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Sparks

Nevada, United States
Also known as: Harriman
Written and fact-checked by
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Rawson holds 8-vote lead in Sparks mayor race against incumbent Lawson • Nov. 4, 2026, 12:42 PM ET (Reno Gazette-Journal)

Sparks, city, Washoe county, in northwestern Nevada, U.S., on the Truckee River. Adjacent to Reno and part of the Reno-Sparks distribution centre, it is mainly residential. Originally named Harriman for the railroad company’s president, Sparks was founded in 1904 as a switching yard and repair centre for the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was almost immediately renamed Sparks in honour of Nevada Governor John T. Sparks, whose ranch was nearby and who unsuccessfully opposed legislation to regulate the railroad’s tariffs. The town grew slowly until the early 1950s, when a postwar building boom saw its conversion into a suburb of nearby Reno. At the turn of the 21st century, Sparks was Nevada’s fourth largest city. Inc. 1905. Pop. (2000) 66,346; Reno-Sparks Metro Area, 342,885; (2010) 90,264; Reno-Sparks Metro Area, 425,417.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kenneth Pletcher.
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