The Nevada Traveler: The sad saga of Reno’s Lawton Springs

Should you have headed west of Reno on Fourth Street in the 1940s or ’50s, you would come to an impressive complex of red-roofed buildings that included more than a dozen motel rooms, a large building housing an indoor pool, a restaurant and dance hall and an inviting outdoor pool.

Known as Lawton Hot Springs, the resort, built on a bend in the Truckee River, traced its commercial beginnings to Reno’s early years as a railroad town.

Originally known as Granite Hot Springs because the warm water poured from a large crevice in a granite cliff, it was used by the railroad as a watering spot.

Later, it became a popular spot for railroad workers to soak away their pains (in holes dug in the ground near the springs).

In 1884, a man named Sumner Lee Laughton purchased the site, including the spring, and built a station house, with a pool, to serve railroad travelers (the line ran nearby) and anyone else seeking a warm dip.

According to a history written by the great-grandson of a later owner, the resort originally was supposed to be called “Laughton’s Hot Springs,” but the name kept getting misspelled as “Lawton’s,” so Laughton went with the flow and changed the name.

During the 1920s, as automobile travel became more common, Lawton’s became an important rest stop for car travelers on the Lincoln and Victory highways. Lawton expanded his roadside station to include a motor inn and large swimming pool. By the 1930s, Lawton’s had become a popular resort with a bar, dining and gambling that served the rush of visitors heading to Reno to obtain a divorce.

In 1931, heavyweight boxer Max Baer trained at Lawton’s for a July 4 fight in Reno against Paulino Uzcudun, known as “the Basque Woodchopper.” The two battled for 20 rounds before Uzcudun was declared the winner. Baer would go on to win the world heavyweight championship in 1934.

As the divorce trade began to decline, Lawton’s went through a succession of owners and experienced a decline of its own.

In the 1970s, Interstate 80 was built, which diverted nearly all road traffic from in front of the resort, which by this time had been renamed the River Inn. In 1979, a development company acquired the site, demolished any of the remaining buildings and, in 1983, constructed a massive wooden structure that was to house what the company described as a “world class” casino, resort and spa.

Despite the structure’s impressive appearance, the owners didn’t have the financing to complete the project and for the next 38 years it stood vacant and unfinished, subject to vandalism and other indignities.

In February of this year, however, a man named Lawrence McNutt purchased the site for a reported $852,000 and announced plans to turn it into his home. Speaking to Reno’s News4 TV station, he admitted the crumbling property had “a lot of rat stuff and bats,” but he was optimistic he could make it work.

A former stuntman who has had success in the information technology business in California, McNutt called it a “beautiful building” and said he and his girlfriend had fallen in love with the structure and the history of the place.

From the looks of photos that can be found online, he’ll also need a bit of luck.

Rich Moreno writes about the places and people that make Nevada special.