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July 13, 2015, By kps3admin
Some of the more colorful tales of Reno’s divorce days come from the dude ranches. Imagine a New York socialite fresh off of Fifth Avenue, bunking in a rustic cabin and spending her days horseback riding with a handsome cowboy. Dude ranches also offered relative privacy, which made them attractive housing options for people seeking […]
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, By kps3admin
Reno was not a large community when its divorce mill first began operation, and throughout the entire divorce era, it remained a compact city with one central business district. Shopping, business, and entertainment—including, after 1931, casinos—clustered in a compact downtown core. As a result, the well-to-do generally trod the same paths as their less fortunate […]
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, By kps3admin
Reno became the Divorce Capital of the World just as Hollywood was coming into its own. The two worlds, full of drama and intrigue, proved fascinating to Americans, particularly when they intersected. The first round of actors and actresses to join Reno’s divorce colony came from the world of the New York stage. One of […]
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, By kps3admin
The Laura and William Ellis Corey divorce was one of two high profile cases in 1905 and 1906 that put Reno on the map as a migratory divorce destination for America’s social elite. W. E. Corey was the head of United States Steel Corporation, the largest American corporation of its day. That he fell in […]
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, By kps3admin
Someone once said: “If you can’t do it at home, go to Reno.” To many outsiders, Reno was “sin city,” where people behaved in ways they would never consider doing at home. And it certainly was true that Reno offered a variety of nighttime entertainment to rival the most cosmopolitan of American cities. The Willows, […]
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, By kps3admin
It took a cooperative effort on the part of the entire community to keep the divorce mill running smoothly. Some Reno citizens made money off the trade by providing services to these temporary residents, in addition to their permanent customer base. The most obvious services required by the divorce colony were housing, shopping, dining, and […]
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, By kps3admin
Many divorce-seekers needed to work while awaiting their time in divorce court, and depending on economic conditions at any particular time, a variety of temporary jobs were available for both men and women. Besides the typical employment opportunities, Reno offered a number of especially unique positions. In addition to work as shills and dealers, divorce-seekers […]
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, By kps3admin
For some divorce-seekers, the waiting period required to establish residency offered the perfect opportunity to pursue education, job training, and other types of self-improvement. A number of business colleges and secretarial schools enticed those eager to improve their professional skills. In the 1930s, the Nevada Secretarial School, located one block west of the courthouse on […]
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, By kps3admin
The divorce trade has left a modest legacy of buildings and structures in Reno, although many are obscured by modern development. Among the most prominent are the Riverside Hotel (1927) and the El Cortez (1931), both specifically built to cater to the divorce trade. The Mapes Hotel (1947), a landmark in Reno’s divorce and gaming […]
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, By kps3admin
In Reno’s divorce colony, people whose paths might never otherwise have crossed were thrown together by their unique circumstances. The majority of divorce-seekers lived in some sort of shared housing situation where, at the very least, they took meals and participated in a range of activities with new acquaintances in Reno for “the usual purpose.” […]
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