Ownership of the Land
The location of Plumas Park was once the site of the original B.D. Billinghurst Junior High School. The school opened in fall of 1930 for 600 students and closed in December of 1975. The park was established a few years after the closure of the school.
The school was named for Benson Dillon Billinghurst, who served as Reno’s school superintendent from 1908 until 1950. The land was donated to the city by George Wingfield for the purpose of building a school. At the time of the school’s opening, the 2-story building contained twenty classrooms, a library, study hall, teachers’ room, and gymnasium. There was a basement with rooms for sewing, music, domestic science, cafeteria, and laboratories. The only remaining evidence of the school is the old gymnasium, now used as a recreation center by the City of Reno.
Image:
George Wingfield, who donated the land. Source: Wingfield Family Society.