The large, blue awnings and the white bricks have been removed from Byington Building at North Virginia and Second streets, revealing a faded green, blue and red sign for the long-gone Ginsburg’s Jewelry Store.
A Historic Reno Preservation Society post on the building by local historian Alicia Barber reads, in part: “Located on one of the first lots on the original Reno townsite to be sold in 1868, it is sometimes said to have been Reno’s first brick building, surviving two major fires. The brick edifice constructed in the 1870s remains at the heart of this building, which in many ways embodies the trajectory of Reno’s ever-changing downtown.”
According to another HRPS post, Ginsberg’s moved to this location in 1921 (it had opened sometime before then) and closed in 1971. The Ginsburg Clock that is now at the corner of First and Virginia streets, near the Believe Plaza, was initially installed by jeweler Harry Ginsberg, in front of his store in 1935.
A sign currently taped to the window of the building reads, “Bodega Reno, coming soon.”