Reno is bidding a bittersweet farewell to an iconic 110-year-old bridge made famous by newly divorced women - and a Marilyn Monroe character - who walked from the courthouse to cast their past and their wedding rings in the river below.
Known as the "Wedding Ring Bridge", it became a symbol of Reno as the "Divorce Capital of the World" until other states relaxed their laws in the 1960s.
The tradition of women walking a block from the courthouse to the bridge over the Truckee River dates to the 1920s.
Photographs and Hollywood movies depict the scenes - the most famous with Monroe in the 1961 film The Misfits.
A scene features a woman tossing her ring after a "quickie divorce".
In The Misfits shot in Reno in 1960 with co-star Clark Gable, Monroe played a depressed, divorced woman who contemplated doing the same before changing her mind.
Demolition of what's officially named the Virginia Street Bridge begins next week. A new span is to open next May.
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