The Founding of Reno's Rancho San Rafael Park

  Any study of the effort to create Reno’s Rancho San Rafael Park must begin with Clark Santini.

  The brother of former Nevada Congressman Jim Santini and nephew of famed Nevada writer Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Clark Santini had previously worked on the successful effort to create a state park at Tule Springs in Southern Nevada.

  According to Nevada historian Elmer Rusco, who authored a 1998 study on the effort to create the park, “The Benchmarks of . . . Character and Way of Life: The Acquisition of Rancho San Rafael Regional Park,” Santini’s involvement began in 1976 when he and several friends met to discuss somehow converting the ranch, one of the last large parcels of open land in the city, into a public park.

  “Santini brought up the information that the ranch was for sale and broached the idea . . . of attempting to interest all three local government entities—Washoe County, Reno and Sparks—into jointly purchasing it as a regional park,” Rusco wrote.

  He added that after the group, which included Virginia and Bob Kersey, Rabbi Abraham Feinberg and Patricia Blanchard, agreed to push ahead with the idea, Santini, who passed away in 1996, was designated the main spokesman for the effort and was later even called “father of Rancho San Rafael.”

  During the next three years, Santini’s group succeeded in getting legal authorization from the Nevada state legislature for a bond election to pay for acquiring the property. Additionally, with the support of former Sparks Assemblyman Don Mello, park supporters worked with Nevada’s Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) to purchase the ranch as an investment, and then sell it to Washoe County, once the bond passed.

  In the event that the bond failed, PERS would be free to sell the land to private investors, thereby recouping its investment.

  According to Rusco, in January 1979 PERS bought the 408-acre ranch for $7.5 million and agreed to sell it to the county at that cost, plus 15 percent for each year required for the transfer. The county had five years to complete the deal.

  On June 5, 1979, the bond was approved overwhelmingly, gaining nearly 62 percent of the total votes cast on the question.

  Since it was created, Rancho San Rafael Park has been expanded twice. In 1993, a land donation from the late Reno businessman William Thornton and his wife, Dr. Barbara Thornton, a longtime professor at the University of Nevada Reno, enlarged the park by another 120 acres. Five years later, the park gained another 42 acres located in nearby Keystone Canyon as a result of a land exchange.

  Interestingly, there had been several previous attempts to turn the ranch into a park. Rusco noted that in the 1940s, University of Nevada Reno President John O. Moseley attempted to persuade the ranch’s owner, Dr. Raphael Herman, to donate the property to the university.

  Additionally, the University of Nevada, Reno Land Foundation made overtures to purchase the site in the late 1960s but the efforts were unsuccessful.

  Rancho San Rafael traces its beginnings to the early 20th century, when members of the Pincolini family purchased the property in northwest Reno. The Pincolinis apparently used the land for cattle and raised potatoes.

  In 1919, the Pincolini family sold the acreage to Martin Pradere. Shortly after, much of the property was sold to Russell Jensen, who raised sheep on the land. In the mid-1930s, Norman B. and Mariana Herman, along with Dr. Raphael Herman, acquired the land, using it primarily to raise cattle.

  Many of the ranch buildings still standing in the park, including the main ranch house (now used for meetings and conferences), were constructed during the period the Hermans owned the property. The Hermans also enlarged the ranch’s size, purchasing more than 150 adjacent acres during the next few years.

  In the 1960s, Mariana Herman became the sole owner of the property following the death of her husband and his brother, and, later, agreed to sell it to PERS.

  Today, the park totals some 577 acres and is home to the Wilbur D. May Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, the Wilbur D. May Center and museum (a collection of rare and exotic artifacts) and acres of hiking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds, ball fields and lots of open space.

  Additionally, the park hosts several major annual special events including the Great Reno Balloon Race, held each September.

  Rancho San Rafael Park is located at 1595 North Sierra Street in Reno. For more information go to http://www.washoecounty.us/parks/rsrp.htm.

  And if you visit, make sure to take a moment to thank Clark Santini.