Reno's longtime slogan, 'The Biggest Little City in the World' is an apt description for a place where you can hike or kayak by day and surf the slots by night. It tries mightily to promote itself as a hot gambling mecca, but its lasting appeal is its small-town demeanour.
The 1850s saw the first hotel and saloon built where Reno now stands. By 1868 the town scored a train depot and took the name of Jesse Reno, a Union general. The town grew fat on rail expansion and the mining boom, but when the gold got thin on the ground, Reno wagered its future on sin.