Wingfield Park

Wingfield Park. . In 1920 the City of Reno acquired Truckee River’s Belle Isle, which had been home to an amusement park, and transformed it into a public park and playground. George Wingfield, a prominent Reno businessman, donated his interest in Belle Isle to the city. According to the Nevada Journal, Mr. Wingfield was “desirous of Reno having a real park and his interest in the matter was for the good of the City.” Many other Reno citizens, who owned joint interests in Belle Isle, also donated their holdings to the City. A footbridge spanned the Truckee to access the park., Wingfield came to Nevada from his family ranch in eastern Oregon, looking for work as a buckaroo and small-time poker player. He dealt faro and stud poker at the gold and silver camps, winning some gold claims in a poker game at the Tonopah Club. He parlayed this luck into one of Nevada’s richest mines at Goldfield, growing his stake into a multi-million dollar enterprise of mining, banking and politics, an enterprise he re-built from scratch after the Depression. Wingfield’s investments represented Nevada’s most common business themes: mining, real estate, hotels and ranching, earning him the distinction of, “Owner and Operator of Nevada.”, Many years later, the city built “a gazebo for the bands appearing at the summer concerts at Wingfield Island” according to an article in the Reno Gazette-Journal. This “gazebo” is today known as the Wingfield Park Amphitheater, home to numerous performing arts, music and other special events held throughout the year. The biggest event is the annual Artown festival held during the month of July. , Barbara Bennett Park is adjacent to Wingfield Park and has basketball and tennis courts, a play area and plenty of shade to beat the summer heat.