Washoe County Library-Sparks Branch

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

From the record

“The Washoe County Library-Sparks Branch, at a prominent corner location at 814 Victorian St. in Sparks, Nevada, is a historic building that was designed by Nevada architect Frederick J. Also known as Sparks Justice Court, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.”
Wikipedia article Washoe County Library-Sparks Branch, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 83 National Register listings published here for Washoe County · listed in 1992 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Listed as. Washoe County Library--Sparks Branch - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. 814 Victorian St., Sparks, 89431
When was it listed? March 1992
Category. building
Also known as. Architecture of Frederick J. DeLongchamps TR
Census division. Sparks
Architect. Frederic Joseph DeLongchamps
National Register reference number. 92000116 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

92 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 92 fires within 5 miles of Washoe County Library-Sparks Branch between 1992 and 2020, burning about 20,267 acres in total. 10 started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	41
Natural	10
Equipment and vehicle use	9
Arson/incendiarism	7
Misuse of fire by a minor	7
Fireworks	5
Debris and open burning	5
Smoking	4
Other causes	2
Recreation and ceremony	1
Power generation/transmission/distribution	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
9 September 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	25 acres	Carson City District Office	RIO ALAYNE
3 September 1997	Natural	379 acres	Carson City District Office	MUSTANG 2
27 September 2019	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.2 acres	Carson City District Office	MARTINI
26 September 1999	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.0 acres	Carson City District Office	PARK
23 September 2018	Misuse of fire by a minor	2.6 acres	Carson City District Office	ROCKY RIDGE
23 September 2006	Misuse of fire by a minor	5.0 acres	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	EISENBERG
21 September 1994	Smoking	under an acre	Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest	USFS 099
20 September 2009	Misuse of fire by a minor	under an acre	Carson City District Office	HIGHWAY QUEEN

Every fire recorded in Washoe County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 15 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 15 workings within 5 miles of Washoe County Library-Sparks Branch: 7 past producers, 4 occurrences, 2 producers, 1 prospect. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Gold, Silver, Silver. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
(Facility) United States Platinum Refinery	REE, Uranium, Silver, Platinum, Gold	Plant
Arkell Mine	Silver, Gold, Antimony, Lead, Zinc	Past Producer	Anglesite, Argentite, Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite
Black Panther Mine Area	Titanium	Occurrence
Desert King Mine	Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc, Antimony	Past Producer	Anglesite, Argentite, Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite
Reno Mizpah	Gold	Occurrence	Gold
Truckee Canyon Deposit	Perlite	Occurrence
Wedekind Mine	Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc, Antimony	Past Producer	Anglesite, Argentite, Galena, Pyrite, Sphalerite
Wedekind Mine	Silver, Zinc, Lead, Gold, Copper	Past Producer
Arkell Mine	Silver	Prospect
Short Ranch Pit	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Washoe County

Storms near this property

35 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sparks, the town this property stands in, in 35 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 8 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 6 flood, 6 heavy rain. The reports record 1 injury. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
August 1999	Lightning	Sparks	1 hurt	Man struck by lightning while trimming a tree
July 2019	Heavy Rain	Sparks	$60,000	KTVN Channel 2 News reported that the roof on Reed High School leaked during heavy rainfall from thunderstorms on the afternoon of 25 July. A nearby mesonet reported 0.21 inches of rainfall from 1703PST to 1803PST. According to Washoe County School District, three sections of the roof were being replaced at the time. All three sections leaked in multiple areas. Walls, ceilings, floors, and 36 computers were damaged by the rain water. Preliminary damage estimates were $40-60K according to the school district.
July 2025	Flash Flood	Sparks	$20,000	Nevada DOT Reno reported flooding on Rock Blvd which prompted the closure of the road near I-80.
July 2005	Flash Flood	Sparks	$5,000	Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in the Spanish Springs area of Sparks. A total of 1.19 inches of rain was recorded at the weather observing station at Spanish Springs High School during a period of 30 to 40 minutes. Muddy water and small rocks flowed down streets above Vista Blvd. in Sparks.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	$3,000	Straight-line winds from a thunderstorm downburst caused damage along Pyramid Highway north of Sparks. Roofing tiles and metal siding was damaged on a house. Shingles were also blown off of another house.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	$3,000	Strong winds estimated at around 55 kt (63 mph) knocked over small trees and broke tree limbs near Vista Blvd. in Sparks. A stop sign was also reportedly blown over.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	$1,000	A wind gust estimated at 39 kt (45 mph) caused damage near Los Altos Parkway in Sparks. The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that a few fences were knocked down by the strong winds. One homeowner had six feet of wood fence destroyed, along with two screen-glass doors that were shattered.
August 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	$500	A 14" tree branch was blown onto a car, minor damage reported.
August 2025	Flash Flood	Sparks	-	Minor debris and roadway flooding on South Rock Blvd along both directions near Hymer Ave in Sparks. Additional flooding was reported throughout the city of Sparks, with rainfall estimations up to 1.15 inches.
July 2024	Flood	Sparks	-	Law enforcement reported 0.25 mi SW of Sparks, NV, of ponding water over the roadway causing a portion of Rock Blvd to be temporarily closed.
July 2024	Heavy Rain	Sparks	-	A mesonet station NSPA (DRI) located 2.8 mi S of Sparks, NV, reported a total rainfall amount of 0.54 inches.
June 2021	Flood	Sparks	-	Urban flooding of typical flood prone spots.
June 2021	Flood	Sparks	-	Training thunderstorms produced heavy rainfall over Spanish Springs, particularly near Pyramid and La Posada. Standing water on many roads and field access impossible. Washoe Alert gauge reported 1.69 inches in 3 hours and that station was not in the core of the storms.
December 2021	Flood	Sparks	-	NDOT closed I-80 and Rock Blvd underpass due to minor flooding.
December 2018	Heavy Rain	Sparks	-	CO-OP observer SRKN2 in Sparks reported 0.75 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period from 24 December 0700PST to 25 December 0700PST.
March 2018	Heavy Rain	Sparks	-	CoCoRaHS station NV-WH-87, 1 mile north-northeast of Sparks reported 1.00 inch of storm total rainfall from 20 March 0535PST to 23 March 0535PST.
May 2018	Heavy Rain	Sparks	-	Mesonet C3920, 2 miles north-northeast of Sparks (elevation 4596 feet) reported 0.27 inches of rainfall within 15 minutes from 19 May 1633PST to 1648PST and 0.55 inches of rainfall within an hour from 19 May 1618PST to 1718PST.
May 2018	Heavy Rain	Sparks	-	CoCoRaHS station NV-WH-147, 6 miles south-southwest of Sparks reported 0.61 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period from 24 May 0600PST to 25 May 0600PST.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	-	KRNV News 4 posted a picture of a 70 foot tree which fell onto a house in Sparks.
May 2009	Hail	Sparks	-	A trained weather spotter reported three-quarter-inch hail between Sun Valley and Sparks.
July 2006	Hail	Sparks	-	Nickel size hail (0.88 inch) was reported by an amateur radio operator in Spanish Springs.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	-	A 53 kt (61 mph) wind gust was reported at the wind sensor at Spanish Springs High School north of Sparks.
July 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Sparks	-	A 53 kt (61 mph) wind gust was reported at the Desert Springs RAWS sensor.
June 2005	Flash Flood	Sparks	-	A flash flood in the Sparks and Spanish Springs area was caused by very heavy rainfall. In a period of two hours 1.57 inches of rain fell in Sparks, causing flash flooding on Sparks Blvd. and at the intersection of Springland Drive and Baring Blvd. in Sparks.
July 2004	Hail	Sparks	-	Golfball-sized hail was reported in Palomino Valley, north of Reno.
August 2002	Tornado (F0)	Sparks	-	tornado in Spanish Springs
February 2000	Tornado (F0)	Sparks	-	Pilot and public reported a small tornado located 5 miles north of Sparks in Spanish Springs Valley. No injuries were reported and only minor property damage, the amount of which is unknown.
July 1999	Tornado (F0)	Sparks	-	Small tornado observed by off-duty NWS meteorologist in the hills east of Sparks. The tornado was on ground for approximately 2 minutes. Tornado remained over unpopulated area causing no damage. Path length and width are estimated.
July 1999	Flood	Sparks	-	Off-duty NWS hydrologist reported heavy rain from thunderstorms caused street flooding in Sparks with water rising over bumpers on cars and up to businesses along the streets. Several streets temporarily closed. No damage or injuries reported.
September 1998	Flood	Sparks	-	30 minute rainfall resulting in 8 inches of water flowing through Sparks Rib Cook-Off booths along Pyramid Way and Victorian Square. Minor flooding also reported along Rock Blvd, also in Sparks.
July 2005	Hail	Sparks	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Sparks	-	no account filed
July 2001	Hail	Sparks	-	no account filed
July 2001	Hail	Sparks	-	no account filed
July 2001	Hail	Sparks	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washoe County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Bank of Sparks	0.1 miles	2007
Mary Lee Nichols School	0.1 miles	2002
Immaculate Conception Church	0.2 miles	1992
Robison House	0.4 miles	2006
Field Matron's Cottage	1.8 miles	2003
Rainier Brewing Company Bottling Plant	2.5 miles	1980

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 92000116 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Washoe County	All 83 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.