John Mayer, Retired teacher, Sparks

John Mayer’s great-grandparents on his mother’s side arrived in Sparks in the 1890s, while his father’s parents moved there with the relocation of the Southern Pacific railroad shops from Wadsworth. Mayer vividly describes growing up in Sparks in the 1940s and 1950s. He taught for the Washoe County School District, and served for seventeen years on the Sparks City Council and the Board of the Regional Transportation Commission, which named the new RTC Centennial Plaza after him in 2009. Photo by Patrick Cummings

Full Oral History Transcript

John Mayer explains how he was at the 1942 dedication of the Deer Park Pool, which his mother attended while pregnant with him. Recorded by Alicia Barber.

Lifelong Sparks resident John Mayer remembers buying penny candy at the Rock Cave grocery on the corner of 15th Street and Prater Way in the 1950s. Recorded by Alicia Barber.

Sparks native John Mayer remembers participating in Jack's Carnival as a child. The carnival and parade originally served as a fundraiser for the hot lunch program in the Sparks schools. Recorded by Alicia Barber.

Spencer Hobson, Hobson Square

Spencer Hobson was born in Reno, where his grandfather, Antonio Bevilacqua, emigrated from Italy. His family members owned several casino properties, including Virginia City’s Frontier Club and Reno’s Overland and Riverside Hotels. Spencer owns the Reno Brewing Company bottling plant building on East 4th Street, which his father purchased in 1956 after the brewery closed. He also discusses Reno’s Italian community and the urban renewal project that targeted homes north of East 4th Street in the 1960s.

View All

Hugh Russolo, Coney Island Bar

Hugh Rossolo was born in Elko and moved to Reno in 1958. In the mid-1920s, his grandparents, Ralph and Marie Galletti, ran a small tamale factory in the Coney Island neighborhood located between Reno and Sparks. Eventually, it became the Coney Island Bar, still operated by the Galletti family. Rossolo, who became a teacher, shares family memories of the popular establishment and how the restaurant and its surroundings have changed through the years.

View All

George Flint, Owner, Chapel of the Bells

An ordained minister, George Flint grew up in southern California and moved to Reno after completing divinity school. In 1961, he founded the Chapel of the Bells at 540 West 4th Street, and four years later, moved the business into a converted home at 700 West 4th Street. He discusses Reno’s wedding chapel industry and the changes he has witnessed through more than fifty years in the business.

View All

History Project4th Street | Prater Way

John Mayer, Retired teacher, Sparks

Spencer Hobson, Hobson Square

Hugh Russolo, Coney Island Bar

George Flint, Owner, Chapel of the Bells

History Project
4th Street | Prater Way