In 1904, in the Yuletide spirit, Reno civil leaders decided the town of about 4,500 residents needed an outdoor Christmas tree. They erected a large Douglas Fir tree on the south side of the river on the newly opened Carnegie Library grounds at S. Virginia and Mill streets. The evergreen tree welcomed the new library and played a part in observing the Christmas season.

 

In December 1916, the city enlisted Chester Bridgeman and George Raymer, managers of the Reno Commercial Club, to obtain a gigantic tree to celebrate the holiday. They ventured to a mountain near Verdi and found a majestic pine tree to harvest. They repeatedly swung their axes to topple the tree. Afterwards, they were so exhausted, they took the next day off from work.

 

Back in Reno, the tree committee recruited experienced telephone linemen to set up the tree. Nevada’s fierce winds made erecting the tree challenging for even those expert workers. Eventually, the men used three steel guy wires to keep the tree upright and stable.

 

Because of the size of the tree, city electrician Edward Seltz spent two days stringing six hundred lights on the tall tree. On the top, he placed a mammoth star that systematically flashed changing the light to six distinct colors. The star’s message was “Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men.”

 

At the time, World War I was raging in Europe. However, America had not yet joined the war. In acknowledging the war, the city decorated the tree with the flags of the European nations. The tree committee sought to express the idea December is the season of brotherhood and goodwill to all.

 

In 1923, after the war, Reno continued to celebrate the holiday and remember the war. To begin, the city workers harvested another huge pine tree in Dog Valley near Verdi. This tree was so large, the city used two trucks to transport it to Reno.

 

Then, on Christmas Eve, school children dressed in holiday attire to perform a joyful program before the attendees at the library.

 

Next, Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived, not in a sleigh, but in a highway department truck decorated with a small green Christmas tree. To the delight of the onlookers, Santa flipped the switch to turn on the tree lights. Then, everyone joined in singing traditional Christmas carols.

 

Afterward, the children gathered together and marched to the Virginia Street Bridge. There they tossed flower bouquets into the Truckee River in memory of the soldiers killed in World War I. To honor them, soloist William Lunsford sang “On Flanders Field,” the story commemorating a famous battle of that war.

 

Moreover, the program committee gathered 1,000 surviving veterans’ names and arranged for Christmas cards to be handed out to them. People inscribed the cards with “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! In grateful remembrance of your valued services during our country’s hour of need.”   

 

After the ceremony, Santa and Mrs. Claus drove in the truck around the residential neighborhoods. They handed out goodies of horns, bells and other musical instruments to the children lining the streets.

 

In December 1925, the Christmas tree “moved” again. Mayor Edwin Roberts accepted pharmacist William Cann’s donation of the 50 to 60-foot fir tree growing in his front yard at 629 Jones Street. On December 16, a city crew dug up the tree, trucked it to the east end of the Wingfield Park Island, and replanted the tree for the town’s holiday festivities.

 

In the past and that year, the city strung lights along the banks of the Truckee River. The mayor thought a lighted municipal tree would add to the Christmas mood in town.

 

Beginning on December 22, the city electrician climbed to the top of the tree to string lights. Because of the size of the tree, he also spent two days installing the colored globes. On Christmas Eve, the mayor presided over the Yuletide celebration. Hundreds of locals flocked to the park and others watched while standing on the Virginia Street Bridge as the tree lights blinked on.

 

In 1930, in addition to the tall tree in the park, the city added 150 Christmas trees to the downtown streets. Workers spent two days mounting the evergreens along the curbs and stringing colored lights on these fir trees. At the merry sound of the curfew fire bell on December 2, the city switched on the lights on these trees, on the municipal tree in the park, and on the strings of lights along the river and on the dam west of the Virginia Street Bridge were illuminated.

 

In 2009, the city lighted and decorated the tree with enormous holiday ornaments of gingerbread men, nutcrackers, red, blue, and silver Christmas balls, candy canes, snowmen, and multiple large red bows and placed a white star on top of the tree. People strolling around downtown enjoyed the Christmas music wafting through the air.

 

Fast forward to 2025. For 55-years, one of America’s 154 national forests supplied a Fir tree for the Christmas season for display on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. This year, our tree from Nevada, named “Silver Belle,” a 53-foot Red Fir harvested in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest in the Carson Range District, traveled on a "Whistlestop Tour" across Nevada and neighboring states before arriving in Washington, D.C. It will be lit in early December and decorated with 10,000 ornaments made by Nevadans. Way to go Nevada! 

For more details visit uscapitol-christmastree.com or see updates at facebook.com/USCapitolChristmasTree.