Before the Civil War (1861-65), the land was part of the 72-acre farm of Giles Dyer, a Southerner who depended on enslaved people to work his fields. Because of its elevation, Dyer's land was taken by the Union Army in 1861 for a fort and observation post. After the war, the Dyer family recovered the property and sold it to developers, and Reno City lots soon sold for $25 with a $5 down payment. Frederick "Fritz" Bangerter, a young Swiss immigrant, bought several lots to establish a dairy farm, raise a family, and build houses to rent. African Americans who had sought safety and work at Fort Reno during the Civil War also bought lots or rented Reno City houses, as did other white and black families, many of whom worked nearby as laborers and domestics. By 1900 Reno City was 75 percent African American, with three black churches, a black Masonic lodge, and a black school among its 100 buildings, and black and white families generally lived side by side. In 1902 the U.S. Senate Park Commission suggested preserving the city's historic ring of Civil War forts, including Reno, as parks. Although that plan was shelved, federal planners later targeted Reno City for a park, schools, and reservoirs as surrounding land filled with new housing for whites, and between 1928 and the early 1950s the federal government bought or condemned Reno City houses and razed them, dispersing the 80-year-old community and its businesses and institutions.