Eleven Successfully Saved Sites

  1. Riverside HoteRiverside Hotel in the 1940"sl
    Listed in the National Register in 1986. Nevada's pre-eminent architect, Frederic DeLongchamps, designed the 1927 version of the Riverside Hotel for Reno's most powerful man, George Wingfield. The hotel was built to capitalize on Reno's world-famous divorce trade. The Riverside Hotel had an international reputation and was the temporary home of many rich and famous divorce-seekers. Just as the demolition permit was issued, Art Space Inc. devised an elaborate financing scheme for the building's rehabilitation into artist lofts. It is one of the greatest success stories in Reno preservation history.

  2. Fourth Ward School-Virginia City Historic District (Landmark District)Fourth Ward School
    This site was listed in 1966. The Fourth Ward School was built in 1876 in the Comstock mining boomtown of Virginia City. The school was a combination grammar and high school, designed to accommodate 1025 students. It was in part financed by contributions from mining companies and businesses, and later by individuals, and school benefits. The Fourth Ward School was reopened in 1986 as a museum, 50 years after it had closed. Through local funds, and grants from the Save America's Treasures Program and the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs, the Fourth Ward School is being restored to its former glory.

  3. Eureka Opera House-Eureka Historic District
    This site was listed in the National Register in 1973. The Eureka Opera House was built in 1880 on the foundation of the Odd Fellows Hall. Like many Nevada towns, Eureka began as a mining boomtown with the concomitant population increase. The town declined after 1910. In 1990, Eureka County acquired the building and began a three-year restoration project. In 1994, it received a National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today, the Eureka Opera House is a full-service convention center and cultural arts center.

  4. Oats Park SchoolOats Park School
    Listed in the National Register in 1990. Architect Frederic DeLongchamps designed the Oats Park School in Fallon in 1914. It was enlarged in 1921 following his proposals for an addition. The school served the growing community of Fallon, which was prospering as a result of the Newlands Irrigation Project that opened thousands of acres to irrigated agriculture. In the 1990s, the Churchill Arts Council selected Oats Park School for its future visual and performing arts facility. In addition to a magnificent restoration of the historic school, a 350-seat proscenium theater was built at the back of the historic school building. Through grants from a variety of sources, as well as the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs, Oats Park School has been transformed into a world-class facility.

  5. Midas School
    Midas School was built in 1928 to serve the 20th century mining boom in Elko County. The school retains a high degree of integrity, down to the playground equipment in the schoolyard and the boys and girls outhouses behind the school. Midas Joint Venture, a mining group, acquired the building in 1996. As a gift to the community the mining company deeded the building to Friends of Midas and provided funding for the restoration of the school. The building now serves as a museum for the small town of Midas.

  6. Boulder Dam Hotel
    Listed in the National Register in 1982. The Boulder Dam Hotel was built in 1932, and added onto in 1934 and 1934. The hotel was built in the "government town" of Boulder City, which was created to accommodate workers on the huge Hoover Dam project. The dam construction project became a destination for high-level government officials and prominent visitors, and the hotel filled a need for accommodations that would fit their stations in life. The Boulder Dam Hotel was the first Nevada hotel to be accepted into the National Trust for Historic Preservation Historic Hotel's list. Over the course of eight years, the hotel has been restored into a bed-and-breakfast facility.

  7. Las Vegas High SchoolLas Vegas High School
    Listed in the National Register in 1986. The firm of George A Ferris and Son designed the school buildings, which were completed in 1931. The school is the best example of Art Deco architecture in Las Vegas. The decoration consists of cast concrete reliefs and friezes depicting animal and vegetal forms. A new high school was built in 1993, but rather than give up on the old one it was given a new purpose and a new name, the Las Vegas Academy for the Performing Arts. Surrounded by Ferris's graceful Art Deco designs, students experience a creative and innovative learning environment.

  8. Tonopah Mining Park
    Tonopah Mining Park comprises of Tonopah's original mining claim that started the rush to Tonopah, and its subsequent role as Queen of the Silver Camps. Belle and Jim Butler's strike in the year 1900 brought the United States into the 20th century and many mining and processing techniques developed there are still in use today. Tonopah Mining Park has set aside 100 acres that include 14 mining structures that demonstrate the mining technology developed in 1900. These structures have been restored to through a variety of grant sources including the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs.

  9. Las Vegas Mormon FortLas Vegas Mormon Fort
    Listed in the National Register in 1972. The Las Vegas Mormon Fort is one of Nevada's oldest extant buildings, dating to 1855. The Fort was settled by Mormons who were asserting their interests in this part of the West, which was the conversion of Native Americans to Mormonism, and to establish a way station for travelers along the Mormon Trail. The Fort was located adjacent Las Vegas Springs, which was one of a very few sources of good water in the Las Vegas Valley. The Las Vegas Mormon Fort is operated by the Nevada State Park system. The park includes historic sites and recreations and historic interpretation. The original fort adobe is maintained in a state of arrested decay.

  10. Adams House
    Listed in the National Register in 1999. The Adams House in Carson City was built in 1922. It is a pristine example of a Craftsman bungalow that embodied all the spirit of the Craftsman movement. The Adams House was slated for demolition to make room for a parking lot for Carson-Tahoe Hospital, when local preservationists appealed to the Hospital to save it. In response, the Hospital turned the building over to the Hospital Foundation, which has completed an exemplary restoration project. The building now serves as the Foundation office and as a resource center for cancer patients. The Adams House is an outstanding example of successful local preservation.

  11. Pioneer BuildingPioneer Hotel in the 1920's
    The Pioneer Building in Elko was built in 1913 and immediately became the largest retail and office building in Elko County. The building was designed by leading Intermountain West architects Ware and Treganza, known for their Prairie style and Arts and Crafts buildings in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Pioneer Building is a typical Arts and Crafts commercial building of its era. Although there are numerous residential buildings in the Arts and Crafts style in Nevada, the style was rarely used for commercial structures. The Pioneer Building saw general decline in the 1970s and 1980s, but in 1991 the building was purchased by the Western Folklife Center, which among other things directs the popular annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Phase six of a major restoration project is currently underway with funding from the Nevada Commission for Cultural Affairs and other grant sources.