Everything You Might Ever Want to Know About Sparks Can Be Found at the Sparks Museum & Cultural Center

 

   Often overshadowed by its sister-city, Reno, the city of Sparks has its own rich and fascinating history. That story, in fact, is well told in the Sparks Museum & Cultural Center (formerly known as the Sparks Heritage Museum), located in the community’s downtown core.

   The museum is housed in the historic former Sparks branch of the Washoe County Library and the Sparks Justice Court. The two-story brick structure with the red-tile roof was built in 1931 and designed by noted Nevada architect Frederic J. DeLongchamps. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

   Originally, the Washoe County Library was housed on the upper floor, while the Justice Court was in the lower part of the building. The library relocated to Oddie Boulevard in 1965 and the Justice Court, which had taken over the entire building after the library departed, moved out of the building in the mid-1990s.

   The historic structure, which reflects the Mediterranean Revival style of architecture, became the home of the Sparks Museum several years later.

   The museum, which now encompasses the entire building, offers a large collection of permanent and changing galleries that tell the community’s story.

   While the city was formally incorporated on March 15, 1905, its roots began a few years earlier when the Southern Pacific Railway Company decided to shorten and straighten its main line across Northern Nevada.

  The railroad rerouted its tracks along the eastern Truckee River corridor to eliminate several dangerous curves and grades.

  In about 1903, the railroad announced that as part of this realignment it would relocate its main division point in the region from Wadsworth to a site about four miles east of Reno. It originally looked at Reno for its new shops, but went east because of cheaper land.

  To entice its workers to move to the new site, the railroad made a generous offer—a tract of land would be set aside adjacent to a new roundhouse and the railroad would give each employee clear title to a 50-foot by 140-foot lot. Additionally, the railroad offered to transport any existing house in Wadsworth to the new community at no charge.

  Records show that in the summer of 1903, a drawing was conducted with employee names in one hat and lot number in another, and each was randomly awarded their lot. Some 67 lots changed title that day at a price of $1 per lot.

  The new town was called “East Reno” for a short time, then “Harriman,” after E.H. Harriman, owner of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Finally, in April 1904, Harriman decided to name the community in honor of Nevada’s popular Governor, “Honest” John Sparks.

  Over the past century, the railroad has become a less important part of the town’s economy but has remained an important symbol of the past. The Sparks High School athletic teams are called the “Railroaders” and the downtown’s “Victorian Square” development theme evokes the architecture and style of an earlier rail era.

  The importance of railroading to the development of Sparks can be seen in many of the displays in the museum. For example, dozens of historic photographs depict the railroad buildings and equipment used at the Sparks rail yard.

  In one room, you can find an original oak desk once used by the railroad, and still covered with the paperwork. Cabinets display uniforms, steam whistles, dining car trays, and an extensive collection of railroad lanterns.

  Other exhibits spotlight the Lincoln Highway, which passed through Sparks in the early 20th century, as well as the Nugget Casino, long a Sparks institution.

  Other displays contain handmade quilts, a vintage piano, talking and recording machines, radios, refrigerators and clothing from the late 19th and early 20th century. Against one wall, you can even find a switchboard like that used by the old Sparks Telephone Company. The facility also has an extensive research library, with helpful librarians.

  The Sparks Museum and Cultural Center is located at 820 Victorian Avenue. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (the research library is open 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.).

  For more information go to: https://sparksmuseum.org/.

Getting Away From It All At Sparks' Wedekind Hills Regional Park

 

   It’s easy to find solitude in the Wedekind Hills Regional Park in north Sparks.

   The 250-acre site, located adjacent to the Pyramid Highway, off Disc Drive, encompasses a portion of a once-active silver and gold mining area known as the Wedekind Mining District.

   While little evidence remains of that mining period, beside a few dirt mounds, the story of the district and its mines is a fascinating and lesser-known part of Washoe County’s past.

   The mines were developed in about 1896 by George Wedekind, a Prussian emigrant who had come to America to make his fortune. Wedekind, who was a piano tuner by trade, apparently plied his skills in New York and San Francisco before moving in 1880 to White Pine County, Nevada to raise cattle.

   By the late 1880s, he was living in Virginia City, working as a piano tuner and prospecting on the side.

   In 1895, Wedekind and his wife, Helena (they had married in 1856), relocated to the Truckee Meadows, where he maintained his piano tuning and repair business, while also continuing his prospecting expeditions.

   “During his leisure time while living in Reno he could be seen driving an old horse through the country on his prospecting trips,” noted the Nevada Historical Society (NHS) Papers, 1925-1926.

   “One day [in June 1896] while eating his lunch he casually kicked over a small rock which appeared a bit unlike others which lay about,” the report continued. “Upon closer examination he was convinced that it contained ore.”

   He had the rock assayed and it came back as being rich in silver ore. According to the NHS Papers, he then began the process of sinking a shaft on the site, which was about two miles north of what would become the city of Sparks, and removed ore that proved to be worth about $10,000.

   Words soon spread about Wedekind’s mineral strike in the hills that now bear his name and a small mining camp soon popped up, which was called Wedekind City. Within two years of the discovery, the camp had close to 30 structures including a half-dozen wood frame buildings, clusters of tents, a boarding house, post office, miners’ hall, general store, machine shop, assay office, and a 147 by 155-foot mill.

   The Nevada Daily Journal reported on September 10, 1902 that a telephone line from Reno had been strung and the streets and principal buildings were “lighted by electricity.” Additionally, “an electric railway from Reno is not improbably within the coming year.”

   In 1901, prospects for Wedekind City and the mining district were so promising that Wedekind, who lacked the capital to properly work the mine, decided to sell out to wealthy cattleman John Sparks.

   The latter, who would be elected governor of Nevada in November 1902, had sold his cattle holdings in 1901 after a series of financial setbacks, believed the Wedekind district would be his ticket to new wealth. He paid Wedekind about $150,000 (about $5.5 million in today’s dollars) for the property.

   Sparks invested significant resources to developing the district, including timbering the mine shafts, installing a steam hoist works, and hiring about 40 workers to operate the mill. Unfortunately for him, the Wedekind mines proved to be played out.

   Despite his successful run for governor (and reelection in 1906), Sparks was nearly bankrupted by the lack of success with the Wedekind district. When he died unexpected in 1908 at the age of 64, he had accumulated an enormous amount of debt. Despite that, he was extremely popular and the town of Sparks was named in his honor during his term as governor.

   As for Wedekind, he had great success in Reno real estate development (using the money he made from his mining property). He died in 1905, following an automobile accident.

   Visiting the site of all this activity, Wedekind Park, you’ll discover an open, nearly treeless landscape (wear a hat and sun protection on hot days) that offers several hiking trails (ideal for walking dogs off-leash). Trails lead to the top of the park’s two peaks, which have observation areas providing great views of the Truckee Meadows.

   The park has two trailheads, one off Disc Drive, and one off Fourth Street. Near the latter, which is adjacent to the Orr Ditch, you will find running water (in the ditch), a shaded area with picnic tables, a pavilion, and an amphitheater for presentations.

   Wandering the trails, it’s not uncommon to see dozens of lizards scampering over the rocks, and, overhead, circling eagles and hawks. The park is also home to marmots and the occasional coyote. But not too many people.

   For more information, go to: www.cityofsparks.us/business_detail_T71_R53.php.