Final Mitigated Negative Declaration and Response to Comments

Roads expanded and upgraded the roads within the basin between 1928 and 1935, and
consequently promoted a wider range of public to travel to the Lake (Lindström 2000).
The early resort era at Lake Tahoe began in the 1860s with resorts opening in Lake Valley,
Tahoe City, Brockway, McKinneys and Glenbrook. Ranches, hostlers and commercial
fisherman in Lake Valley profited from the lucrative business of supplying travelers and the
growing mining centers with locally grown hay, vegetables, dairy products and fish. Various
hotels and resorts operated during the next decade as tourism flourished in the 1880s with the
establishment of resorts in Lake Valley, Emerald Bay, Sugar Pine Point, Blackwood and Tahoe
City. Tourism in north Tahoe was promoted by the completion of the Lake Tahoe Railway and
Transportation Company (LTRTC) in 1901 which connected Tahoe City with the Southern
Pacific mainline at Truckee. Visitor traffic and the associated tourism industry increased
substantially with the completion of the first automobile loop road circumventing the Lake by
1925 and the expansion and improvement of basin roads in the early 1930s (Landauer 1996;
Lindström 2000). Tourism and development in the Lake Tahoe basin has continued through
the latter part of the 20 th Century and continues to today.
Lake Tahoe was a summer recreation area for wealthy Californians, mainly from San
Francisco and the Sacramento Valley. It was not until 1865 that the first recorded property
transaction took place in the Emerald Bay area. Three years later, Ben Holladay Jr. acquired
the property, including Fannette Island and the land that wraps around Emerald Bay. Holladay
built a Victorian Gothic Revival two-story, five room summerhouse (known as the “Cottage”)
and it was the first private house on Lake Tahoe. He also built a pier, boathouse, and mall
house on Fannette Island, and another small house near the shore for his caretaker, Richard
Barter (the “Hermit”). Holladay suffered economic hardships and the government seized his
property due to his debt. The land was then purchased by Dr. Paul T. Kirby in 1880. Four
years later, they built a summer resort (where Vikingsholm is today) which included a hotel,
cottages, tents and a steamer landing.
A portion of the Kirby land was sold to the William Henry Armstrong family in 1895. Mrs.
Knight purchased the land from the Armstrongs in 1928. Mrs. Knight's land included the only
island (Fannette Island) in Lake Tahoe and the only water fall (Eagle Falls) flowing directly into
the Lake. Emerald Bay reminded her of many of the fjords she had seen on numerous travels
to Scandinavia and commissioned her nephew by marriage, Lennart Palme, a Swedish
architect, to design the plans.
Mrs. Knight passed away at the age of 82 in 1945. After her death, the home was sold to
Lawrence Holland, a rancher from Nevada. He subsequently sold it to Harvey West, a
lumberman from Placerville, California. In the early 1950s, Mr. West, a noted philanthropist,
negotiated with the State of California and said he would donate one-half of the appraised
value of the land, as well as Vikingsholm, if the State would pay him the other half. This
arrangement was agreed upon, and in 1953 the house and property were acquired by the
State.
In 1907 Russell and Margaret Graves began construction of the Emerald Bay Resort/Camp on
the northwest shore of Emerald Bay. In 1914 Nelson Salter bought 30 acres (at the site of the
Asian Clam Control Project IS/MND
Emerald Bay State Park
California Department of Parks and Recreation
37