Mapes Hotel

So my historical site is the old Mapes hotel. It was located on Virginia St. next to the Truckee River. Well what once was the Mapes hotel. This historic land mark struck my interest because it was featured in the book A Doubtful River by Robert Dawson, Peter Goin, and Mary Webb. The hotel's history goes way back. It was one of the first skyscrapers built after WWII in the west coast. It represents the rise of casinos Vegas style in Reno. To me this was a good thing for Reno at the time. Reno was a bumping place to be and this got the whole casino thing going.

            What now remains are the sleazy remnants of what the Mapes hotel influenced. All the casinos on Virginia Street are not classy, but rather a novelty and nothing else. The Mapes may have started out the casino scene in Reno classier, but the casino scene has since deteriorated. As I walk down Virginia Street I take it all in. What was once so grand is beginning to wear out. Things seem cheap. The whole street could use an uplift. The river does, however, provide a nicer area on Virginia Street.

            I feel as if the Mapes hotel was something that tainted the river. The river is such a bringer of life and something so unnatural and unneeded was built right next to it. The Doubtful River seems to try and get across the point that we need to think of water and the river more highly. Clearly back then we didn't care. When it was destroyed Mary Webb reported that it sent junk flying into the river. To me this symbolizes that the river has reached the point of no return and we will pay for the consequences of misuse soon.