Sparks High School - Terminus Yearbook (Sparks, NV)

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Cedar poles were unloaded from a nearby railroad line and floated downstream to the most convenient landings, where teams of horses took over to drag them into po- sition. In 1960 Sierra Pacific embarked on another era. By now power pro- duced from the Truckee was in- adequate to serve Western Nevada's increasing requirements. Sierra Pacific decided that the growing Truckee Meadows would be better served with its own gen- eration plants which would make Sierra Pacific selfreliant. In the 1960s and 1970s steam gen- eration plants were built at Tracy Power Station, 14 miles east of Sparks and Fort Churchill Power Station near Yerington. For the 1980s a coal-fired plant, now in the development stages, is to be completed near Battle Mountain. Since the early 1900s when Sierra's hydroelectric plants were operating along the Truckee, complex ma- chinery has replaced physical labor in many instances to make line maintenance and easier. With the continued growth of the and northern construction Truckee Meadows Nevada, Sierra Pacific, as in the past, must continually plan for the future . . . Old hydroelectric plant on Truckee River ' ' n- - -... .- Modern steam generating plant near Yerington Power plant control room today Power plant control in early 1900s ii V r tif Photos courtesy of Nevada Historical Society. um m E. n ., U , . U 'S ' ' I 3- 1 ,ir .. Lf S.

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- .: Fqfzg zfgfafreb, ..,Q 3. r Q .,'. -K 4 1 a ' HB? in 1 Predecessor companies of Sierra Pa- cific Power Co. have played a part in Nevada's colorful history and growth. .jig if F Va aj A . .K 5 Smce the 1880s, when a predecessor of C h 2 ' Q Q 2 -He' L Sierra Pacific be an rovidin elec- ' f A f 8 P S fFtf:','A'vK',L,. i7 ' i 1 W 4 ,2e' . y I t h. h .d d' th t af?- -fQf !:,...'-2 2. '11 y e 'L tiny steam P an w ic Provi e a 'f 'i'f'.',g,+a t 2.1, Y wi,-1rf,.w, 2-1, ,t c,,, ' 'K 2 ,.cc . . P 'QL-Q fgt power was soon retired in favor of L. M water power from the swift Truckee ky: ' J yg, i?E?fA,iiwi 1525. is 9 River, an inexpensive source of energy -'1 ' i . f' t'll dt d an lgyfgzyw. J, sr- .,,,. 1 Qi J ,GgvvYr9Qfr,,ag.at.w,,,, ,. si use o ay. . r' - - f M, -sl .i Q r fer 3-55552 -f?,.,.: f,J',-,'q.-.ggi-.,L,1 -f ' 2 'wr 4-L. A . C rs- gays-f5'.si'i 5:v,m.:..- Crew setting pole in early 1900s Pole set by helicopter at Lake Tahoe But increasing demands for power in the Virginia City mines led to the con- struction of the Farad Power Plant 119001, a small hydro-electric plant near Floriston, Calif. 20 miles up- stream from Sparks. BE.. Sierra Pacific Power Curnpang Four more hydroelectric plants were later built on the Truckee. Three of these plants are still helping to meet today's energy needs. By 1923 the increasing demands for electricity in the Truckee Meadows led to the construction of an interconnecting line traversing the Sierra Ne- vada Mountains from California to Reno and Sparks. You have to be a mountain goat to work on that line is the way the young linemen of 1923 de- scribed the project. From Donner Summit eastward the line leaped from rock to rock. Setting the poles was a matter of drill and blast, drill and blast in the hard granite. We tried to get some dirt around the poles, but mostly it was just a question of packing rock in the holes, says one Sierra Pacific veteran who worked on the line.

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The Greenbrae Office of FNB serves the northeastern part of the City of Sparks from these quarters at 1962 Pyramid Way, in the Green- brae Shopping Center. Sparks High School graduate Ely Benedetti is assistant vice president and mana- ger of the Greenbrae Office, which opened in April l96l. Sparks was recognized as the City with Promise 40 years ago by First National Bank of Nevada, F01'ty ygafs which opened its Sparks Office on Jan. l, 1936, 0 . at 948 'B' Street. Now, FNB serves the residents gfowlng In Sparks of the community from three offices that nearly surround the city. for First National The Sparks Office itself has moved a block up the street to 1022 'B' and Sparks native John E. Uackj Wood, an assistant vice president of the bank, is branch manager Newest of F NBS three branches in Sparks is this sprawling McCarran Boulevard Office, at 400 N. McCarran, where it intersects with Lincoln Way. Manager John Warden and his staff operate from a facility that cur- rently provides three lanes of drive-up service for ultimate customer convenience, and as the demand grows, another three lanes may be put into service. The McCarran Boulevard Office was opened in November 1974 by Bank Board ChairmanfChief Executive Officer A.M. Smith, another Sparks High School graduate.