We would like to thank the many people that have helped the Verdi Historical Preservation Society bring the Old 1926 Verdi Public School back to life after so many years and help us convert her into a new Community Center and Museum. The following people have donated Time, Money, Materials, Equipment and/or Artifacts to help us reach our goal! Thanks to you all for your continued support throughout this project.
Pat Bonk, Keith Canonic, Gail Cassidy, Chet & Shari Damron, Margie Clark, Laura DeMaranville, Bill & Mary Essary, Mary Pat Downing, Jennifer Varner, Network for Good, Craig Ratterree, Dave & Sherrie Long, Scott Chadwick, Glenn Highfield, Troy & Coleen Cannan, Dick Bein, Brad Rosemore, Bruce King, Marie Garson Freeman, Marilyn Schneider, Walt & Helene Walker, Cleve Canepa, Mike Coli, Pete and Barbara Ting, Daniel Rockwell, Cheryl Surface, Quilici Ranch, Heather Powning, Les & Kitty Smith, Leroy Calhoun, Lloyd Howell, Mike Casper, Hebe DelGado, Davey Sparks, Ryan Cook, Charles & Margaret Burback, Jill Burback, Shawna Borgmann, Bud & Kelly Mosconi, Scott & Kathy Wilcox, Adam Zunino, Ann Marie McCann, Brenda Weaver, KaCe Gilbert, Naniece Bucci, Janet Loverde, Jon Wagner, Dee Athey Austin, Regan Ringler Hartzell, Ali Rivera, Carol Draper, Carly Borchard, Stephanie Stoddard, Wyatt Powning, Vern Anderson, Chance Reading, Clint Borchard, Tim Sweeney,
The front of the school February 2020 after the trees were removed. its almost like stepping back in time without the ivy that use to blanket the front of the school.
Follow the resurrection of the 1926 VPS as it is transformed to her original glory.
The Verdi Inn was built in 1926 by Alibrando Panelli. Ali designed and worked beside the builders. It was a 22 room hotel with a restaurant and bar. Ali was the chef and his wife, Stella, was the bartender. It was the centerpiece of the town for many years and also served as a bus stop for both the school bus and the Greyhound.
The bar was built by the Brunswick Billiard Table Co. in New Jersey of Philippine Mahogany. The back bar was made of rosewood from the Black Forest in Germany. The bar was shipped to San Francisco where it was damaged in the San Francisco fire. It was then shipped to Reno by wagon train. The bar was used at the Grotto Bar in Reno on 3rd and Sierra Street where it was again damaged in a fire. As a result of that fire, 8 feet was taken out of the middle and that is what Ali installed in the Verdi Inn.
Ali and Stella rented the east end of the building to Emmett and Louise Leonard in the 1940’s. The Leonard’s opened a lunch stand with several booths and served soup and sandwiches.
The Inn was sold to Ed and Gert Engel in 1961. At first, they operated only a bar. They got into the restaurant business accidentally. On Saturday nights, when a band would play, the Engels started giving their patrons free spaghetti at midnight using a family sauce. It went over so well they started selling spaghetti dinners one day a week. As business picked up, they gradually added such delicacies as breaded frog legs, charbroiled steaks, lobster tail and scampi.
On September 15, 1985, the Verdi Inn was damaged by fire. The outside of the building was intact, but there was smoke and fire damage throughout. The historic bar was charred.
Present Day
In 1986, the Engels sold the building to Vincent and Michael DeDomenico, brothers from San Francisco. The building was remodeled in a style called “Gothic Western” by Michael. It was supposed to open as a bar and restaurant with banquet facilities. Construction was never completed and the building remains vacant and deteriorating.
The history of the Donner Trail Ranch at Verdi, 10 miles west of Reno, at the junction of the Truckee River, Dog Creek and the historic Donner Trail Road, is intimately bound with the history of Western Nevada, as well as that of the gold camps of California and the earliest wagon trains and stage coach routes across the High Sierra.
The background history of the Donner Trail Ranch reaches far back to the first wagon train migrations across the High Sierra. On a route first marked out by the Washo and Paiute Indian parties, the old “mountain man” Caleb Greenwood in 1844, the Steven’ party in 1845 and the tragically-fated Reed-Donner party in 1846, the Emigrant Trail or the Donner Trail really began on the banks of Dog Creek and the Truckee River with a simple log structure built in 1849 that was used as a tavern and stage stop called Bull and Pepper’s Station. That structure burned down and it was on the evening of March 5, 1864 that the main Ranch House was formally opened as Merrill’s Inn, a stage coach and toll road stop on what had become the Henness Pass and the Dutch Flat Toll Roads from Reno to the gold camps of California. The route up Dog Valley Summit and thence southwest to Donner Lake carried much of the freight wagons between Virginia City and Reno on the Nevada side and the booming towns of Dutch Flat, Auburn and Sacramento on the California side. Completion of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1867 through the Truckee River Canyon at Verdi took much of the freight traffic off of the toll roads, but with the coming of automobile traffic in the early 1900’s and the designation of the Donner Trail Road as the Lincoln Highway, once again this route became a major transcontinental link for the growing West. As the Victory Highway, the road up what is now Old Dog Valley Road from the Donner Trail Ranch became the main auto and truck route between California and Reno until finally in 1927, U. S. Highway 40 was completed through the Truckee River Canyon.
The Donner Trail Ranch of 2800 acres was the result of gradual assembly and acquisition by many owners over the past 100 + years. It included the original Merrill, Fox, Hill and Holstrom ranches in whole or in part, as well as parts of the old Verdi Lumber Company holdings. Names well know in Verdi and in Western Nevada has been associated with the ranch over the years—the Waltz Brothers, the Kanes, Rankins, Canepas and Mosconis.
In 1945 the ranch came under the ownership of John “Jack” Fugitt. He moved the ranch building back from the Truckee River banks, remodeled and expanded it and developed it into an exclusive guest ranch. Fugitt sold the ranch in 1956 to a group of promoters who renamed it the Truckee River Country Club. In 1959, Harry and Joan Drackert leased the property from Baxton Realty Company of Los Angeles and New York and renamed it the Donner Trail Guest Ranch. The Drackerts offered their guests, many of whom were “six weekers”, a gracious introduction to “The West.” “Six weekers” was a term given to those that were looking for a quick divorce as it took six weeks to become a resident of Nevada. The ranch offered opportunities for horseback riding, hiking, hunting, excursions to Lake Tahoe and Reno or simply quiet rest as the guests preferred.
The Drackerts and their dude ranch operations were the subject of articles in national publications, both newspapers and magazines such as the New Yorker. These articles often mentioned the famous guests of the ranch. Among the rich and famous who stayed at Donner Trail were Saul Bellow, Evelyn Funt (Mrs. Allen Funt), Mary Rockefeller (Mrs. Nelson Rockefeller), Katherine Place (later, Mrs. Jackie Jensen), Margaret and Andreas Papandreou, Ernest Du Pont, Jr., Mr. and Mrs. Alvino Rey and family (the King Family singers), and Johnny “Tarzan” Weissmuller. It was not unusual for a wedding to take place immediately following the divorce of one or both of the newlyweds. While the ranch was well known for it’s guests waiting for a divorce, there were many guests that visited for just pleasure.
The Drackert’s lease was abruptly terminated in 1970 when the owners decided to subdivide the property. The main ranch house became the Donner Trail Dinner House in 1979, owned by Filiberto and Karen Ferroni. The restaurant was operated for seven years before closing in January, 1986.
The property was sold to Eldorado Hotel Association and is currently owned by Pioneer Inn Associates Ltd Partnership. In 1991 the guest buildings were demolished and the main ranch house was demolished in 1994. Today, the only structures are a pump house and cold storage at the location. An historical marker on the property points out that the ranch site was the last natural crossing of the river before the Henness Pass Road began its climb over the Sierra in 1866.
