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).