Watch first day of school at UNR’s $155M business building
Here’s a first look, including student reactions, of new University of Nevada, Reno, John Tulloch Business Building from UNR’s first day of school.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
has named Mackenzie Warren Kay, a shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s State Government Relations Group, to its board of directors.
In her role, Warren Kay will support the organization’s strategic and fundraising efforts and serve on one of its committees.
“The Girl Scouts’ mission resonates with me on a personal level,” said Warren Kay. “I believe in giving every young woman the tools to be resilient, joyful, independent and confident to dream big—Girl Scouts does that.”
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A traffic incident near the Nevada-California border caused traffic delays for drivers along Interstate 15 Saturday morning, according to RTC of Southern Nevada.
The incident occurred on southbound I-15 before Yates Well Road near Nipton, California.
RTC told drivers to expect delays and traffic was moving slowly Saturday morning.
As of 2 p.m. Saturday, traffic was still backed up near the stateline.
Stay with 8 News Now for updates.
Nevada Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal rollover crash on U.S. 95 Alternate near Lyon County mile marker three between Yerington and Schurz.
The crash happened just after 12 p.m. Friday.
U.S. 95-A is reduced to one lane near mile marker four and traffic is being piloted.
The roadway is expected to remain this way for the next two to three hours.
Details about the crash have not been released. We’ll update this story when we learn more.
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