15960 Callahan Rd, Reno, NV 89511

Callahan Park

Park Description:

Phillip & Anne Callahan Park is a 25-acre Washoe County park without restrooms. The park features access to trails and a historic schoolhouse.

Park Amenities:

Playground, horseshoe area, picnic area, barbeque area, hiking trails, and tables/benches.

Park Contact Information:

Washoe County Parks and Open Space (775) 828-6612

Park Highlights

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Park History

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Park History

The Phillip and Annie Callahan Park is so named to honor the parents of the Callahan family who donated 25-acres to make the park possible. The beautiful, peaceful pine trees, variety of park amenities, and access to the Galena Creek Trail make this park a gem. The Nevada Recreation and Parks Society also thought so and granted it an award for design excellence.

But the wonder of this park goes back to the earliest days of Nevada’s settlement by ranchers and miners, and booms and busts of the Comstock Lode in nearby Virginia City.

Matthew Callahan

Phillip Callahan’s father, Matthew, came to Nevada in 1863 from England via Sacramento. He operated brickyards in Virginia City and Carson City during the height of the Comstock. The bricks for the Catholic Church and post office in Virginia City came from the Callahan brickyard. As the need for bricks began to wane, Matthew moved his family to Galena in 1884 and operated a dairy farm.

Later in 1890, the family bought the 160-acre Ghiglieri ranch to the north of their ranch. Matthew’s son Phillip bought the Reynolds ranch of 160-acres around 1908. They hauled milk and butter from the farm up the old toll road to sell in Virginia City. Besides dairy, the farm grew wheat, oats, barley, and potatoes. The fruit trees included apples, plums, and pears, plus they gathered chokecherries and elderberries. The ranch had a smokehouse for smoking meat and making sausages.

Image:
A neighboring old ranch house from the 1920s. Source: Nevada Historic Society.

The Old Schoolhouse

The ranch had very few visitors in the early days because it was so far away from town, and the roads were too rough for wagons to navigate. Matthew’s son Phil presented the school board with a petition to get a school at Galena. The school was approved and built by Phil and his brothers—a wooden school that opened in 1908 at Galena Creek. The family tore up their house in Virginia City to make the one-room building. The schoolhouse was upgraded to stone during the Depression. The rocks came from the ranch and a stonemason from the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the school, which opened in 1940 and was used until 1959.

A famous poet from Nevada, Joanne De Longchamps, wrote “The Schoolhouse Poems” when she lived in the schoolhouse in 1975.

Image:
The remnants of the old schoolhouse. Source: Jill Richardson

Early Days

There were also Native Americans from the Washoe tribe living in the area in those early days. They sold pine nuts to the ranching families and would sometimes do laundry or other odd jobs. The three tribes of this area still live here today, and more information can be found on the Reno Sparks Indian Colony website, http://www.rsic.org/.

Ranching was not always an easy life, and over the years the family faced a number of headaches—snowstorms, water and property rights, plus fires and floods. While flooding was a periodic threat to the land, the ranch was also threatened by fire many times. Fires prompted both the men and women of the family to become volunteer firefighters.

Image:
Workers from the Works Projects Administration (WPA) clearing snow from Galena Creek Road on February 13, 1933. Source: Nevada Historic Society.

The Park Gets Built

Starting in the mid-1970s, Harry Callahan and his family started subdividing his family’s massive estate stretching up through Galena Forest. The 25-acres for the park were donated by the Callahan family.

While the 25-acre meadow was shown as a park on official state maps for many years, it wasn’t until 1999 that contractors were hired to improve the park with a new irrigation system, picnic sites, horseshoe pits, and volleyball court. The park would serve as the trailhead for Galena Creek. By the next year the improvements were complete. The park’s design won the Elmer H. Anderson excellence award for neighborhood parks.

More recently in 2006, the Washoe County Commission approved the purchase of the historic Galena schoolhouse on the one-acre lot next to Callahan Park. It was listed on the National Register of historic places in 2011.

Image:
Jill Richardson.

Get Involved!

Donate:

Make a donation to support the Parks Project or your favorite Parks Foundation program, project, or wherever its needed! Click here to donate today.

Volunteer:

Support our parks by volunteering with the Parks Foundation! Attend a volunteer event or choose an ongoing role. Click here to explore opportunities.

iNaturalist:

Out in our parks or open spaces? Try cataloguing the biodiversity around you with iNaturalist! All it takes is downloading the iNaturalist app onto your phone to get started.

Curious what's been seen in this park? Click the link below to see what species other have spotted!

Phillip & Anne Callahan Park on iNaturalist

Contact:

Have a question about our parks or the Parks Project? Email us at parksproject@tmparksfoundation.org!

Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

Washoe County Parks and Open Spaces - Phillip and Annie Callahan Park
Annie Callahan of Galena Creek Ranch is dead. (1952, November 14). Nevada State Journal , p. 9.
Beffort, B. (2001, June 7). Galena Creek Trail winds off the beaten path. Reno Gazette Journal , p. 3E.
Broughton, N. J. (1988). Harry P. Callahan: The Callahan family and ranch. Reno: University of Nevada Oral History Program, Catalog #144.
Brush fire near Washoe City spreading rapidly through valley. (1915, September 23). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 1.
City water plan backed by capital. (1913, October 29). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 1.
Classified Ads. (1941, June 17). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 11.
Classified: Livestock. (1951, August 15). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 18.
County votes to purchase historic Galena schoolhouse. (2006, September 13). Reno Gazette Journal , p. 4A.
Death takes ranch owner. (1951, November 20). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 11.
Extinguish fire at Galena Creek. (1921, August 19). Reno Evening gazette , p. 8.
Family reunion held. (1939, May 25). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 14.
Farm home burns and occupants injured. (1933, February 6). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 10.
Flash flood from Galena Creek maroons family, blocks highway. (1952, July 30). Nevada State Journal , p. 1.
Galena Creek Schoolhouse. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2019, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galena_Creek_Schoolhouse
Galena, Washoe County, Nevada. (n.d.). Retrieved July 10, 2019, from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galena,_Washoe_County,_Nevada
Galloway, P. (1975, August 1). Volunteer fire fighters dedicated to saving their trees and homes. Reno Gazette Journal , p. 6.
Government crew at work on fire. (1921, August 15). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 6.
Local government digest: Galena schoolhouse. (2006, September 10). Reno Gazette Journal , p. 15A.
Matt Callahan is found dead. (1929, November 27). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 12.
Mitchell, J. (1988, October 13). Parks tax supporters: Passage is critical. Reno Gazette Journal , p. 2C.
Mother, Four Children Rescued by Snomobile. (1952, Januar 17). Nevada State Journal , p. 14.
O'Driscoll, H. (1997, January 11). Callahan Ranch. Reno Gazette Journal , p. 18.
O'Driscoll, H. (2000, July 16). Head to the new parks. Reno Gazette Journal , p. 7B.
others), C. B. (1913, December 22). Letter to the Editor: Ranchers protest against Galena Plan. Reno Evening Gazette , p. 2.
Parks. (1999, July 8). Reno Gazette Journal , p. 3A.
Phillip Callahan is dead from injuries. (1940, September 23). Reno Evening Gazette .
Ranch fire reported. (1921, June 24). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 8.
Ranches get supplies being flown by plane. (1952, January 18). Nevada State Journal , p. 14.
Reno auto damaged as it hits cow on road. (1934, September 24). Nevada State Journal , p. 6.
Voyles, S. (2006, September 25). Historic school spurs memories. Reno Gazette Journal , p. 1.
Walton-Buchanan, H. (2013). Land of the Buckaroo: Historic ranches of western Nevada. Reno: Jack Bacon & Co.
Water question of city to ocme before council at session of tonight. (1913, December 22). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 1.
Wounded youth is recovering. (1950, November 7). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 11.

Contributor(s):

Jill Richardson (history)

Haley McGuire

Alex Shahbazi

Last Updated:

August 26, 2022 at 6:22:40 PM

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Biodiversity

15960 Callahan Rd, Reno, NV 89511

Callahan Park

Park Description:

Phillip & Anne Callahan Park is a 25-acre Washoe County park without restrooms. The park features access to trails and a historic schoolhouse.

Park Amenities:

Playground, horseshoe area, picnic area, barbeque area, hiking trails, and tables/benches.

Park Contact Information:

Washoe County Parks and Open Space (775) 828-6612

Park Highlights

Park History

Click the image to read each topic's full text!

Get Involved!

Donate:

Make a donation to support the Parks Project or your favorite Parks Foundation program, project, or wherever its needed! Click here to donate today.

Volunteer:

Support our parks by volunteering with the Parks Foundation! Attend a volunteer event or choose an ongoing role. Click here to explore opportunities.

iNaturalist:

Out in our parks or open spaces? Try cataloguing the biodiversity around you with iNaturalist! All it takes is downloading the iNaturalist app onto your phone to get started.

​

Curious what's been seen in this park? Click the link below to see what species other have spotted!

Contact:

Have a question about our parks or the Parks Project? Email us at parksproject@tmparksfoundation.org!

Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

Contributor(s):

Last Updated:

August 26, 2022 at 6:22:40 PM