Google a little while ago posted a bunch of the old LIFE Magazine photo archive. I did searches for Northern Nevada, and didn’t turn up a whole lot. Here’s a taste of what I did find, though.

Gaming mogul Bill Harrah in downtown Reno in 1959. In the background is Harold’s Club, which closed in the 90s and was torn down, Harrah’s Club, which expanded to take up the whole block, and the First National Bank of Nevada, which still stands on the corner, but is also part of Harrah’s. Planet Hollywood was there for a long time, but now it’s Ichiban steak house and sushi bar.

This from 1945 shows Douglas Alley, looking from Virginia Street to Center. Lots of great signs here.

This aerial photo of Lake Tahoe was also from 1959, and must have been part of a feature story on Bill Harrah. In the foreground is Harrah’s casino at Stateline, which now has grown into a huge hotel-casino complex.