(former) Wm. O'H. Martin Memorial Bridge - Reno, NV - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

The Place:
Located on the east middle portion of the current Center Street Bridge (erected in 1998) is the original date plaque to the 1926 Center Street Bridge as well as a memorial plaque dedicated to a former citizen of Reno, William O'Hare Martin, who once lived on the banks of the Truckee River near this bridge in the late 1800s. The original bridge was the only reinforced concrete open spandrel barrel arch bridge in the State of Nevada at the time. The former Center Street Bridge was also the first structure to cross the Truckee River at this location. The original date plaque reads:

CENTER STREET BRIDGE
1926
RENO CITY COUNCIL
E. E. ROBERTS MAYOR
S. E. ROSS
HENRY DEITERICH
SAM FRANK
WM. JUSTI
KELLEY KLAUS
CHAS. NICHOLSCOUNCILMEN
CITY ENGINEER HARRY CHISM
CONTRACTOR J. S. JENSEN
DESIGNING AND SUPERVISING ENGINEERS
KING AND MALONE - RENO, NEVADA

There is another plaque below the date plaque that reads:

THE ABOVE PLAQUE WAS LOCATED
ON THE ORIGINAL CENTER STREET
BRIDGE. IT HAS BEEN PLACED
HERE TO MAINTAIN A VITAL LINE
WITH LOCAL HISTORY.

The Library of Congress contains an excellent web page (link below) to some pictures from 1987 of the original Center Street Bridge.

The Person:
Also located on the east middle portion of the Center Street Bridge is a memorial plaque dedicated to William O'Hare Martin for which thie original 1926 bridge was renamed in his honor in 1939. There is a smaller plaque underneath the memorial plaque that reads:

THE ORIGINAL CENTER STREET BRIDGE WAS
DEDICATED TO THIS LOCAL CIVIC LEADER AND
BUSINESSMAN IN 1941. HIS HOME WAS LOCATED
ON THE SOUTHEAST BANK OF THE TRUCKEE
RIVER. AT THIS POINT, HIS DAUGHTER, ANN
MARTIN, BECAME A LEADING ACTIVIST IN
NEVADA'S SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT.

The following comes from the Library of Congress website:

In 1939 the Center Street Bridge was dedicated as the Wm. O'H. Martin Memorial Bridge. William O'Hare Martin (1845-1901) was an early businessman in Northern Nevada and Reno who was active in mining, real estate, banking, and commerce. Mr. Martin served in the Nevada State Senate from 1875 to 1879. The residence of William Martin, built in 1895, stood on the south bank of the Truckee River near the Center Street Bridge.

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