Sparks, Nevada, is a city in Washoe County. It is known as the “Lilac City” and has been listed as one of the fastest-growing cities in America for several years running.

Sparks, Nevada, is a great place to live and raise a family. Sparks has a low cost of living, friendly communities, and easy access to shopping and entertainment.

Euro-American settlement began in the early 1850s. The population density remained very low until 1904 when the Southern Pacific Railroad built a switch yard and maintenance sheds after moving the division point from Wadsworth. In 1902.

The Southern Pacific purchased a large tract of swamp-like land near its newly built railyard and gave everyone a clear deed to a 50′ x 140′ lot for the grand sum of $1. They also offered to pick up and move — free of charge — every house in Wadsworth and reassemble it in this new town. As the population increased, a city was established, first called Harriman, after E.H. Harriman, president of the Southern Pacific, and then renamed Sparks, after John Sparks, then governor of Nevada.

Sparks remained a small town until the 1950s when economic growth in Reno triggered a housing boom north of the railroad in the area of Sparks. During the 1970s, the area south of the railroad started to fill up with warehouses and light industry.

In 1984, the tower for the Nugget Casino Resort was finished, giving Sparks its first, and currently only, high-rise casino.[ In 1996, the redevelopment effort of the B Street business district across from the Nugget that started in the early 1980s took a step forward by opening a multi-screen movie complex and constructing a plaza area. This area, now known as Victorian Square, is a pedestrian-friendly district that hosts many open-air events.