundance Books and Music, https://www.sundancebookstore.com/.