Biggest Little City In the World (1950s)

A visit to Reno, Nevada in the 1950s.
To purchase a clean DVD of this film for personal home use or educational use contact us at [e-mail]. To license footage from this film for commercial use visit: www.travelfilmarchive.com

[@LA2047]

This was a while before my time, but I'm surprised how little it had changed from this was filmed until I grew up there in the 70s and 80s. Reno was so unique in that it really didn't matter what you enjoyed, you could find it there. Seeing this kind of thing makes me so homesick, but sadly Reno isn't at all near to what's described in this film or from my memory. I wonder if there are any places like that anymore in the US. Really breaks my heart to see what Reno has become in the last 20 years.

[@setco6536]

Things change or they get worse Signed, a guy from a small town in the Midwest who moved to Reno because there was nothing left in my hometown

[@LA2047]

@@setco6536 If you weren't already there, then I wish you could have seen in it in the 80s and 90s. It used to be so much better than it has become.

[@relaxinmaxin7246]

I knew every junk car up Keystone Canyon, Drank my first beer at Smokie and Dees, Bought cigarettes from the vending machines, cruised Virginia on the weekends and learned to ski thanks to the city.

[@lewietubes]

Reno looked so clean at this time with new neighborhoods and classic 50s houses. I started going to Reno-Tahoe in the mid 80s and, you're right, that time was so much better from looser slot machines to a busy, festive environment. It's a shell of what it was back then and after the Great Recession it was a literal ghost town in downtown Reno where the casinos are. And when Harrah's closed a couple years ago that was pretty much the end of an era with so many great memories of a happening little city in its prime. You're better off nowadays staying at the GSR, Atlantis or the Peppermill for a nicer experience. Tahoe will always have a special place in my heart and it really hasn't changed that much except the casinos aren't nearly as busy as they used to be in the 80s and 90s - but the beautiful lake never changes. 😍🏔

[@jeremynv89523]

I agree. I moved here in 1980, and I knew even at the time how special downtown really was. The vibrancy, the charm, and even some of the closed up buildings had a quaintness that's difficult to put into words. The old slot machines in the Nevada Club; the gun collection at Harolds; the open air curtain at Harrahs, the burgers at Kiah's Squeeze Inn, or, if you preferred, the Awful Awful at the Nugget. The girls ontop the PrimaDonna. A short away, a Woolworths. Anyone remember Lincoln Alley? What happened to all this? Downtown is a tomb now.

[@normansamuelson8240]

Wow, what memories. I remember the 50s so well in Reno. Graduated from RHS in 58.

[@AA-ve9sy]

Hi Norman, My Mom remembers you! Layne Stephens.

[@normansamuelson8240]

@@AA-ve9sy I remember Layne well, think she knows my wife also. Sandra Ramsey played a lot of tennis in Reno. Tell Layne hello.

[@Chuck-gd9rr]

I was born at St. Mary’s in '58.

[@liane58]

Enjoyed seeing the hometown of my mom.

[@scallaghan2118]

Wonderful video! I was born in Reno and remember these sights well. I just wish there was more footage of the downtown area and the beautiful Truckee River as it ran through the town. Thank you so much for sharing this!!

[@dsouza4746]

When I was a kid, we would visit my family in the Reno area. There used to be a basque and Portuguese community there of dairy farmers and sheep herders. My uncle had a dairy outside of town. I miss the old Reno

[@lewietubes]

I currently live in a vintage 1956 house and seeing the new 1950s neighborhoods was so cool. I think, overall, the 50s would've been the best decade to live in - with a strong middle class and a time of innocence. Great video and the music was phenomenal as well!👏👍

[@dabfan6924]

If by ‘innocence’ you mean segregation by race and exclusion of Indians after dark, maybe. The moniker ‘Mississippi of the West’ was no accident. It is a mixed bag. At the same time, Governor Grant Sawyer (1959-1967) guided passage of one of our nations first open housing laws. Additionally Mr. Probasco did not include race covenants in the property deeds for his Greenbrae and Elmcrest subdivisions of the late 1940s & 50s.

[@MrRJDB1969]

​@@dabfan6924- Racism exists today, more than ever. Every race of people, Asian, Black, Indian, American Indian, etc , choose to be around their own, that's a fact. There are no open borders or open immigration into China, Mexico, Iran, etc, since they do not want others "different" than themselves invading their homelands. Are they racists ? Sure. Every race of people are self protected, suspicious, cautious, of others unlike themselves. Fact. Stop blaming those in this video, for supposedly being what others are today openly. Enough bullsh-t.

[@dabfan6924]

@@MrRJDB1969 I guess you missed the point I made about George Probasco not imposing race covenants in property deeds. That shows he was ahead of his time. It also shows he wasn’t racist in the exact way you claim that everybody is racist. Not everyone has a victim song and dance they need to perform. Mr. Probasco didn’t. As for my “blaming those in this video” I guess you mean tourism promoters, right? That is who made the video. But Reno received tourists of all races even while that film was made. But, as an old time Reno person familiar with the history of Lake Street, you knew all that already. Sorry My comment was actually supportive of the comments made in present day by a real person commenting on Reno neighborhoods built in the 50s. In fact, she was describing a Probasco home and imagining a different time, rather than imagining a different present as others seem to prefer.

[@MrRJDB1969]

@@dabfan6924 - In the 1950's what were all these other "races touring Reno" ? Were you alive at the time this film was created and were you a part of its film crew ? You speak with "authority" and yet, I doubt you were there. We weren't a "diverse" society back then, just as Japan, China, or Iran aren't today in 2024. We shouldn't be criticized for being ourselves, living, and existing, while others do as they please around the globe, without question. I think we should just enjoy the video and stop making bullshit problems, that nobody particularly cares about, over it.

[@dabfan6924]

@@MrRJDB1969 You admit to knowing nothing about Reno other than your own sad victimhood at the hands of present-day reality. Reno was a segregated society exactly as that film showed. I am too lazy to do your historical research for you., and deductive reasoning may not be available to one and all. However, if Nevada Governor Grant Sawyer proposed an open housing law in the 1950s, doesn’t it follow that there was already a real need for such a law because there was already a diverse population in Nevada? That’s a lot to process. I’ll pray for you

[@MeatsackMiracle]

I remember coming out of John Ascuagas Nugget in Sparks on the 4th of July in 1986, and Bad Company was playing a freebie- unannounced concert in the middle of Sparks blvd, and all drinks and food were free. Good times... Takes a while, but I was a locksmith in Reno, and it took about a year to be accepted, but once your in- paradise!!!

[@patriley9449]

Sadly Reno is now California East. No character left here.

[@markfrench8892]

I was under the impression that before it was named Reno by the railroad, that is was called Lake's Crossing.

[@p4u7y]

The United States library of Congress never mentioned Lake.... it’s always Fullers

[@JohnHartman22]

In the short time that Myron Lake owned the land it was referred as Lakes Crossing but was never officially recognised.

[@timearly5226]

I miss my hometown! Anybody remember Kai's Squeeze Inn or Tony's Delicatessen?

[@jeremynv89523]

I remember Kai’s very well. Best burgers you ever tasted. Don’t remember Tony’s, though. Where was it?

[@sakibear4478]

Right next door to the old Riverside Parking Garage, not Riverside Hotel. Someone could take me there blindfolded,to Tony's, and I would know exactly where I was. What I would give for one of his "Poor Boy Sandwiches"!

[@elizabethcalef6225]

Definitely Kiah's original Squeeze In. "In", because there were only 9 stools at a counter and you had to flatten yourself against the wall to squeeze by any patrons already sitting on them. If a small group came in, they were seated on "the mezzanine" at the bar next door to be served.

[@felzke440]

Excellent food, You literally had to "squeeze past" others to get to your seat, it was so narrow. A sign on the wall " BRAINS and eggs".

[@dabfan6924]

@@sakibear4478 and a pickle from that strange barrel

[@dougsilva8603]

My Mom and dad were married in Reno in 1955

[@MrRJDB1969]

My parents were married in Reno too, but later in the early 60's.

[@KimSerrahn]

Home.

[@NickAbatino]

Wonderful!!!

[@dondressel452]

Wow look at that old beautiful wooden boat

[@joannalexander]

Thank you!! I really enjoyed this!!

[@MeatsackMiracle]

I remember waiting for the first snowfall, me and my bro (he had an '85 f250 4x4- 35" tires, lift, 460 w/ 4 speed) would grab a 12 pack and drive up and down I-80 and charge $45 to pull people out of the drifts. Pocket full of cash and soo busy we still had a 6 pack left at the end!

[@MerleOberon]

Too bad they blew up the Mapes in 2000.

[@dougsilva8603]

So sad my mom and dad had there wedding dinner there in 1955

[@dabfan6924]

The building could not be occupied. The floors were sagging, and it could not be sprinklered. Implosion was always its future.

[@scottw4603]

why the TCR counter?

[@MeatsackMiracle]

My good friend George Garson and family were fond memories. Miss bowling on thurs nights for Boomtown, and shooting prarie dogs on the property.

[@MeatsackMiracle]

Shame... Washoe valley got wiped out in 1990 by a lakeside collapse that gave way from the side of Tahoe. My brother was working for Sears and they were having a company picnic when it happened and was killed. You can still see remnants of buildings such as chimneys, etc... when traveling through Washoe valley between Reno and Carson City

[@dabfan6924]

The slide only affected a small part of the Davis Creek alluvial fan

[@priscilla5249]

im only here for school

[@vibecentral3519]

Same

[@halenwoodstudios6672]

Virginia city is my hometown 💕

[@adynathaly3145]

Is it really hot in the way people say

[@adynathaly3145]

I meant haunted

[@markmnorcal]

It's still the same to this day.

[@CapnCookBB]

Exciter ehh not really it’s the 21st century and it’s brighter and better but there’s is classic

[@realityorfiction]

Carson city had 5 thousand people back then?! Omg today it's 54k,

[@MeatsackMiracle]

BTW- If Cattleman's restaurant is still in Washoe valley you MUST stop and eat the best steaks you will ever have in your life!

[@dabfan6924]

Out of business

[@anagingrebel6229]

Great memories! Now Reno has been sold out by our county and city commissioners who are handing out building permits like candy at Halloween. Uncontrolled growth, Californication, more crime, overcrowded schools, heavy traffic and the worse drivers ever.

[@unr74]

Does anyone remember where Hash Lane intersected Virginia St?

[@tracygallaway36]

Yes where McCarran blvd crosses south Virginia Street today, I remember the Hash Lane sign at the corner. Hash Lane was a pretty country lane with white rail fences along it in the old days.

[@unr74]

@@tracygallaway36 Correctamundo!

[@JTshuntingandfishing]

9:41 that’s bad ass. It was even the lifeguard who did the dive. Do that now..!!! and the lifeguard will blow a whistle at you, tell you to get out of the pool, call security to escort you out, then security calls the cops to have you trespassed…1900-2000. Greatest town in the world… 2023…. LEAVE RENO AND YOULL BE WAY MORE HAPPY…Then 5,000 people in Carson. Now 93,595 people…. Reno then 50,000 now 531,000

[@JTshuntingandfishing]

9:55 WOW…..They all stoped and started to clap..!!!! 😂😂😂😂. Right now.. everyone would’ve been yelling at him and filming the altercation, wile Karen is calling the cops, because he ALMOST hit her son when dived in. And now he’s terrified to get back into the pool…😂😂😂😂