1190 Country Estates Cir, Reno, NV 89511

Crystal Lake Park

Park Description:

Crystal Lake Park is a 5-acre Reno park with restrooms (opened seasonally: late April-Early October weather permitting).

Park Amenities:

Playground, soccer/football field, basketball court, tennis courts, volleyball court, horseshoe area, pathways, exercise area, picnic shelters, barbeque area, and tables/benches.

Park Highlights

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Park History

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

The Park

The 5-acre Crystal Lake Park was “conceived” in 1993 when the Reno City Council issued a request for bids to build phase one of the Park. The second phase came in 1996 when tennis courts with fencing were added to the park, as well as areas for basketball, volleyball, horseshoes, and a picnic shelter with tables, benches and BBQ grills. The dedication ceremony came in late 1996 with an appearance by the Mayor of Reno.

By 1996, the City Council had budgeted money to purchase lighting for the tennis courts and picnic area, but the $29,000 for these projects wasn’t allocated until 1999. A year later, the Southeast Neighborhood Advisory Board allocated funds for permanent restroom facilities.

Having a neighborhood park for families to safely enjoy outdoor activities contrasts to 130+ years earlier, when on this property in 1884, an 8-year old boy and his friends were teasing a cow on the ranch. When the cow charged after them, the boy tripped as he attempted to jump over a fence and broke one of his legs above the knee. Then, as now, boys will be boys, but at least they have safer activities at Crystal Lake Park!

Image:
Newspaper advertisement for the dedication. Source: Reno Gazette-Journal

Ede Ranch

The land on which Crystal Lake Park is located was originally the ranch of Steven Ede. Steven and his brothers left their home in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1851 in search of riches in California. Steven and one brother came over the plains with an ox team, while his other three brothers made the voyage by sea around Cape Horn.

The brothers met in Beckwith, California, where they engaged in farming and mining. A few years later, Steven returned to Wisconsin to marry his sweetheart, Eleanor Gleason, and bring her back to the West via ox team. By 1870, the couple brought their family to Reno where they bought a ranch near the Huffaker Ranch and lived for over thirty years. According to Steven Ede’s obituary in 1915, over that time the family “watched Reno grow from a half-way house to a city of 15,000.” Eleanor died in 1907. In those early days of Reno, the ranch was a landmark to travelers between Reno and Virginia City.

Upon Steven’s death, the hay-producing ranch and other property was sold, with the proceeds divided among the couple’s ten children, and fifty grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Image:
Ox and cow team in 1907. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14801376333/.

Thomsen Ranch

In 1916 after the death of Steven Ede, the ranch, which was at that time one of the oldest and most valuable in Reno, was sold to Pete Thomsen of Carson Valley. The ranch included 200 acres of land and several large homes and outbuildings.

Peter Thomsen was born in Denmark and came to the United States as a child, first to Iowa, then shortly after to Carson Valley around 1882. He married Mary Berning in Gardnerville in 1897 after a “courtship that included the purchase of a bicycle-built-for-two.” Peter and Mary lived at their ranch in the Truckee Meadows for over twenty years where they raised their twelve children, along with hay and Morgan stallions. The Thomsen family endeared themselves to Reno Chevrolet because with twelve Chevys in the family, they were thought to be the largest family in the U.S. that had all purchased the same make of car. They also boasted the largest pioneer family at the Independence Day Parade of 1922.

Among many other causes, Thomsen had been active in irrigation development in the valley and was instrumental in the construction of the Boca Dam, before his death in 1939. Mary died in 1949, and the ranch was sold a few years later.

Image:
A Morgan Stallion. Source: Pinterest.

The Ranch After the Thomsens

Clem and Edrie Hostetler purchased the ranch in 1953 for $200,000. At the time, the 195-acre property was thought to be the last large acreage on South Virginia Road.

Clem (known as “C. J.”) was the owner of Sunset Auto Court. Despite his experience in auto sales and heavy construction, C.J. said he planned to farm the property for a while, and then eventually subdivide the land into estates.

The old ranch house, which was located approximately where Dolan Lexus is now located, was part of the ranch. C.J. originally planned to tear down the 90-year old house and build a new one, but in 1963 when the old house was devastated by a fire caused by a faulty chimney, it was said to be owned by an Oregon rancher, Armin Richter. C.J. passed away in 1988.

Image:
Dolan Lexus now resides on the land where the old ranch house was once located. Source: Dolan Lexus.

Residential Neighborhood

Back in the 1880s, newspapers reported on floods washing away roads and periodic infestations of grasshoppers in the hay fields of the ranch area. But 100 years later, the area was developed as a planned community of 330+ homes. Dale Poe was the developer of the initial phase of 54 homes, and his goal was to preserve the views of the mountain and the wildlife habitat with flowing waters and waterfalls. Some homes were built by Di Loreto Homes and others were custom-built. Some of the properties were zoned for horses and all were marketed to families who work in either Reno or Carson City. Nestled along the greenbelt, the community has the “charm of a Normal Rockwell neighborhood” according to the advertisements. A benefit of this neighborhood is its close proximity to shopping along South Virginia Street, which wasn’t paved until 1920.

In 1911, prisoners from the Nevada Penitentiary were recruited to work on building roads, and the Ede Ranch was used as a camp for 50 of these men. This arrangement was promoted by the warden because, according to a newspaper from that time, “in all the years of working with prisoners, he only had one escape, and this is wonderful, considering the opportunity they all have to escape.”

Image:
Di Loreto Homes. Source: Di Loreto website

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Crystal Lake Park on iNaturalist

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Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

City of Reno Parks & Facilities Directory - Crystal Lake Park
A broken leg. (1884, March 3). Reno Evening Gazete , p. 1.
Advertisement: Dedication Ceremony. (1996, October 28). REno Gazette-Journal , p. 15.
Area deaths: Milo A. Ede. (1975, July 7). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 12.
Bids requested. (1996, January 29). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 11.
Concrete hiway completed to Huffakers. (1920, September 11). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 8.
Convicts' camp to be moved. (1911, Spetember 15). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 5.
Couple celebrates ruby anniversary. (1937, October 17). Nevada State Journal , p. 9.
Deaths. (1939, November 20). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 11.
Forty years ago today. (1934, April 25). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 4.
Gibbs, C. (1995, May 20). Country Estates. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 80.
Gibbs, C. (1996, June 15). Meadow Creek Estates. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 78.
Mary Thomsen estate filed. (1949, October 27). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 18.
Neighborhood Advisory Board project list. (1999, February 3). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 26.
Old Ede ranch changes hands. (1916, December 12). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 3.
Old ranch house damaged by fire. (1963, February 22). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 3.
On your agenda: Reno City Council. (1993, February 19). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 3D.
Osborn, B. B. (1998, March 28). Country Estates. Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 84.
Pioneers given part in parade. (1922, July 1). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 6.
Southeast Neighborhood Advistory Board. (2000, February 1). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 9.
Steven Ede will is filed for probate. (1915, September 27). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 3.
Steven Ede, pioneer resident, dies in Reno home. (1915, September 21). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 1.
The environmnent is important at Crystal Lakes. (1984, September 15). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 41.
The plague of locusts. (1880, June 26). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 3.
Thomsen ranch sale announced. (1953, February 19). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 18.
Ward 3. (1998, October 27). Reno Gazette-Journal , p. 10.
Well-known ranch man is dead. (1939, November 20). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 2.
Widow seeks farm property. (1940, January 11). Reno Evening Gazette , p. 16.

Contributor(s):

Jill Richardson (history)

Haley McGuire

Alex Shahbazi

Last Updated:

April 20, 2021, 4:38:04 AM

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