Preserve Nevada named the state's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places at press conferences in Las Vegas and Reno May 12 and 13.
The endangered sites were selected by Preserve Nevada as part of its program to bring attention to significant buildings, sites, and landscapes that face threat of destruction. The non-profit organization is associated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the public history program in UNLV's College of Liberal Arts.
"Nevada is in danger of losing many of its cultural and architectural treasures to the state's unprecedented development," said former Sen. Richard Bryan, chair of the Preserve Nevada board. "I hope that as we build awareness of the importance of these historic places, they will serve as testaments to our preservation successes in the future."
The 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2003 are:
* Virginia Street Bridge, Reno -- a spot where, legend has it, new divorcees tossed their wedding rings into the Truckee River. The bridge was built in 1905.
* Stewart Indian School, Carson City -- an intact 83-building complex built in 1897 as a boarding school for Native American children.
* Moulin Rouge, Las Vegas -- built in 1955 to serve African-American entertainers, who because of Jim Crow policies were not allowed to stay in the hotels in which they performed.
* Goldfield High School, Goldfield -- built in 1907 during one of the state's mining booms. The building has seen few modifications since its original construction.
* Mineral County Courthouse, Hawthorne -- the only Nevada courthouse to have served two counties and one of only seven 19th century courthouses still existing in the state.
* Railroad Cottages, Las Vegas -- built between 1909 and 1912 to house workers of the San Pedro, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake Railroad.
* Rock Art Sites, throughout Nevada -- the sites reflect the wide range of prehistoric cultures that inhabited the state.
* Nevada Northern Railway Complex, Ely -- built in 1905 with a depot, shops, yards, and rolling stock to help pull the state out of an economic decline.
* "Million Dollar" Courthouse, Pioche -- built in 1871-72 at a cost of more than $800,000, well over its original contract of $26,000.
* Main Street, Tonopah -- a collection of homes and commercial buildings erected between 1900 and 1907.
* Silver State Lodge, Reno -- built in 1927 as an automobile tourist court catering to Reno's divorce trade.
In addition, Preserve Nevada heralded the state's preservation success stories, which include the Riverside Hotel in Reno, the Eureka Opera House, the Boulder Dam Hotel and the most recent preservation success, the Las Vegas Post office.
Preserve Nevada's board members include former Sen. Richard Bryan; Andrew Kirk, director of UNLV's public history program; Sue Fawn Chung, professor of history at UNLV and Southern Nevada adviser to the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Robert A. Stoldal, vice president of KLAS TV-8; Carrie Young, founding member of the Truckee Meadows Heritage Trust; Honor Jones, a longtime preservationist in Reno; Gregory Seymour, research manager for the Las Vegas Springs Preserve; Andria S. Daley-Taylor, Northern Nevada adviser to the National Trust for Historic Preservation; Nancy Hexter, managing editor of the American College of Sports Medicine's "Health & Fitness Journal"; and Michael "Bert" Bedeau, architectural historian and director of the Comstock Historic District Commission.
Additional support for Preserve Nevada is provided by a $35,000 challenge grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.
For more information about Preserve Nevada, contact Andrew Kirk or Mary Wammack at (702) 895-2908 or send an e-mail to: Preserve.Nevada@ccmail.nevada.edu.
