Reno’s City Hall has its roots back in 1902 when optimistic moneymen in town came together to organize the Farmers & Merchants Bank with Richard Kirman at the head of the enterprise. Although only 26 years old, the Virginia City-born Kirman had already righted the fortunes of one failing bank. He set the course for Farmers & Merchants while charting his own in politics; Kirman would be elected mayor of Reno in 1907 and eventually governor of Nevada in 1935. By that time Farmers & Merchants had changed its name to First National and was the only one of Reno’s five banks to survive the Great Depression. It gobbled up banks in Las Vegas, Elko and elsewhere and as First National Bank of Nevada financed much of the state’s construction around the emerging gambling industry. In 1963 First National constructed this 16-story, International Style tower as its headquarters. It was known as the Cal Neva Building in 2004 when the City of Reno bought it for $5.5 million and after another $4.8 million was poured into renovations it became the home of city government.
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