Virginia city - According to local lore and historical accounts, the town’s name came from a miner nicknamed “Old Virginia” or “Old Virginny” Finney. The story goes that one night he stumbled and broke a bottle of whiskey outside a saloon, splashing its contents on the ground and jokingly “christening” the settlement Virginia (or “Virginny”)—a name that stuck and evolved into Virginia City as the boomtown grew. 

Virginia Street in Reno is named for its historical connection as the road leading toward Virginia City, the nearby silver-mining boomtown that played a huge role in the region’s 19th-century development. Reno grew at a crossing on the Truckee River where early routes headed north toward Virginia City and the Comstock Lode, so the main north/south street naturally took on that destination’s name.