After President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Bill into law, the city of Reno (then known as Lake’s Crossing) began when a railway agent held an auction of real estate in 1868. The rails through Nevada eventually started to be laid around 1890 as the Union Pacific began construction on the Salt Lake Route which connected Salt Lake to Los Angeles. The depot was constructed around the same time in Reno, and the one that exists today was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1926 (after the Central Pacific depot burned down). During the construction of these rails and the depot, the town began to boom with migration from Los Angeles, the East, and from the Northwest.