How crumbling relationships helped save Reno

During the 1930s, the destruction of relationships meant the economic stability of Northern Nevada's largest city. In short, during the first part of this century divorce was big business and when it came to quick and easy severance of matrimonial ties, Reno was the place to call it quits.

The economic impacts and importance of the divorce trade during the Depression will be the topic of a free lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night at the Nevada State Museum. Mella Harmon, Curator of History at the Nevada Historical Society, will present her master's thesis on the Reno divorce trade. The presentation is part of the Frances Humphrey Lecture Series and is free to the public.

"In most states during the first part of the 19th century, it wasn't easy to get a divorce or the requirements to allow a divorce by the courts were very difficult. But in Nevada you could get a quicker, easier divorce," Harmon said.

What made it more appealing was the fact that the Nevada Constitution set residency requirements at six months, meaning that after living in Nevada for six months, residents could vote and file cases - like a petition for divorce - in court.

The ability to get a quicker divorce in Nevada was further brought to light, according to Harmon, because of the high-profile divorce of the president of the U.S. Steel Corp., William Corey in 1906.

"His wife came to Nevada to get a quickie divorce and the newspapers really picked up on that," Harmon said. "It was very scandalous and got a lot of attention."

The prosperous divorce trade meant big business for Reno, Nevada's largest city at the time, which made money offering places to live and accommodations to those needing to stay six months to establish residency.

In 1927, other states began to see the benefits of lowering the period for residency to attract people seeking a quicker divorce.

"Other states began vying for the divorce trade, Idaho for one, and so Nevada lowered its residency requirement to three months," she said. "Most of the people who came were just ordinary people, but it was the few famous cases that got all the press."

With the onset of the Great Depression, the state realized that to remain economically viable they needed to keep the divorce trade going and lowered the residency requirement from three months to six weeks.

"Nevada was at the top of the list for number of divorces," Harmon said. "(Nevada) really did out challenge everyone else during that period."

During the heyday of the divorce trade, it cost between $300 and $500 to stay in Reno for six weeks and get a divorce, a reasonable amount of money at the time.

For a 10-year period beginning in 1929, Washoe County granted 30,000 divorces. That is significant, said Harmon, because at the time the county's population was around 18,000.

If you go

What: "The Reno Divorce Trade," a free lecture by Mella Harmon, curator of history for the Nevada Historical Society

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St.

Call: 687-4810

• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.