150 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89501

Powning Veterans Memorial Park

Park Description:

Powning Veterans Memorial Park is a 0.27-acre Reno park without restrooms.

Park Amenities:

Tables and benches.

Park Contact Information:

City of Reno - Parks & Facilities (775) 334-2417

Park Highlights

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Park History

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Powning Memorial Park

Powning Park is located in the heart of Downtown Reno, surrounded by small businesses and iconic sights in the Truckee Meadows such as the Reno Court House, Pioneer Art Center, and the Virginia Street Bridge. Pedestrians and drivers pass this park with little notice of the tall statue and monuments scattered throughout. Despite its minor size, Powning Veteran Memorial Park holds a special meaning to those who served the United States stretching back to the American Civil War.
Image Credit: Michael Misanik

The Powning Family

Christopher Columbus Powning also known as C.C. is a little known, but no less important figure in early Reno History. His story in Reno begins in 1868 at the age of sixteen. At this point in his life C.C. was recently orphaned and had made the long journey with his grandmother and brother Thomas from Jefferson, Wisconsin. At this point in Reno’s history the fledgling stop over of Reno was becoming more connected to the rest of the U.S.
In 1871 Powning became the owner and editor of the Nevada State Journal newspaper, who also served as the primary force behind its development from 1871 to 1891, and also served as president of the Reno Water, Land and Light Co., the main utility provider for the community at the time. C.C. sadly passed away in 1898 at the age of 46 however he would not be the only Powning to leave his mark in the Truckee Meadows. C.C. 's cousin, Charles Gundry or C.G Powning was born in Silver City Nevada in 1879 and served the community of Verdi Nevada as a Justice of the Peace for 38 years. It is from C.G. side of the Family that there are still some living Pownings in the Truckee Meadows today.
Image Credit: Historic Reno Preservation Society

General Jesse Lee Reno

Standing tall in this small park is a statue of General Jesse Lee Reno, which was unveiled back on Memorial day of 2006 to honor the Civil War General. Nevertheless some visiting this park may wonder why a statue of this man is here in the first place. Well for starters the city of Reno was named after the general even though he never set foot in the Truckee Meadows let alone the state of Nevada, maybe he would have if he had made it through the Civil War.
Jesse Lee Reno was a career United States Army officer, serving with distinction in the Mexican-American War and out west in the Utah territory before the Civil War. The heroic Union general was killed during the Antietam campaign in the fight for Fox’s Gap on September 14, 1862, six short years before the city named after him was founded on May 9,1868.
Image Credit: Michael Misanik

U.S.S Reno

USS Reno (CL-96) was an improved Atlanta-class light cruiser designed and constructed to specialize in anti aircraft warfare that was becoming commonplace during the Second World War. It was the second warship to be named for the city of Reno, Nevada. The one other USS Reno was a destroyer named for Lt. Commander Walter E. Reno. The first USS Reno served from 1919 to 193.

The Reno was laid down by Bethlehem Steel Co., at San Francisco, California on 1 August 1941. It was launched on 23 December 1942, and commissioned on 28 December 1943, with Captain Ralph C. Alexander in command. The USS Reno spent its entire service life in the Pacific War, and its immediate aftermath, during 1944 though 1946.

During the months of June to July 1944, Reno joined US aircraft carriers in air attacks against Saipan on June 11, with similar attacks being conducted by the fleet on additional Japanese strongholds in the Eastern Pacific over the following few weeks (Such as Pagan Island, the Bonin Islands, and the Marianas Islands).

As the reconquest of the Philippines began in late October of 1944 a fury of naval battles were waged between the Japanese and the Americans. On October 24 1944, shortly after the amphibious invasion of Leyte, a series of Japanese fighters from a Luzon airfield were sent out to attack the US vessels of Task Force 38 offshore with one of them being the USS Princeton.

During the naval battle the Princeton (a light aircraft carrier) suffered a brutal attack when a Japanese fighter dropped a bomb directly on its flight deck with the bomb breaking from the deck and the ship’s craft elevator and hanger before detonating. Fire broke out immediately onboard forcing it to withdraw from the task force. The fire quickly spread across the vessel with no success by the crew to put it out.

The USS Reno along with the USS Irwin were sent in to help fight fires on board Princeton as well as evacuate as much of the Princeton’s crew as possible before it sank below the waves. Within a few hours the Princeton had been consumed in fire and smoke with some 1361 crewmen being rescued.
Image Credit: Michael Misanik

Memorials and Memoriam to Patriots

Along with the different historic memorials one more recent structure was placed in Powning Park to honor those who gave their lives in a conflict still present in living memory. Standing tall one the far side of the park a humble a stone and mortar column stands tall and reads on it’s four sides “War on Terror; In Loving Memory of Nevad’s Fallen Soldiers” With the names of those of died stretching from September 11th of 2001 through to 2011.
Image Credit: Michael Misanik

Walk Around Downtown: Reno Municipal Court

First built in 1909, the Reno Municipal Court was the third such courthouse to serve the county of Washoe County as well as the city of Reno. The building was designed by Frederic DeLongchamps and its Classical Revival structure has been the site of much of Reno’s 20th Century story. In 1911 with Nevada’s liberal divorce laws coming into effect the courthouse quickly became a symbolic monument for those wishing to end their marriages faster than anywhere else. As well as a place where divorcees were sorted quickly the Reno Courthouse was also the site of the Judas Priest: Subliminal Message Trial in the summer of 1990.
Image Credit: Michael Misanik

Walk Around Downtown: The Pioneer Center

The Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, sitting just across State Street from Powning Park, has a bit of a rich history of its own. The center is the site of the former Nevada State Building where on October 12, 1964, while running for reelection after the JFK assassination, Lyndon B. Johnson came to town and gave a campaign speech of the steps of the old building. In 1966 the building was torn down with the center opening the following year. The last remnant of the state building was the 1939 statue of the pioneer family which was moved closer to Virginia street hence the center’s name.
Image Credit: Michael Misanik

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Powning Veterans Memorial Park on iNaturalist

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Want To Learn More?

References & Further Info:

Contributor(s):

Michael Misanik (History & Content)

Erin Larsen (Editor)

Last Updated:

November 7, 2022 at 8:05:15 PM

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150 S Virginia St, Reno, NV 89501

Powning Veterans Memorial Park

Park Description:

Powning Veterans Memorial Park is a 0.27-acre Reno park without restrooms.

Park Amenities:

Tables and benches.

Park Contact Information:

City of Reno - Parks & Facilities (775) 334-2417

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:

November 7, 2022 at 8:05:15 PM