The Nevada Traveler: Discovering Reno’s Art Deco survivors

Art Deco architecture is pretty easy to identify. In the U.S., perhaps the most well-known Art Deco structure is the Chrysler Building in New York City, with its elegant spire, streamlined torso and geometric accents crafted in chrome and glass.
The Art Deco (and the closely-related Art Moderne style) era is generally considered to have reached its heights in the 1920s and 30s.
In Nevada, Art Deco buildings can still be found in a number of places. Perhaps the most famous Art Deco building in the state was the now-demolished Mapes Hotel in Reno (it was blown up in 2000).
Built in 1947, the Mapes was constructed at the tail end of the Art Deco period and boasted the ornate spires and panels that often grace such structures.
Fortunately, a handful of other Art Deco buildings have avoided similar fates. Reno, in fact, still has several other fine examples of the architecture, including the former Reno Post Office (at 50 S. Virginia St.) and the El Cortez Hotel (239 W. Second St.).
The Reno Post Office was erected between 1931 and 1934 to serve as a post office and federal office building.
Designed by noted Nevada architect Frederic DeLongchamps, the structure contains plenty of examples of Art Deco flourishes, including a pale-green, terra cotta exterior (which resembles quarried stone) and the dark marble walls highlighted with cast aluminum in the first-floor lobby.
A local development group acquired the building in 2012 and have carefully restored it into a successful commercial and dining complex.
The El Cortez Hotel, constructed in 1931, is a six-story, 60-room Art Deco gem that was Reno’s tallest building at the time it opened. Designed by Reno architects George A. Ferris and Son, it boasts a beautiful terra cotta base and parapet. The frontispiece entrance to the hotel is a magnificent example of the Art Deco style.
Now known as Siegel Suites El Cortez Apartments, the building remains in use as a residential complex.
Another Reno building considered to have an Art Deco look is the former Southside School (190 E. Liberty St.), built in 1936. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), the school is considered noteworthy for “its embodiment of a regional interpretation of the Art Deco style in Nevada,” according to its NRHP nomination.

Three less well-known but noteworthy examples of the Art Deco/Moderne style are the Veterans Memorial Elementary School (1200 Locust St.), Landrum’s (1300 S. Virginia St.) and an apartment building at 633 W. Second St.

Veterans Memorial Elementary School was built in 1949 and was one of the first schools constructed in Nevada following World War II. The building was expanded with two cinder block annexes in 1958.

Named to honor former Reno students killed in the conflict, the school was designed by Reno architect Russell Mills. It remains in use and is now known as Veterans Memorial STEM Academy.

Landrum’s, originally known as Landrum’s Hamburger System No. 1, is an interesting case. According to the NRHP, in 1947 the building was prefabricated in Wichita, Kan., and shipped to Reno on a railroad flat car to be assembled at its location.

The company that made the building, Valentine Manufacturing, advertised its diners as “absolutely the most fool proof operation in the world” and noted the only things a customer had to do to get the business up and running was to lay down a foundation and hook up electricity, gas, water and sewer.

Valentine apparently manufactured these diners in various sizes, with Landrum’s being the smallest model. Called the Little Chef, it could seat six to 10 customers with a single operator to run the grill.

The structure is elegantly streamlined (in white and green) with a distinctly Art Deco entrance. It continues to be used as a restaurant (now called Beefy’s).

The apartment building at 633 W. Second St. is perhaps the most obscure Art Deco building in the city.
Apparently constructed in the 1930s, it was built as a housing option for divorce seekers who flocked to Reno at that time to establish their six-week residency in order to qualify for a “quickie” divorce. Not much else is known about the building, which continues to be used as apartments.
Of course, Art Deco buildings can be found in other parts of the state and I’ll talk about them in a future column.

Rich Moreno writes about the places and people that make Nevada special.