A lot of people are talking about 1969 because of the anniversary of the Apollo mission to the moon. Northern Nevada was quite different in 1969.
Reno had 72,000 people.
The area code was 702.
There were seven radio stations.
There were two newspapers.
There were 68 churches and 17 banks.
"The price of gas averaged 27 cents per gallon," said Catherine Magee, Director of the Nevada Historic Society.
Magee also talked about the airport.
"You just walked out to the tarmac," Magee said. "There's a chain link fence and there were three airlines."
The architect of the Washoe County Courthouse, the old post office building, and the Riverside hotel was Frederick DeLongchamps.
"He was born in Reno and was a well known architect in Nevada and Internationally," she said.
However, DeLongchamps died in 1969.
"A lot of people work to preserve his buildings," said Magee. "One of them is the Depot which is now a bar/restaurant."
Speaking of restaurants, Reno's Gold N' Silver Inn has been around since 1956.
"In high school they were open," said Margaret 'Mo' Eaton. "I graduated from Reno High in 1962."
Eaton believes the spot is legendary.
"You're going to see someone you know and probably several people you know because they all come to the Gold N' Silver to eat," said Eaton.
The owner, however, uses these words.
"It's actually iconic," said Jeff Paine.
Paine's family has owned the place since 1962.
"It started off as a very small cafe," he said. "Now, we have an 11,000 square foot building."
Paine says his family's restaurant was the place to be. The fact that Interstate 80 wasn't completed yet, helped his business in the late 1960's.
"In 1968, they opened the Keystone off ramp so the traffic would dump down onto Keystone and you would go onto 4th Street to continue going east because 80 wasn't completed," Paine said.
