Virginia Street Bridge, Spanning Truckee River at Virginia Street, Reno, Washoe County, NV

Significance: The Virginia Street Bridge, built in 1905, is the oldest functioning bridge in Reno and was the first reinforced concrete bridge in the State of Nevada. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under criteria A and C. This Virginia Street Bridge was built by the Cotton Brothers and Company of Oakland, CA, under the direction of T.K. Steward, of Reno, as Engineer in Charge. The bridge was designed by John B. Leonard of San Francisco, CA, one of the most important early 20th century bridge engineers in California. The Virginia Street Bridge provides a continuous north-south roadway through downtown Reno on Virginia Street (U.S. Highway 395 Business) following one of the earliest transportation routes through the Truckee Meadows leading to Virginia City and the Comstock Lode, Carson City, and California. A bridge has stood at this location since 1859. The two span reinforced concrete filled spandrel arch bridge of today, one of two in the State, replaced the iron bridge in 1905 when the growth of Reno necessitated a larger bridge.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N869
Survey number: HAER NV-14
Building/structure dates: 1905 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 80002471