In honor of Nevada’s Archeological Awareness month, the Nevada Historical Society offered an interesting lecture about the Mackay School of Mines at UNR ~ which is extra special to me, considering I graduated from there!
I transferred to the University of Nevada in 1981 to attend the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and received my degree in Geological Engineering. At the lecture I learned some key points about the Mackay family and the role they played in establishing the School of Mines.
Through financial backing and ideas the Mackay’s also helped create a beautiful University.
In 1988 the building was retrofitted to help keep the building stable in case of an earthquake. The building was lifted and a foundation was placed underneath incorporating these rubber “shock absorbers”.
When I was a student at Mackay, the Grad Students had dug out spaces, where this new basement exists, and we would have to go visit them to get help. I was always surprised how primal it was. I found out at the lecture that it began far earlier in the schools history. Apparently there was more space needed for the early grad students, so they did what miners do and began digging below the building. We walked down stairs to get to these catacombs. The original students went down a ladder!
More photos:
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