Nevada

Sept. 12, 1885: Morrill Hall construction begins (in Reno, not Carson City)

Published

6 months ago

September 12, 2025

Sept. 12, 1885: Morrill Hall construction begins (in Reno, not Carson City)

The cornerstone of Morrill Hall, the first building on the University of Nevada, Reno campus, was laid on Sept. 12, 1885.

The original plans called for a two-story building at the cost of no more than $20,000 (about $700,000 in today’s dollars). When the three-story Morrill Hall was completed in 1886, it came in under budget at $13,500 (about $480,000 today).

At the time, it housed the entire university — classrooms, offices, library and all. It’s still standing, serving as the home of UNR’s development and alumni relations department.

But if one vote had flipped in the Nevada Legislature in 1885, the university instead would have moved to Carson City.

And it was a Carson City senator that cast the deciding vote not to move the campus to the state capital.

University of Nevada’s 11-year Elko experiment

By all accounts, the state university at Elko was a disaster.

The school, known then as Nevada State University, began instruction Oct. 12, 1874, with a class of seven students inside a brand-new brick building in Elko.

There were only 40,000 people in all of Nevada in 1874, mainly clustered in mining towns with questionable futures. There were only about 50 schoolhouses in the state; 15 were rented and eight were classed by the superintendent of public instruction as unfit for use. Carson City and Virginia City had the only high schools.

Elko was chosen as the site for the new school because it made the most attractive offer to the state Legislature in 1873, agreeing to provide and furnish the building.

For four years, Nevada had a one-man university. D.R. Sessions, a native of South Carolina and a scholar in Greek, Latin and modern literatures, was the faculty and staff of the institution. This talented educator, who was later to be superintendent of public instruction for the state, taught a wide variety of preparatory courses to a handful of students.

The remote location proved to be too great a challenge, and the Elko campus closed on July 15, 1885, with a class of 15 students.

Carson City opts for prison over university

By 1883, Nevada politicians already were pushing to move the university to the more populated western side of the state, and funding to the Elko campus was reduced during the Legislature’s 1883 session.

It was during the next session that legislators pushed to resolve the issue. On Feb. 19, 1885, a pair of dueling bills were introduced — one to move the campus to Reno, and another to move it to Carson City.

The other political football that session: the location of the state prison, which meant funding and jobs.

Carson City Senator Hub Parker voted against the university-to-Carson bill, allowing the university-to-Reno bill to pass a few days later. In doing so, Parker picked up some key votes to keep the state prison in Carson City, its home since 1862.

“Senator Parker made a gallant fight yesterday for the State Prison and kept Reno from pouncing on it,” the Carson Appeal editorialized on March 1. “By voting against the removal of the University from Elko to Carson, he gained five votes to keep the State Prison here, and it was a good trade.”

Requirements for admission, 1874

The enrollment at the Elko campus may have been light, but the academics were rigorous. The Nevada State Journal’s Oct. 10, 1874 edition published the admission requirements. Among them: knowledge of English language syntax, and thorough familiarity of intermediate geography. (There were only 37 states. How hard could it be?)

Admission also required expertise in Swinton’s Condensed History of the United States and Eaton’s arithmetic texts from the 1870s. Would you be able to gain admission to Nevada State University in 1874, using these actual study questions from the texts?

Brett McGinness is the engagement editor for the Reno Gazette Journal. He’s also the writer of The Reno Memo — a free newsletter about news in the Biggest Little City. Subscribe to the newsletter right here. Consider supporting the Reno Gazette Journal, too.

Source link

Click to comment

Nevada

Mansion on the Nevada Side of Lake Tahoe Swiftly Sells for $46 Million

Published

4 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Mansion on the Nevada Side of Lake Tahoe Swiftly Sells for Million

A waterfront mansion on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe just sold for $46 million, less than three weeks after hitting the market.

The speedy deal marks a departure from the typical U.S. market.

Nationwide, homes took a median 78 days to land a buyer in January, five more than the same time last year and the 22nd straight month of homes taking longer to sell on a year-over-year basis, according to data from Realtor.com.

Mansion Global Boutique: Book Lovers Rejoice: 8 Must-Haves To Build Your Perfect Reading Nook

The lavish log cabin-like residence, in Incline Village, listed on Jan. 24 for $47.5 million. It sold 20 days later, on Feb. 13, listing records show.

The more than 7,000-square-foot residence was built in 2014, and has double-height living spaces, walls of windows, beamed ceilings, fireplaces, and plenty of rustic exposed stone and wood, listing images show.

There’s also a gym, a wet bar, a spa, a wine room, an office, two separate game rooms, seven bedrooms and dramatic Lake Tahoe views. Outside, there’s a private sandy beach, multiple decks, a heated driveway and two exterior fireplaces, according to listing information.

MORE: Visited by Kings and Larger Than Manhattan, Giant Scottish Estate Asks £67 Million

The seller and the buyer are both limited liability companies, according to property records. Both parties were represented by Jeff Brown of Tahoe Mountain Realty, who declined to comment on the deal.

The median home price in Incline Village was $1.595 million as of December, a fall of 3.3% from a year earlier, according to data from Realtor.com. Listings, meanwhile, spent an average of 130 days on the market.

Source link