OLDEST -- Functioning Bridge in Reno, NV - Virginia Street Bridge
N 39° 31.502 W 119° 48.757
11S E 258242 N 4378820
This historic bridge is Reno's oldest working bridge and located in the heart of Reno along S Virginia Street.
Waymark Code: WMJQRG
Location: Nevada, United States
Date Posted: 12/19/2013
Views: 4
The following comes from the city-data.com
website and notes the history here at this location:
Reno's history began when Charles William Fuller arrived in the Truckee Meadows in 1859 and occupied a piece of land on the south bank of the Truckee River. By early 1860, he had constructed a bridge and small hotel, and the place was known as Fuller's Crossing. In the following year, Fuller sold his bridge and hotel to Myron C. Lake, who renamed the spot Lake's Crossing and soon was charging a toll on the bridge. The Crossing became an important station on one of the main routes between northern California and the silver mines of Virginia City and the Comstock Lode.
This historic bridge was erected in 1905 and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. From the nps.gov website:
There has been a bridge at this site since 1860, when C. W. Fuller constructed the first recorded span of the Truckee River. Built in 1905 by Cotton Brothers and Company of Oakland, California, the current Virginia Street Bridge is the oldest one functioning in Reno, and one of the first reinforced concrete bridges in Nevada. The bridge's classical design has been and continues to be a major architectural focal point in Reno. Architect John B. Leonard of San Francisco chose a Beaux Arts design in keeping with the urban setting of the bridge. Leonard's design employed concrete scored to resemble masonry. Other traditional characteristics of masonry construction include the classical arches and the pilasters rising to the level of the ornate iron railing. Above the arches, the bridge is a concrete shell, earth filled to the roadway and sidewalk level. The quality of design and aesthetics make this bridge unusual in Nevada.
The bridge has always been a major crossing of the Truckee River in downtown Reno. When it was built, Reno was a small but thriving transportation hub, with three major railroads. It did not take long following its construction for the bridge to gain a national reputation. From about 1906 until the 1960s, Reno was known as the Divorce Capital of the World, and the Virginia Street Bridge was the main symbol of the trade. Known as "Wedding Ring Bridge," and the "Bridge of Sighs," the Virginia Street Bridge has been the subject of national folklore that continues to the present day. The legend, which goes as far back as the 1920s and maybe earlier, holds that divorcees, upon receiving their final decree from the judge, exited the Washoe County Courthouse, kissed the columns supporting the portico and proceeded post haste past the Riverside Hotel to the Virginia Street Bridge, whence they cast their wedding rings into the Truckee River.
This bridge has seen better days. Many parts of the concrete railings have eroded and the city has put up newer iron railings in front of the original concrete and iron railings to protect it from human damage. It's also nice to see the original bridge lights still standing and probably still lighting up the street at night.