About Sparks Headlight
The Sparks Headlight is the official newsletter of the Sparks Heritage Museum. It originated nearly four decades ago in 1986; and in 1990, it was officially titled the Sparks Headlight in memory of the former Sparks Headlight newspaper which, in 1904, became the second newspaper ever established in our city.
Instead of covering our city’s current events as its predecessor did in the early twentieth century, however, the Sparks Headlight newsletter has spent its existence following the development of our museum and shining a light on history for the advancement of public education in northern Nevada.
Its mission to provide the Nevada public with a greater understanding of our shared heritage is incredibly important because such knowledge is a powerful tool in the present and holds the potential to both shape and enrich the future of our community.
Featured Stories
Reflections on the Water: The History of the Sparks Marina
By Ariel Van Cleve, 12 Nov. 2025
The Sparks Marina is today a beautiful lake which locals enjoy for recreation and relaxation, but that present reality only scratches the surface of the marina’s significance to the people of northern Nevada. The site’s origins are thoroughly intertwined with two prominent events in Sparks’s history; and over the years, it has contributed to the health and development of our entire region in far more than just recreational ways. To trace the history of the Sparks Marina, however, we begin with its roots in the early twentieth century.
The site of the modern-day Sparks Marina was once. . .
Narrow, Crooked, & Ornery
By Dick Dreiling, 05 Jun. 2015
What we currently refer to as the Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (NCO) was, in fact, a very confused, many-named, underfunded and contrary undertaking. On current maps, it is shown the railroad ran north from Reno, NV to Lakeview, OR. However, it was originally envisioned as running SOUTH from Wadsworth, NV towards the mining camps of Belmont, Ellsworth, Grantsville, Candelaria, and Belleville.
John T. Davis, an entrepreneur from San Francisco, began exploring the possibilities of constructing a rail line to serve these areas. . . .
Early Aviation in Northern Nevada
By Dick Dreiling, 03 Apr. 2015
Not to belittle the importance of the railroads to this area, but a new-fangled vehicle began to be seen in the skies in the early days of the 1900s – the AEROPLANE! The first manned flight was, of course, on December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, NC made by two brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright. This is about the time that construction was begun on the new Southern Pacific Railroad Roundhouse in present-day Sparks.
On November 14, 1910, a 24 year old self-taught aviator, by the name of Eugene Ely, made the first aircraft take off from a ship. . . .
Author in Focus
Richard E. Dreiling
Richard E. Dreiling spent his childhood in Reno and graduated from Reno High School in 1956. After working several months for the Sierra Pacific Power Company, Dreiling followed in his father William Dreiling’s footsteps to enlist in the United States Navy, where he would serve from 1957 to 1987. During his career in the Navy, Dick Dreiling served in electronics technician roles, became an award-winning instructor, and participated in the Vietnam War. For his work with the VA-27 “Royal Maces” squadron aboard the U.S.S. Constellation during one of his four wartime cruises, Dreiling was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal.
In 1997, years after his naval service, Dick Dreiling became involved with the Sparks Heritage Museum and went on to dedicate his time and resources toward the museum’s mission with fervor for many years. In addition to his service as a trustee and as president of the Sparks Museum for four years, Dreiling conducted tours for museum visitors, donated artifacts and engaged in thorough research for museum exhibits, authored articles on local history for the Sparks Headlight newsletter, and even scratch-built a model of the historic Sparks locomotive roundhouse which still stands on display within the museum.
In 2022, Dreiling received the Governor’s Points of Light Silver Award as a lifetime achievement for his decades of volunteering within the state of Nevada. Today, his contributions to the Sparks Heritage Museum remain a token of his legacy–a legacy of service to the public in both war and peace.