Old Tahoe memories
 

An interesting topic for me. My family had a place there for 30 years and during that time, we learned about the history of Tahoe and period known as "Old Tahoe". Many of the historic properties there are from this largely unspecified period. In my mind, old Tahoe means from around 1900 to about 1950. I love to hear about the wooden boat races, which were really only for wealthy folk as it was very expensive to participate.
I would love to hear other's thoughts and knowledge of this bygon era in a very memorable place.

Hi Pildredge. A great icon of Tahoe's bygone wonder years is the Ehrman Mansion, the main point of interest at Sugar Pine Point State Park. It's a grand old manse built of stone in 1903. At the time it was the "ne plus ultra" of luxury, boasting a refrigerator and an elevator!! You should check it out, if you don't already know it. It's on Highway 89, past Tahoma but before Meeks Bay.

Pretty cool in the boat house is a silver boat. You can only peek in at it through the windows but it's still something to see.

The Hellman-Ehrman Mansion is open for tours only from July to Labor Day so if you visit outside those times you will only be able to see the exterior. None-the-less you would see how the wealthy lived in old Tahoe. The state of Ca purchased the property in 1965.

Another spot to see old Tahoe is the Tallac site in south lake Tahoe near Camp Richardson. It's run by the US Forest Service.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/tallac/

If you ever want to see the wooden boats in lake tahoe you can attend the Concourse d'Elegance which is held in August in Tahoe City. The event doesn't have an old Tahoe feel to it just shows the old boats.

Thanks, Suzie, for the clarification on the touring season for the mansion. That's good to know.
c

Oh yes. I have been to the mansion a number of times, and the Tallac site, which I think is not the original due to a fire, but rebuilt long enough ago to be considered "old Tahoe".
Also the castle/mansion in Emerald bay is so interesting, I think a woman named "Knight"? owned Emerald bay at one time. regards, Pildredge.

Also at the Mansion mentioned by Susie...
The boat house is unusual as it used Railroad tracks to guide the boat(s) out of and into the water up past the beach with winches a opposed to the more common water bound boathouse.

Pildredge, do you know much about the silver boat that Suzie mentioned? That sounds fascinating.

I visited last in about '95.
I don't remember it exactly, but I think there was more than 1 boat in there. I also remember it was said that these people participated in the famed wooden boat races of the early 20th century.

Wasno't there once a paddlewheeler on the lake, that brought visitors to the estates on the south shore?

At the Tallac site, there are stories about the Lucky Baldwin days, and the gambling casino there. They would get word of the sheriff leaving from the nearest town, two hours away, and could have the whole place cleaned up (i.e., all gambling equipment put away and patrons drinking only tea) before the sheriff arrived.

There were and still are paddle wheelers and also very heavy barge and ferry traffic well before highways 50 and 80 were constructed. The original piers in the lake were much longer than the piers of today. Some of these piers provided railroad access right out into the water to meet barges and ferrys.
I remember an old wives tale perhaps that during the gold rush days, that a stage coach carrying much gold and Silver was loaded onto a ferry and sank in an accident in the middle of the lake and was never recovered. Could be true! Lake Tahoe was THE thouroughfare between SF and Virginia city.

A fascinating story, Pildredge. I have heard that Lake Tahoe is so deep that the bottom has never been found, in certain parts of the lake. Perhaps the remnants of that ill-fated train are buried in the deep there.

There are alot of tall tales with regard to this lake, among them I believe is that the bottom has never been measured, it's 1600+ ft deep. Today of course with GPS mapping etc. it certainly isn't true.
Other tales I've heard (some proven and some not) are that because of gases in the human body dictating the elevation in the water a person ends up at when they drown there, a story was/is that many undiscovered bodies become petrified due to the cold temp. of the water. It is said that a 100+ years ago drowning victim had become like a Bronze in the water due to this.
Another is that the lake is so deep that there are vast deposits of ice below the surface. This is not possible considering our understanding of physics and thermodynamics.
Of course everyone has heard of Tahoe Tessie, the lore(d) creature who lives in the lake and has been sighted by many for decades and eons much like the Loch Ness Monster. Nothing definitive on this except for the most prevailing scientific theory that this is a massive Sturgeon fish known to inhabit lake tahoe and can live 100 years if undisturbed.
I do remember a speedboat racer who around 30 years ago set out to break a speed record on the lake. He miscalculated the weather and the wave activity and was killed as his craft upset. He is still there as his family requested and was granted permission not to recover the body or the boat.
Another widespread rumor that has kept it's legs is about the famous cigar steamers (they looked like long cigars) were intentionally scuttled in advance of a scrap iron shortage during WW2. The steamers "Tahoe" and "Meteor" and something "Goodwin" are among these, the underwater photos of these can be found somewhere and I have seen them. In fact I have seen the fotos of the Meteor's scuttling in maybe 1940. I don't know why else they would sink this craft?
One of the most famous wooden boats on the lake was/is the "Thunderbird" owned by some super rich man 80 yrs. ago. eventually this boat belonged to Bill Harrah (that's a name drop) and that boat still trolled lake Tahoe as late as 1988 that I remember, because you could literally hear the one of a kind roar of it yes, Miles away. A one of a kind Hacker Hull custom Mahogany, enclosed cabin double Hall Scott (large gasoline engine maker of the day along with Fairbanks Morse) engine beast. Even in 1910 this was the most famous personal craft on the lake.
Regards, Pildredge

Summer vacations at Lake Tahoe are a family tradition that started with my father back in the early 30's. He used to be the guest every summer of the Scott family from San Francisco who had a summer compound on the lake in Homewood. The way my dad described it, it sounded more like a camp than a home. The property had a vast lawn that stretched from the houses down to the lake on which they used to play croquet. They had a boat house with two Garwood's in it. I remember my dad saying that Mr. Scott was a Garwood man and would never be caught dead in a Chris Craft. LOL

My first memory of Lake Tahoe is going for a ride in Mr. Scotts huge 3 cockpit Garwood speed boat. Shortly after that I think the family sold the property. The one thing I remember about the house was the huge wagon wheel that had been turned into a chandelier in the living room!

Every summer we would we spend two or three weeks at my aunt's cabin in King's Beach and my father would tell us stories about his summers with the Scotts. I loved those stories.

Good stuff "iamq"

We rented a house in Homewood every summer for quite a few years. We had friends that had a big compound in Homewood next door to the Breuners..furniture store people.

They had the teak Chris Craft ski boat that I learned to water ski behind. We weren't allowed to go to Kings Beach....thats where the "riff raff" hung out. LOL Hey, not MY decision but my mom and my friends parents didn't want us down there. Not OUR kind of people. Yup, that's the way I was raised..not MY thing, but a VERY big deal to my mom and her friends. It didn't take me long to figure out that the "riff raff" were having all the fun!!!! We hung out at Sunnyside quite a lot.

When I first started going to the lake, there was not a house on the water at Incline. I remember when they started building them. They sold for about 50,000 in those days, can you believe it?

Bill Harrahs house finally sold a couple of years ago. I can't remember who bought it. The boys didn't want it and they have other houses up there. We installed flooring for one of the boys both at the lake and down here in Reno.

That boat called The Thunderbird belonged to George Whittell, the millionaire mentioned above. And it had its own dramatic boathouse connected to the lake by a tunnel. All of this can be seen at the historic Thunderbird Lodge, which is a VERY interesting place filled with stories about the old days. Here's a link to the boat and the lodge:

www.thunderbirdlodge.org/theboat.html

My own memories/traditions of Tahoe only go back 15 years or so and mainly consist now of making sure I have a couple wet Woodies on each trip.

All this talk of boats got me thinking. In the early 70's I spent a couple of weeks with friends near Sunnyside. They had rented this rather hideous looking boat we called The Black Bat. It was a late 50's era Chris Craft that was jet black, and a little long in the tooth. It was a great boat that had seen better days. Its most distinguishing feature was the stern. It sloped down to the water line and out the back and sides emerged these two huge "wings" that made it look like a '59 Chrysler Imperial or something. It was noisy and fast.

Last summer, my partner and I were in Tahoe for the first time in a few years. We went to Sunnyside for dinner and guess what I saw bobbing offshore tied up to bouy? The Black Bat! What a crack up that was! It brought back great memories of waterskiing, chilly mornings, warm summer days, afternoon whitecaps and dramatic summer storms.

Oh man those storms were awesome. We'd build a fire and have popcorn and the next moring the lake would be like glass. I'd take my coffee out on the pier and sit on the edge and watch the early skiers. Now I'm getting nostalgic!!! (: Fun days those were.

iamq and crefloors, the two of you are making me very nostalgic for the Tahoe of yesteryear. Did either of you ever go to D.L. Bliss Beach? That was my favorite Tahoe beach. Better than Pope Beach.

Pildredge: Did you ever take the trail to Fallen Leaf Lake?

I spent 3 summers in the late 60's at Fallen Leaf, and we rarely left for other beaches. But when we did, it was either D.L. Bliss, or Sand Harbor (for bodysurfing on 3-foot waves).

Love the beach at Bliss!

I'm glad this brought back some melancholy memories to some.
The summer storms were fantastic. My little brother and I were warned by my Dad that the lightning assosiated with these storms could kill us. Once we were paddling around in the lake when one of the storms began, 2 little guys that I know really figured out how to "move it" back to shore.
Neo; thanks for searching for the link as I am not good at pasting and cutting and linking etc. I remember now, the Whittel name and how this man was so rich that he had wild animals such as Tigers and Elephants roaming his (was it Glenbrook?) compound.
The Black Bat! ok!
who would forget that boat? There are hundreds of different wooden boats (models) that populate the lake and I love to see and hear of them.
The days between 1970 and @1977 are the most carefree, precious days of my life and my memories of Tahoe and the fun my little brother and I had together are my most treasured.
Thanks for sharing, Pil.

What a fun thread! Close friends of ours would invite us up to spend time with them in the husbands parent's Homewood house which I believe was built in the 1920's. A beautiful old two story house (except that it only had one bathroom) with a stone fireplace that was large enough one could stand inside of it. A private beach, boathouse and dock. We spent beautiful times there during the 1960's and early 1970's and then sadly our friends father sold the property. They had a Bristol wood boat. I met the Bristol brothers, owners of the company more then once when they displayed their boats at the annual boat show at the Cow Palace in SSF. There was also kyaks (sp?) and as I have posted before my girlfriend and I almost drowned in Lake Tahoe when the kyak tipped over thanks to some idiot on shore throwing rocks at us. The fellows loved to go fishing and basically cooked the main course every evening. Good times and wonderful memories. Good cocktails too each evening on an old fashion large porch overlooking the lake.

I've been trying to remember if Fallen Leaf Lake was a protected area or if there was some nascent development there. What does it look like today?

Pildredge, those must have been great times you had. I had great times there as well. To me, Tahoe is one of the grandest places in the country.

Does anyone remember a place in Tahoe City that was called the Tahoe city Inn, or something like that? I remember, as a child, eating there with my brother and father. We chose the salisbury steak. Alas, we were up all night getting sick. One of my few bad memories of Tahoe.

Oh Chris, there is nothing like food poisoning to make one remember a restaurant and what they ate. I have had that twice while on the road, once in Barstow at a popular friend chicken restaurant and once at a very new and lovely but obviously not a well managed Mexican restuarant in the SF/Bay Areas when returning home from a trip.

Fallen Leaf back then had a string of cabins along the shore, and two cabin resorts at the far end---Craven's Lodge and the Stanford Camp. A few more cabins were above the lake along the creek. And up the (very bad) road was another camp, at Glen Alpine.

Fallen Leaf today (or at least when I was there 3 years ago) still has the same cabins along the shore---it seems like time stood still, due to the moratorium on development in the 70's. Some have been updated, of course, and there are a few new ones. Craven's appears to be no more, replaced by a fancier resort version, and the Stanford camp has a new dining lodge and cabins. The old Glen Alpine camp or whatever it was is either gone or boarded up--I can't remember.

The trails into Desolation Valley, and up Tallac (I hiked to the top yet again in 2004) are unchanged. And the view of Tahoe from the top is just as spectacular.

All in all, Fallen Leaf is pretty much the same as it was 40 years ago. I imagine the residents want to keep it that way. I hope they can.

And another thing that hasn't changed is Fanny Bridge!!!!

Fanny Bridge is completely different now that they have done so much work on the area. Now the view from the road of the fannies hasn't changed much! ;)

Yes, I did mean the view, not the bridge itself.

Yes Chris, I remember the "Tahoe Inn" and I bet it's still there.
Funny, us 3 kids got sick from that place too once. We were staying next door at the Travelodge and I remember at least a couple of us have the Trout almondine. Trout was never the same for me.
Pildredge.

Oh, yes, I do remember the Travel Lodge. A pretty low-rent establishment, if I recall. But then back in those days, the best hotels and motels were in Carnelian Bay or at South Shore. Everything in between was sort of iffy. I'm impressed that you remembered the offending dish!! It's the fish everytime, you know. Or at least when it's not the Salisbury Steak.

Does anyone remember the old time arcade for kids on south shore just north of the Casinos?
We spent hours there @(1970) playing the old time games for very little $ while the parents gambled.

I don't know that arcade because we spent most of our time on the north shore, but I do remember the minature golf course right there in Kings Beach (where we riff raff hung out, LOL!).

Last year we drove by and it is still there and still pretty much the same! We pulled over and much to my partner's chagrin, I twisted his arm into playing a round of mini golf. Talk about nostalia! 40 years later and the place still has the same holes and the same obstacles.

That is one of the things that I love about that part of the lake, it really hasn't changed that much over time. Le Petit Pier was even still there!

Another trip down memory lane happened when we to Sugar Pine Point to see the Ehrman Mansion. We used to spend many hours there at the little beach, but I especially remember fishing for crawfish from the dock. My brothers and I would spend hours every day dropping lines and baskets over in the hopes of catching them buggers. Wouldn't you know it! There at the end of the dock were a group of young kids fishing for crawfish. I had an interesting conversation with them about which is the best bait...bacon or bologna. We finally agreed that bologna was probably the best. What a crack up.

<i>but I do remember the minature golf course right there in Kings Beach (where we riff raff hung out, LOL!). <i>

The best miniature golf course in the world IMHO! (Boberg's is the name, but it was sold a couple of years ago -- honestly, if I knew it were for sale, I might have bought it myself). We used to stay at Brockway every summer and the kids would beg to play multiple times. Loved that place. </i></i>

OK, here's a quiz for someone. The very first time we went to Tahoe was about 1980 to 1985. We went to a restaurant somewhere along the lake in the northwest corner. We were staying at Northstar and drove down to the lake then turned right and didn't go terribly far -- probably no further than where Garwoods is. The restaurant apparently is no longer there -- I've looked for it. It was a big and sort of upscale place and I keep thinking it was called Jake's -- but I could be wrong. We had wonderful steaks. The thing I remember is that the doors you entered were double doors and very, very tall -- like at least 12 feet.
Ring a bell anyone?

Was the restaurant on the right or the left side of Lakefront Blvd.?

Here's the website for Jake's on the Lake. Was this it?

http://www.jakestahoe.com/

It was on the lake side of the street, and I thought quite close to the street because we just happened to see it and stopped. A few years ago we ate at Jake's on the Lake and thought it was a much newer place and they didn't have the big doors that I remember. But I see the website says since 1978 so maybe that IS it. Maybe the doors were too big a problem and they changed the whole entrance. Or maybe I just have Jakes on my mind now because of seeing Jakes on the Lake more recently and that has nothing to do with the name of the place I &quot;sort of&quot; remember.

If the tall doors don't jog any memories, then that must be it.

Jake's is all the way in Tahoe City. After you turn right on N. Lake, there isn't all that much on the lake side --- there's the first group of businesses/motels/restaurants, and then there's just several docks and several housing developments (ex. Chinquapin) before you get to Tahoe City. Was the restaurant immediately after you turned onto N. Lake, or closer to Tahoe City?

http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/cdm...ISOROOT=/tahoe



Some 49 pages of photos for you.