C HANGING THE FACE OF D OWNTOWN
THE PAST
U NEARTHING Written by Mella Rothwell Harmon
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n 2004, archaeologists with WCRM, Inc., conducting cultural resource work required for the ReTRAC project, discovered an extensive site that was likely a winter village inhabited by Native Americans living between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago. Flood-borne sediments and, later, the Central Pacific Railroad tracks sealed and protected the site and four layers of prehistoric deposits above it. The find was especially exciting because it was a rare, wellpreserved archaeological site in an urban setting. Its well-defined stratigraphy was full of artifacts and features that offered new and revealing information on the lives of Native Americans in the Truckee Meadows. Archaeology, once the purview of academics, has been associated with public works projects since the Great Depression and the passage of the Historic Sites Act of 1935.
E a r l y t r a n s p o r t a t i o n } Central Pacific train passengers get ready to board in Reno. Trains were the main mode of transportation in those days.
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ver the course of the project, archaeologists located 84 sites and collected hundreds of thousands of artifacts. In addition to the discovery of the ancient Native American village, many other artifacts were found. Three sections of the English Mill ditch, dating to 1863, were the oldest of those historic resources found. The modern railroad tracks follow the original 1868 line, and archaeologists found along it numerous artifacts, including granite-lined culverts, redwood conduits, and the foundation of the 1889 depot under the existing 1925 depot. Scientists expected to encounter the 1902 pedestrian subway, built under the tracks at Virginia Street, but its precise location was not known. The subway discovery was an excellent example of how field archaeology and historical records work together to answer questions. Much was learned about Reno’s historic infrastructure, including locations of wooden pipes and conduits, evidence of telephone and telegraph lines, a brick-lined sewer vault, and three early cisterns. The cisterns held 10,000 gallons of water and were used before fire hydrants were installed. The discovery of the Frank Brothers Bottling Works (1902-1938) revealed how a local business adapted to national events. Frank Brothers originally bottled beer and spirits, but when Nevada adopted Prohibition
TREASURES in 1918, they turned their efforts to variously flavored sodas and the industry-wide effort for bottle return. Archaeologists were able to identify this shift in production through the discovery of remarkably well-preserved labels for fruit-flavored sodas, sarsaparilla, and root beer. The number and range of bottles they found indicated that Frank Brothers filled bottles of all types and sizes during prohibition and the Great Depression. Archaeological remains from historic businesses in the LakeEvans block confirmed the existence of Reno’s segregationist attitude toward racial minorities. Businesses in the block catered to travelers and included prostitution, gambling, and other seamy activities. The few Reno businesses catering to minorities, African Americans and Asians especially, were restricted to this area, demonstrating the accommodations made to institutionalized segregation. The ReTRAC project served the public interest by expanding our knowledge of Reno’s history and prehistory. To make this knowledge available to the public, the city will hire a curator to oversee a rotating exhibit of ReTRAC artifacts to be housed in the 1925 depot building. As a further benefit to the community, ReTRAC preserved the historic depot, the Railway Express Office, and the Southern Pacific Railroad Freight House, as important vestiges of our rail history.
RETRAC MAKES RENO SAFER AND QUIETER.
American Indian village as well as hundreds of thousands of
Written by Ann Lindemann
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he ReTRAC project is serving as a catalyst for positive change in Reno’s downtown corridor. From emergency access and safety issues to better traffic flow and noise reduction, many of the initial goals set forth at the project’s start already have been realized. “Because of the ReTRAC project, we are able to deliver a much better level of service to the public,” says Reno Fire Department Division Chief Marty Scheuerman. “It’s a tremendous help to us. In the past, the fire department, ambulance service, and law enforcement were always on one side or another when the train was passing through downtown or Amtrak was loading. [ReTRAC] has improved response time by three to four minutes. Now we can move back and forth freely.” Daily downtown drivers happily report that their schedules are no longer dictated by train crossings. For example, now you won’t hear drivers say, “I’ve got to leave earlier for my lunch meeting to beat the 12:03 p.m. train.”
Cleaner air, quieter streets Besides a more convenient downtown, Reno air quality will greatly reap the benefits of the underground train trench. “The project will eliminate an
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G r e a t f i n d s } Archaeologists found remnants of an ancient
estimated 89 percent of total vehicular delay from idling and waiting for trains,” says Mark Demuth of MADCON, the environmental consulting firm responsible for project aspects including soil, air, water, and noise. “It equates to saving 281 pounds per hour of carbon monoxide and 10.5 pounds per hour of nitrogen dioxide.” He notes that a post-project study has yet to be compiled, and these benefit figures are based on projections. “However, this elimination of idling … that’s definitely where the biggest saving of air pollution is,” Demuth adds. Noise reduction is another immediate benefit. Both short- and long-term residents report quieter nights’ sleep in hotel rooms, condos, and apartments adjacent to the trench. “The noise source from when the train was above the ground has been totally eliminated,” he says. “Reno’s background noise level has dropped two to three decibels. It might not sound like a lot, but it’s a significant reduction. And really if a train wakes you up in the night, you don’t really care what the decibels are.” Also, the trench reduces the chance of hazardous spills into the Truckee River, which endangers the water supply. “Before the trench, hazardous waste could potentially float onto the surface streets and into the Truckee River,” Demuth says. “Now if there was a spill, it
would essentially be contained in this big concrete bathtub.”
artifacts related to the railroad and historic businesses.
Easier access Roberta Ross, former Downtown Improvement Association president and downtown business owner, foresees another important benefit. “The new trench and smooth overpasses have created a much more user-friendly environment for special events in the downtown area,” Ross says. Leaders at the Reno Redevelopment Agency are pleased with the project’s outcome and its role in future downtown redevelopment plans as well.
New amenities Already in the works is a $27-million plan to put a plaza over the center of the downtown trench area and another $15 million for other downtown revitalization projects. Helping to fund these efforts are lease revenues from 77 railroad properties Reno inherited from Union Pacific for the trench project. Dick Scott, governmental affairs representative for the downtown casino consortium NEWCO, believes the benefits of the project are far-reaching. “I think Reno is starting to get the spotlight from across the country,” Scott says. “Wall Street investors and bankers will be more willing to invest in Reno’s future.”
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R E TRAC P ROJECT M ILESTONES 2000
1942
1868
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
April 13, 2005 April 12, 2004 Reno’s downtown train trench project begins a new phase when rail traffic is switched to a temporary bypass track, called a “shoofly,” which will allow crews to begin removing the old main line that runs through downtown and begin work on the 2.1-mile long trench itself.
1942 1868 Myron Lake, who had purchased a toll bridge across the Truckee River seven years earlier, sells 160 acres of land to the Central Pacific Railroad. The land was designated to become a depot and a town.
United States Bureau of Public Roads proposes an elevated railroad. The Reno City Engineer recommends a depressed railroad, which would have cost $2.58 million. Subsequent reports in 1944, 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1980 describe the benefits of depressed railroad project.
August 25, 2004 June 4, 2003 November 23, 2000 U.S. Department of Transportation officials announce the approval of a $79.5-million loan for a 2.1-mile trench for railroad tracks through downtown Reno.
Excavation for the railroad trench through downtown Reno turns up some archaeological treasures at the site of a bottling plant from nearly a century ago. Workers find more than 70 kinds of bottles at the site of the Frank Brothers and Anheuser-Busch bottling plant.
July 16, 2002
September 13, 2002
Reno City Council approves a $177-million contract to Granite Construction to design and build the largest public works project in the city’s history.
Notice to Proceed is issued: Granite starts work.
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Most of the 2.25-mile trench has been dug at this point, and work now focuses on lining it with concrete before tracks are laid.
A single spearhead spotted protruding from the earth prompted an archaeological dig at the west end of the trench project and unearthed a prehistoric site as many as 4,000 years old and unlike any other previously discovered in Nevada.
November 18, 2005
August 21, 2002 Granite Construction unveils its design for the 2.25-mile Reno train trench at a public meeting. For the first time, the public sees a model of the train trench and hears design and construction specifics from Granite Construction officials.
January 4, 2006 City and state officials celebrate the opening of the train trench to passenger trains through downtown Reno. Nevada U.S. Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign were among the VIPs who rode a four-car Union Pacific train from Verdi and arrived at the remodeled Amtrak station at 5:06 p.m.
At 12:10 p.m., Union Pacific Railroad sends a long freight train carrying loads of vehicles westbound into the 2.25-mile train trench. Thus begins a new era in downtown Reno, one that many residents hope will be a quieter, safer place.
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