Virginia Street Bridge
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The Virginia Street Bridge
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Location: | Reno, Nevada |
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Area: | 0.5 |
Built: | 1906 |
Architect: | John B. Leonard |
Governing body: | State |
NRHP Reference#: | 80002471 [1] |
Added to NRHP: | December 10, 1980 |
The Virginia Street Bridge is a historic concrete double arch bridge in downtown Reno, Nevada, USA, carrying Virginia Street across the Truckee River.[2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[3] The bridge is sometimes referred to as the "Wedding Ring Bridge" or the "Bridge of Sighs".[2]
In both 2002 and 2006, the bridge was listed as one of the "Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places in Nevada" by Preserve Nevada, a historic preservation organization partnered with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[4]
Built in 1905, the current Virginia Street Bridge is the fifth in a series of bridges to have been built in downtown Reno. The first was a wooden bridge built in 1860 by Charles W. Fuller and was hence called Fuller's Crossing.[3][5] After it was destroyed by a flood, a second bridge, a toll bridge, was built and sold to Myron Lake in 1861, although in 1867 it was also destroyed by a flood.[5] Even though it was replaced by yet another bridge, it became unneeded after the arrival of the Transcontinental Railroad.[5] In 1877, the Washoe County authorized the creation of a new tied-arch bridge made of iron.[3] In 1905, the iron bridge was moved and the current bridge, designed by San Francisco architect John B. Leonard, was built by Cotton Brothers and Company of Oakland, California.[6]
Legend has it that newly divorced women would, after exiting the Washoe County Courthouse, stand on the Virginia Street Bridge and cast their wedding rings into the Truckee River below.[3] Hence, the bridge became known as the main symbol of Reno, which was called the "Divorce Capital of the World" beginning in 1906.[2] Over the years, salvage divers have found actual rings, according to archivist Guy Rocha.[3]
In the 1961 film The Misfits, Marilyn Monroe tosses her wedding ring from the Virginia Street Bridge.[3]
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