Welcome to Sparks ...

The city of Sparks is located in Washoe County<1>.

Sparks was established in 1850.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Sparks has a population of 105,215 people<2> (see below for details).

The community of Sparks is 4,550 feet [1,387 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the elevation of Sparks is about ¾ mile [or ~1½ km] above sea level.

Time Zone: Sparks lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Sparks lies within the (775) area code.

The ZIP code for Sparks: 89531<4>

Going back to its beginning, Sparks was originally named Harriman. For more information about the names of Sparks, see The Names of Sparks on our Genealogy Page.

Websites for Sparks ...

Official Website: www.ci.sparks.nv.us/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Sparks had an population of 105,215 people. This is an increase of 16.56% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 58.59% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Sparks had a population of 90,264 people (or 21.42% of the total population of Washoe County). This makes Sparks the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Sparks represents 3.34% of the total population of Nevada (which has 2,700,551 people), making it the state's 5th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 90,264 people, the population of Sparks increased 36.05% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 66,346 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Sparks.

Communities Also Named Sparks ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 15 communities that are also named Sparks - they are located in Colorado, Georgia (3), Kansas, Kentucky (2), Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas (2) and West Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Sparks.

Communities near Sparks ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Sparks.

• Panther Valley
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Panther Valley
  • Panther Valley is located in Washoe County
• Sun Valley
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sun Valley
  • Sun Valley is located in Washoe County
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sun Valley <5>
• Lockwood
  (5 miles [8 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lockwood
  • Lockwood is located in Storey County
• Golden Valley
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Golden Valley
  • Golden Valley is located in Washoe County
• Raleigh Heights
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Raleigh Heights
  • Raleigh Heights is located in Washoe County
• Spanish Springs
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Spanish Springs have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Spanish Springs
  • Spanish Springs is located in Washoe County
• Lawton
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawton
  • Lawton is located in Washoe County
• Lemmon Valley
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lemmon Valley
  • Lemmon Valley is located in Washoe County
• Mogul
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mogul
  • Mogul is located in Washoe County
• Steamboat
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Steamboat have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Steamboat
  • Steamboat is located in Washoe County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Sparks. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Sparks.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Sparks. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Sparks.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Sparks. Our list includes 13 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Sparks.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Sparks ...

Looking for more information about Sparks? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Sparks, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Sparks.

Adding Sparks to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Sparks in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Sparks was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Sparks post office opened in 1904.

We also found Sparks mentioned on a train schedule titled Southern Pacific Railroad Time Tables (March 1908).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Sparks.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Sparks: www.ci.sparks.nv.us/

The official website for Washoe County: www.co.washoe.nv.us/

The official website for State of Nevada: nv.gov/