2004 Eleven Most Endangered

1. Bethel A.M.E. Church, Reno

Reno's small black population had few social institutions to champion its causes or to provide continuity to its social life. The first and most enduring of these was Bethel AME Church. Built as Reno's first black church in 1910, it is the longest operating black congregation in Nevada. Holding to the tenets of the AME Church to provide opportunities for 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 has fostered social equality through its active role in the community, through its direct link with the NAACP, and through its abiding dignity in the face of conspicuous and unrelenting discrimination. It is likely Paul R, Williams stayed in the boarding house operated by Bethel AME Church while he was in Reno working on the First Church of Christ, Scientist building. There would have been few other places for a black architect to stay in town, and as an African American and a member of the AME Church, Bethel would have been a local contact on which he would have relied. Along with the Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas, which was not built until 1955, Reno's Bethel AME Church is one of Nevada's most significant buildings associated with the history of its black population. Bethel AME Church was sold to a private party in 1993 when the congregation constructed a new building in Sparks. The old church functioned as a homeless shelter for a few years, but it was recently abandoned and boarded up. In December 2003, the Bethel AME reacquired the historic building with hopes of converting it to a museum and cultural center. On March 25, 2004, an arson fire caused considerable interior damage to the church. Plans are under way to repair the fire damage and restore the building in a manner that will honor its historic significance. The community is encouraged to support this important project to ensure its success. UPDATE: The Bethel HousingDevelopment Corporation has recently committed to rehabilitate the Bethel AME Church for use and a community center and museum. To this end they applied for 2004 funding from the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs. They received a grant for $80,000 to conduct a comprehensive analysis of existing conditions and to formulate a rehabilitation plan for the building.

2. Nevada Cemeteries

For every community that fell victim to Nevada's characteristic boom and bust cycles,at least one cemetery remains as a solemn reminder of those people who were left behind. Scores of cemeteries throughout the state are in immediate danger of being lost to the ravages of time as vegetation, erosion, and vandalism chisel away at unfenced, untended, and all but forgotten memorials. In Comstock cemeteries alone, only 1,500 burial sites have been located of the 5,000 people interred, and it is estimated that at the Silver Terrace cemetery at least one item is stolen per day. While most of Nevada's scattered cemeteries will never again sparkle with the flowers, shrubbery, and neatly painted fences of their glory days, it is important that what remains of these memorials be preserved. Preserve Nevada believes that identifying and protecting the final resting places of those people who contributed to the building of Nevada is as worthy a goal as preserving the buildings and artifacts that they left behind. UPDATE: Significant progress has been made to protect the Comstock cemeteries. Full perimeter fencing is now completed for both Gold Hill and Silver Terrace cemeteries, repair work on broken stone in these cemeteries will begin May, and the Master Restoration Plan and demonstration plots on both cemeteries will be completed by the end of summer. Most of the privately held land in the Silver Terrace cemetery has now been deeded by Hugh Roy Marshall to the Comstock Cemetery Foundation, giving them legal title control over the sites. Comstock Cemetery Foundation has also worked with the West University (Hillside) Neighborhood group to form a non-profit organization to protect the Hillside cemetery in Reno from efforts by the current owner to disinter and relocate bodies and develop the land. Lastly, Senator Bernice Matthews passed out of Committee on Friday, April 8th, 2005 a bill to protect historical/cultural landscape (SB205). This bill increases penalties for acts involving theft, vandalism, and dumping unauthorized construction etc within the grounds of a cemetery. Under SB205, such offenses will be classified as a category D felony.

3. U.S.O. Building, Hawthorne

The Hawthorne U.S.O. Building opened in January 1942, just as the United Stated entered World War II. Throughout the war years, the Hawthorne U.S.O. fulfilled the mission of the organization, to be a "home away from home" for U.S. servicemen and war workers. The Hawthorne U.S.O. building was constructed expressly for that purpose; one of only two built in Nevada, and the only one to remain. The Hawthorne U.S.O. is an important symbol of the historic role of the military in the small town, and Hawthorne's role in the nation's war effort. The Hawthorne U.S.O. Building is listed in the State Register of Historic Places and currently functions as Hawthorne's convention center and houses the Fair and Recreation Board. The fire marshal recently alerted Mineral County of certain code violations, and there are factions within the county who favor abandoning the building rather than rehabilitating it. With the growth of heritage tourism and interest in military history, the U.S.O. building should be considered an asset rather than a liability. UPDATE: This structure has, through an outstanding effort by SHPO National Register Coordinator Mella Harmon, been listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The Mineral County Commission intends to retain and rehabilitate this structure for community use and will hopefully seek Commission for Cultural Affairs grant funding in the near future.

4. The Bank Saloon (Jack's Bar), Carson City

This infamous local watering hole is located at the corner of Carson and Fifth Streets directly across from the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City. Built as the Bank Saloon in 1899, this pink sandstone building is an icon in Carson and has been a traditional meeting place for legislators, state employees, the esteemed fourth estaters and local residents for over 100 years. The building is an excellent example of turn of the century commercial architecture and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Jack's, as it is now known, was recently closed and is owned by local developers who have already made one application for demolition of the building. While this application was ultimately withdrawn the eventual fate of the building remains unclear. Presently the Carson City Redevelopment Authority is working with the owners and is funding a structural analysis and rehabilitation feasibility study for the building. Preserve Nevada wishes to encourage all parties in this ongoing effort to return Jack's to commercial use and to preserve it for future generations. UPDATE: The Carson City Historic Resources Commission denied a request to demolish this building in 2003. The Carson City Redevelopment Authority paid for historic preservation rehabilitation consultant Melvyn Green to do an assessment of the building. His conclusion was that Jack's bar can be rehabilitated for future use. There has been no further action on this issue and the owners did not respond to PN's inquiries.

5. The La Concha Hotel Lobby

The La Concha was built in 1961 and quickly became an icon on the Las Vegas strip. The hotel was designed by internationally renowned African-American architect Paul R. Williams, Hollywood's 'Architect to the Stars', who designed over 3,000 buildings, including the Los Angeles Int'l Airport and the Paris UN building. On the rapidly changing strip it stands as a reminder of the wonderful inventiveness of Williams and is one of the most significant examples of Mid-Century Modern architecture remaining in Las Vegas. La Concha is potentially eligible for the National Register, on a cultural, architectural and historical basis. The owners of the property are working with Preserve Nevada to move the lobby and its historic neon sign to a new home in downtown. Since the demolition of the hotel wing behind the lobby a national letter writing campaign has demonstrated the level of interest in this wonderful little building. UPDATE: The movement to preserve the La Concha has generated national support from architects, preservationists and historians as well as many individuals and organizations across the country. The Historic Preservation Commission of the City of Las Vegas, the Preservation Association of Clark County, Preserve Nevada and the State Historic Preservation Office are trying to help. Additionally, the Neon Museum has received a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to further help with the engineering costs associated with re-locating the structure. Melvyn Green and Associates, a noted engineering firm from southern California has been retained by the Neon Museum to over see and guide the engineering of the LaConcha's move from its current location to its new home next to the Neon Boneyard on Las Vegas BLVD, adjacent to Cashman Field. Plans for the building include using it as a visitors/educational center for the Neon Museum. Moving the La Concha will involve taking the structure apart; transporting it North along the strip to its new home where will be re-assembled onto a new foundation. The projected costs associated with this proposal are anticipated to be around $500,000. The Neon Museum is hoping to raise at least $300,000 to get the building safely off site; the rest of the funds will be used to restore the building so it can be opened to the public. For more information, please contact the Neon Museum at (702) 387-NEON or info@neonmuseum.org.

6. Nevada Northern Railway and Line

The Nevada Northern Railway Complex was listed in the National Register in 1993. The complex in Ely consists of a depot, shops, yards, rolling stock, and trackage. The railroad was built in 1905 as a short line to serve the copper mining boom of the early twentieth century that helped pull Nevada out of an economic decline. The railway functioned from its original steam-powered beginnings to the diesel age of the 1980s. After being listed on Preserve Nevada's 2003 11-Most Endangered List, the Nevada Northern Railway Complex received funding from the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs to repair the Engine House and since its inclusion on Preserve Nevada's 11-Most Endangered List, has applied for further funding to perform structural repair and educational outreach. The railway's long term vitality is currently threatened by a lawsuit that would prevent a transfer of track from Los Angeles to the Northern Nevada Railway. The railway had plans to assist in the diversification of the economy of Ely and the surrounding area. However, if the lawsuit now pending is successful, the Northern Nevada Railway will be unable to purchase the necessary abandoned track to expand its service area throughout the Great Basin. UPDATE: To date, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on the stabilization of the engine house, machine shop, freight house, coach shed, and McGill Depot. Although commendable, that is only ten percent of the buildings and structures, which is not enough to stop the disintegration of the complex. The railroad is threatened on two fronts; the first is the age and condition of the buildings in the East Ely Complex; the second is lawsuits concerning the northern portion of the rail line.

7. Nevada Ranches

Time is running out for many of Nevada's pioneer ranches. Shifting economies and dwindling water resources threaten all of the state's ranches and many of those are additionally falling prey to suburbanization and urban sprawl. Ranchers are under increasing pressure to sell these remnants of Nevada's agricultural heritage as the value of pasture is increasing valued on its potential for housing and recreational development. The Settlemeyer Ranch, nestled in the Carson Valley just a stone's throw from Genoa, is a prime example. Beginning in the mid nineteenth century, the once thriving cattle and dairy ranch is now in danger of being swallowed up by a combination of urban demand for water and development. For decades the primary milk producer for Model Dairy, the pristine vistas, barns and silos of the Settlemeyer Ranch-and many others like it-may not long survive the state's growing thirst for land and water. UPDATE: A heightened awareness is beginning to surface regarding preservation measures to save Nevada's oldest industry. Some ranches have implemented diversification measures to remain viable operating ranches. Others have gradually succumb to changing times, encroaching development or higher property taxes that prohibit profitable operations. The Centennial Ranch program, managed by the State Historic Preservation Office, publicly recognized ranches that have been in operation for at least 100 years and possess 4 or more 50 year old buildings on the ranch's acreage. In the spring of 2005, the Galeppi-Byington Ranch east of Genoa set aside 700 acres of the ranch as permanent open space, protected from development. Elko County rancher Preston Wright, president and chairman of Ranch Open Space, also intends to push protecting ranch property throughout the state. Although the Frank Settelmeyer and Sons ranch sold, an endowment scholarship and fellowship fund was created to provide funding for agriculture related studies at University of Nevada, Reno. The Public Lands Management Act of 1998 provides acquisition funding as well.

8. The Reno Masonic Temple/Reno Mercantile

Built in 1872, the Reno Masonic Temple or Reno Mercantile is Reno's oldest commercial building. This white washed two story brick building is located on the corner of Sierra Street and Commercial Row. It housed the Reno Masons Order until 1905 and beginning in 1873, James C. Hagerman, a dealer in groceries, hardware, tinware, wines, and liquors, leased the first floor. Reno Mercantile took over the ground-floor space in 1895 and operated there until 1970. It is rumored that tailor Jacob Davis, the inventor of the rivet on blue jeans for the Comstock miners who later sold his patent to Levi Strauss, rented space in this building for his shop. The Reno Masonic Temple/Reno Mercantile building is owned by Fitzgerald's Casino and is currently being used as a storage facility with "no current plans" for demolition. It is listed as one of the most endangered buildings in Nevada because it is old and neglected, it has recently been deemed to have "no commercial value" and the new shoo-fly track for the train trench has trains running a few yards from the front of the building. UPDATE: Fitzgerald's Hotel/Casino and the Reno Mercantile/Masonic Hall sold within the past year and the new owners contend that they have no future plans for the Reno Mercantile/Masonic Hall and are still using the building for storage. However, the new owners have also purchased the Old Reno Casino (the small structure in-between Fitzgerald's Casino and Reno Mercantile) from the City of Reno, which could put the Reno Mercantile in imminent danger for expansion plans. The change in ownership for all these properties should start taking place August or September of 2005. The Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor or ReTRAC Project has closely monitored the building for over eight months for any movement or adverse effects by trains traveling the shoo-fly. Over the monitored period, it was reported that there was no movement before the shoo-fly, during construction of the shoo-fly or after with the train traffic. The only reported movement was from Fitzgerald's moving objects in/out of the building.

9.. Rye Patch and Applegate-Lassen Trail

Located in Pershing County, the area now known as the Rye Patch State Recreation Area and the Applegate-Lassen Trail encompasses one of the richest archeological sites in Nevada. Evidence suggests that early man drew sustenance from the region's marshes beginning in the early Holocene period. By 1829, trappers with the Hudson Bay Company and those who followed helped establish the Humboldt Trail. A resting point for nineteenth-century emigrants, Lassen Meadows served as the cutoff for those headed to California and Oregon. Silver and gold strikes preceded the construction of the Pitt-Taylor Reservoir and Rye Patch Dam in 1936. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a change of ownership from the United States Bureau of Reclamation to Pershing County makes the future of prehistoric and historic sites in this area uncertain. UPDATE: In response to concerns about cultural resource protection associated with the transfer of this land from federal ownership to the state, legislation has been introduced in the Nevada legislature. Senate Bill 81 is designed to facilitate state agencies receiving land from federal agencies by affording the same level of protection to cultural resources on state land as would be found on federal land. If this bill is adopted many of the concerns about the future of this site will be greatly reduced.

10. The Old Spanish Trail

When Spain - and later Mexico - claimed what is now the Great Southwest, there was a continuing dream to establish a reliable, all-weather route between Santa Fe, New Mexico and Southern California. In the 18th century Spanish explorers and padres made valiant but unsuccessful explorations to fulfill this dream. Early in the 19th century, mountain men and trappers placed the final pieces of the puzzle together and proved it was possible to successfully travel across the mountains and deserts between New Mexico and California. Thus a trail was born. Traders, explorers and emigrants began to use this route and, in 1844, John Charles Fremont gave it a name - the Old Spanish Trail. Originally, it was a trade route and today in remote spots the trace of the pack-mules can still be seen. After 1848, the Mormons needed a reliable route between Utah and Southern California so they used the well blazed, proven corridor of the Old Spanish Trail as a guide. The tracks of their wagons are still visible in many paces across Southern Nevada. Therein lies the preservation problem. Clark County has undergone rampant development and almost all traces of the Trail have disappeared in urban areas. Clear, almost pristine, traces can still be found in rural areas but the growing need for recreation places them in jeopardy. For years a bevy of historians, archaeologists and preservationists have recognized the danger and pleaded for help. In 2002, these pleas were recognized and the Congress designated the Old Spanish Trail as part of the National Historic Trail System. UPDATE: Although the trail has since been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the national Histroic Trail System, the listing alone cannot protect it. We all must remain diligent and help keep this national treasure for posterity.

11. The Union Hotel,Dayton

This historic hostelry is located at 75 Main Street in the very heart of historic Dayton. It is a two-story brick commercial building originally constructed in 1870 following the destruction of the first Union Hotel by fire. It is a contributing structure in both National Register of Historic Places and a National Landmark district. It is also under the jurisdiction of the Comstock Historic District Commission. The Union Hotel is threatened with demolition by neglect. While local historic district regulations control what alterations can be made to the building, they cannot compel an owner to maintain their structure. This building is in deteriorating condition and is in need of immediate stabilization, which the private owners of this building seem either disinclined or unable to carry out. UPDATE: The owners of this structure in the heart of the Dayton Historic District have made little progress toward stabilizing the building. It is still in danger.