630 Manzanita Ln, Reno, NV 89509

Manzanita Park

Park Description:

Manzanita Park is a 12-acre Reno park with restrooms (opened seasonally: late April-Early October weather permitting).

Park Amenities:

Playground, baseball/softball field, tennis courts, basketball court, volleyball court, horseshoe area, exercise area, pathways, picnic shelter, rentable shelter, barbeque area, and tables/benches.

Park Highlights

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Park History

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Park Overview

Construction on Manzanita Park was approved by the Reno City Council in 1978 and work began two years later. The impetus for adding this park to the city’s portfolio was that many families were moving into the new housing subdivisions which were being built around that time. The city was aware that the existing parks were so popular that they were often at capacity. By 1981, families were enjoying the 4-acre park’s many amenities—the picnic pavilion, baseball/softball field, restrooms, and the playground area.

Almost a decade later, funds were earmarked for improvements and work began to expand the park’s area. Added were irrigated landscaping, pathways, prefabricated bridges, parking, and eventually picnic tables, fencing, volleyball and tennis courts. According to the Parks and Recreation Community Service Department, the park was expanded to thirteen acres at that time and was used by baseball/softball leagues and family gatherings. Along with Horseman’s Park, Manzanita Park was one of southwest Reno’s most popular parks in the late 1990s.

Image:
Bridge and pathway.
Image by Jay Kolbet-Clausell.

D. C. Wheeler

The land on which the Manzanita Park resides was once owned by “Uncle Dan.” Daniel C. Wheeler was born in 1840 in Ohio and came west across the plains to Salt Lake City at the age of 18. Against the advice of many, he and a few colleagues crossed the Great Basin and arrived in this area in 1858 when, according to Wheeler, there was only one other white man living here—Gus Martin. Wheeler used a team to transport Martin’s vegetables and hay to the Sierra County mines. He caught the mining bug and spent several years mining.

Eventually, Wheeler finally settled down in the Truckee Meadows and began his successful sheep-raising business. By the time he died in 1915, D. C. Wheeler, Inc. was one of the largest and wealthiest land owners in the West, owning about 50,000 sheep throughout the state which were used for mutton. His estate was valued at $300,000—that’s equal to $7.7 million in 2020! Wheeler was married to Sarah E. Ridenour; they had four sons and two daughters. Sarah was born in the east and crossed the plains to Oregon in 1854 at the age of four; during the trip the wagon train was held up and her parents were robbed of all their money. She died in 1931.

The Subdivisions Arrive

By the 1970s, D. C. Wheeler, Inc. had divided and subdivided many of their property holdings, and this area came under development for housing by Lewis Homes. In 1973, the nearby Willowbrook apartments were developed and offered for rent. More followed, such as the Parkwood condominiums, senior living apartments, and housing subdivisions.

The Renada Crest homes, just north of Manzanita Park came along around 1967. A unique feature of Renada Crest was that the homes could use geothermal heating. With natural hot springs under the area, these homes had water piped from wells which was used as energy for furnaces and hot-water systems. Many of the residents drilled wells initially, but over time the cost to drill became less economical and some went to traditional heating. Willow Glen homes were developed by Lewis Homes in 1992, which advertised prices below $125,000 and three different floor plans. The Roberts Subdivision sprang up, boasting extra-large lots. The Redfield Estates area was built by Lewis Homes in 1992 as a small, private community with 60 homes. Despite the heavy traffic on roads surrounding Manzanita Park, residents in the area enjoy a calmness within their subdivisions, as well as close proximity to the park and to shopping.

Image:
Geothermal heat pump. Source: US Environmental Protection Agency.

Baker Lane

The park is bordered on its east side by Baker Lane. This street is named for Ted Baker and his riding stable and polo fields, which were located nearby on land leased from the University of Nevada Stock Farm from around 1930.

Ted Baker died in 1971 at the age of 70, had been very well known in the state as an outstanding horseman. The Baker Riding Stables were an icon in Reno for many years as a place to learn to ride horses, attend a barn dance, or watch a polo match. In the 1930s, polo was very popular in Reno thanks in part to Baker. Occasionally, Hollywood celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock, Arline Judge, and Guinn “Big Boy” Williams, would show up to watch and sometimes play polo; their appearances would bring in more than 1,000 fans to the polo matches, which “took the sheriff’s office most of the night to unsnarl the traffic jam.”

Ted Baker held many positions in community organizations, including the Elks, the Nevada White Hats, and Washoe Horsemen’s Association.

Image:
Guinn “Big Boy” Williams. Source: Online - True West Magazine.

Refield Promenade

The shopping area near Manzanita Park was once part of the University of Nevada’s farm, consisting of 208-acres. It had been purchased by UNR in the 1920’s but over time it proved to be inadequate for the purposes of the agricultural college. The university tried to sell or swap the farm, and finally in 1955 the land was purchased by millionaire LaVere Redfield for $700,000.

A shrewd businessman and extremely frugal, LaVere Redfield initially earned his money by investing in the oil industry and the stock market during the Great Depression. He became fabulously wealthy and moved to Reno from California in 1935.

Redfield was born into a poor family but amassed millions during his lifetime through his own business prowess and penny-pinching ways. As a result, when he died in 1974 he owned a substantial amount of land throughout Reno worth $70 million. His wife, Nell, used this wealth to establish the Nell Redfield Foundation and benefit many good causes in Reno.

Alexander D. Fittinghoff

In 2001, friends of Alex Fittinghoff approached the City of Reno Recreation and Parks Commission to name in his honor the eastern pathway in Manzanita Park, which at that time was under development.

Fittinghoff had been a long-time resident of Reno and Sparks, and was the former Sparks planning director in the late 1970s. He then started his own firm for planning, engineering, surveying and consulting. He died in September 2000.

The plaque at the park reads:
“This pathway is dedicated to the vision, passion, and integrity of Alex Fittinghoff, who for 25 years was instrumental in the planning and design of many public and private spaces throughout the Truckee Meadows. His footprints are everywhere. This park is a great example of his ability to preserve the flavor and character of a neighborhood for the benefit of all who live and visit here. June 2002.”

Image:
Alex Fittinghoff. Source: Personal advertisement in Reno Gazette-Journal, September 29, 2000, by friends of Alex Fittinghoff.

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Manzanita Park on iNaturalist

Contact:

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Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

Contributor(s):

Jill Richardson (history)

Haley McGuire

Alex Shahbazi

Last Updated:

February 14, 2022, 10:16:43 PM

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