Lake Tahoe's Scandinavian Castle: Vikingsholm

 

View of Emerald Bay from Vikingsholm

  Tucked into the tall pines overlooking beautiful Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe is Vikingsholm, a place fit for a king—or at least a Viking jarl.

  Built to resemble a Scandinavian castle, Vikingsholm is, in fact, a three-story home, which was the brainchild of Lora J. Knight, a wealthy Illinois woman who erected the imposing structure as her summer home at the lake.

  Mrs. Knight was born Lora J. Small, the daughter of a successful corporation lawyer, who, in the 1880s married James H. Moore, one of her father’s partners. 

  Her husband and his business partners eventually earned their fortunes by gaining controlling interests in several major companies, including National Biscuit and the Union Pacific Railroad.

  Moore died in 1916, leaving his wife a considerable estate that included property in Illinois, Wisconsin and California.

  In the 1920s, Lora married Harry French Knight, a St. Louis stockbroker but the union was not successful and they were divorced a few years later.

  In 1928, Mrs. Knight purchased 239 acres at the head of Emerald Bay (for $250,000) and began planning her special summer hideaway. She hired Lennart Palme, a noted Swedish architect and her nephew, to design the house with a Scandinavian influence.

  Following a trip to Scandinavia to gather ideas, Mrs. Knight authorized construction to begin in the summer of 1928. Work on the house ceased during the winter months but restarted the next spring. Amazingly, the house was completed by the end of the summer.

  The house was constructed of locally cut wood (pine and fir) and using local granite boulders and rocks that were embedded in mortar. Interior walls were hand planed and accented with delicate, hand carvings.

  The house has a wonderful handmade quality to it, which is not surprising since Mrs. Knight had 200 workers building the house. In fact, the exterior wood sections were hewn by Finnish carpenters who were brought in from New York.

  One unusual feature was the sod roof covering the buildings lining the courtyard. Grass roofs were common on Scandinavian houses so Mrs. Knight incorporated the idea in her castle.

  Mrs. Knight stayed at Vikingsholm for 15 summers, until her death in 1945. The estate was then sold to a Nevada rancher, Lawrence Holland, who later sold it to Harvey West, a lumber magnate from Placerville.

  In 1953, West agreed to donate half the appraised value of the land to the state of California in return for the state paying him the other half. The state was able to acquire most of the land surrounding Emerald Bay, including Vikingsholm for about $125,000 (half the appraised value).

  Today, visitors can park in a lot just off State Route 89 and hike one mile to the former Lora J. Knight home. The walk is peaceful as you stroll through the pines, catching glimpses of breathtaking Emerald Bay below.

  Another of Mrs. Knight’s legacies can be seen on Fannette Island in the middle of Emerald Bay. At the crown of the island, she built a picturesque, stone teahouse.

  Guided tours of Vikingsholm (the only way you can tour the house) are offered daily from June to September. Tours are offered between 10:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. (although you can hike to the house to picnic on the grounds or explore the area throughout the year). For tour information, go to: https://sierrastateparks.org/emerald-bay-state-park/vikingsholm-tours/.

  Vikingholm is located at the southwest end of Lake Tahoe, about 35 miles from Carson City via U.S. 50 and Route 89. For more information, go to: http://vikingsholm.com/

Finding Out About the Lost City

 

Lost City Pueblos (Photo courtesy of Ymblanter)

Several years ago when I was working on a book, “Mysteries and Legends of Nevada,” I compiled a list of the most enduring and unexplained stories in the Silver State.

  One of those mysteries was the fascinating tale of the Anasazi, considered among the earliest inhabitants of the place that would become Nevada. About 800 years ago, these prehistoric people just seemingly disappeared from the southeastern part of the state.

  At the peak of their civilization, which is thought to have been 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, thousands of Anasazi—although no one is quite sure what they actually called themselves—lived along the banks of the Virgin and Muddy rivers in Southern Nevada.

  The Anasazi were so sophisticated that they developed permanent settlements, including the Pueblo villages built in cliffs throughout Arizona and Colorado, learned how to cultivate a variety of crops and mined minerals such as salt.

  About eight centuries ago, however, the Anasazi just went away. They departed from their northernmost villages, including those in Nevada.

  Scholar David Roberts has written in National Geographic magazine that the Anasazi abandoned every site northwest of a diagonal line that could be hypothetically drawn between Flagstaff, Arizona, and Pagosa Springs, Colorado.

  Roberts theorizes that a combination of factors contributed to the Anasazi retreat, including the rise of a new religion—perhaps an early version of the Pueblo Indians’ kachina beliefs.

  Roberts believes that the Anasazi of places like Nevada were drawn south from their homeland to the pueblos of New Mexico by practitioners of the kachina religion, which encouraged communal living, which would have been particularly attractive to those living in the harsh Southwest where drought and famine were common.

  Today, their descendents are believed to be the members of the various Pueblo tribes in New Mexico and Colorado.

  In Nevada, a number of petroglyph sites are the primary reminders of the Anasazi period. In several places throughout the state, such as the Valley of Fire and Rainbow Canyon in Southern Nevada, you can find the rock writing that appears to be the Anasazi’s only written language.

  Although the writings, which are carved in stone, have never been translated, some archaeologists speculate that they may have related to either hunting rituals or have had religious significance.

  One of the best places to learn more about the Anasazi is the Lost City Museum, which is located in the small town of Overton, at the north end of Lake Mead.

  The main part of the museum is housed in a sun-dried, adobe brick building that was erected in 1935 by the National Park Service to exhibit artifacts discovered in Nevada. The museum was turned over to the state of Nevada in 1953 and expanded in 1973 and 1981.

  The most recent expansion, called the Faye Perkins Wing, was built atop an actual Pueblo foundation that was excavated in 1935. This archaeological site has been reconstructed in such as way as to depict the way archaeologists work at a historic location.

  The name, Lost City, was coined in the 1930s by the media, which was fascinated by the discovery of a forgotten prehistoric Indian community. Archaeologist M.R. Harrington, who supervised the initial excavation in 1924, however, named the site “Pueblo Grande de Nevada,” because of its great size.

  Many of the artifacts in the museum were collected during excavations of the area in the 1920s and 1930s. Since then, additional excavations on the banks of the lake have yielded additional information and materials.

  The Lost City site has provided valuable information about the Anasazi's transition from a nomadic desert tribe, before the time of Christ, to a more sophisticated society that built permanent settlements and planted crops.

  Displays in the museum illustrate the history of the Anasazi. For instance, the earliest residents, called the "Basketmakers," generally lived in open areas or natural shelters and created fine woven baskets from the local willows and yucca plants. Their diet consisted of plants and hunted game, like deer and rabbits, brought down with the use of an atlatl.

  Later, during the Late Basketmaker period, the people began using a bow and arrow, planting crops and building pit houses in the valley.

  That was followed by the Pueblo period, during which the people began living in above ground buildings with underground storage units. It was during this time, that the Indians began producing painted pottery and developed a social structure, religious practices, trade and crude writing.

  On the museum grounds, you can find several Pueblo-type structures, made of wattle and daub, which have been reconstructed on the original foundations. There is also a replica of a pit house, which was a covered underground dwelling.

  Exhibits display hundreds of arrowheads, baskets, atlatl (or throwing spears), skins and pottery. Additionally, one wing of the museum includes a re-creation of an ancient Anasazi village site.

  In addition to displays about the Anasazi, the museum also contains exhibits detailing the earliest white settlers in the area, starting with Mormon farmers, who began cultivating the area in the 1860s.

  The Lost City Museum is located on State Route 169 in Overton, about 60 miles northeast of Las Vegas. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, go to: https://lostcitymuseum.org/.

Napa Valley's Old Bale Mill Survives the Ages

 

  Dr. Edward Turner Bale’s grist mill has seen a lot of changes in its more than 175 years of existence.

  Originally constructed in 1846, the mill, which boasts a 36-foot waterwheel (it was originally 20-feet in size but was enlarged a few years after it was built), was designed to grind the wheat, corn, oats and barley crops of local Napa Valley farmers. They would bring their grains to the mill to be ground and bagged.

  Today, visitors to the upper Napa Valley can still explore the mill, which has defied neglect, wildfires and other threats over the years, and was restored in the 1980s. The Bale Grist Mill is located about six miles northwest of the town of St. Helena on California Highway 29.

  The story of the mill is closely aligned with the settling of the Napa Valley region. Home to a thriving Native American population, the valley was first visited by non-native explorers in the early 1820s. In 1836, former mountain man George C. Yount became the area’s first white settler (in present-day Yountville), receiving a land grant from the Mexican government.

  At that time, nearly all of California was under the control of Mexico, which had gained its independence from Spain in 1810.

  Much of the area now known as the Napa Valley was divided into large rancheros owned by a handful of Mexican landowners, led by General Mariano Vallejo, who was the Commandante General of Alta California (which encompassed nearly all of the state of California).

  In 1839, Dr. Edward Bale, an English physician who had arrived in California two years earlier, married Maria Ygnacia Soberanes, niece of General Vallejo. Within a few years, Dr. Bale had become a citizen of Mexico and was granted the land between present-day Rutherford and Calistoga (some 17,962 acres), which he named Rancho Carne Humana.

  To support such a large ranch, Dr. Bale decided to establish the grist mill as well as a saw-mill.

  In 1848, Dr. Bale caught gold fever and left his wife, two sons and four daughters, so that he could seek his fortune in the gold fields of eastern California. Unfortunately, he became sick and died on October 9, 1849.

  Dr. Bale’s widow, Maria, who was only 27-years-old, took it upon herself to support her family. By 1850, she had either sold or lost to squatters the majority of the 17,000-acre land grant, and is listed as the owner of 1,500 acres of unimproved land and 50 improved acres.

  She was able to retain the grist mill and the saw mill, which she had expanded and enlarged in the early 1850s. The two enterprises allowed her to pay off her late husband’s debts, eventually remarry, and provide for her children.

  In 1860, one of Maria Bale’s daughters, Isadora Bruck, sold the saw mill and the grist mill. The latter, under a succession of owners, continued to operate until 1905. Over the years, a later owner, Reverend Theodore Lyman, made additional improvements so that the mill could operate when there wasn’t enough water running in the creek that powered the waterwheel.

  Lyman’s family donated the mill to the Native Sons of the Golden West in 1923, which, in 1941, deeded it to the Napa County Historical Society to maintain and preserve. In 1974, the facility and surrounding property became a California State Historic Park.

  A major renovation in the mid-80s got the grist mill up and running again, and, in 1988, it milled its first grain in more than seven decades.

  Today, the restored mill is one of the most iconic places in the Napa Valley, drawing thousands of visitors who are enchanted by the picturesque setting and the enormous wooden waterwheel

   Adjacent to the mill site is the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (linked via trails), where visitors can picnic, hike, bike, and enjoy a public swimming pool. Additionally, the park offers private cabins for rent, yurts, tent camping sites, and RV campsites. Both facilities are operated by the Napa Open Space District in partnership with the Napa Valley State Parks Association.

  For more information about the Bale Grist Mill, go to: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bale-grist-mill-state-historic-park/

  For more information about Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, go to: https://napaoutdoors.org/parks/bothe-napa-valley-state-park/.

Nevada's 'Marble-ous' Ghost Town of Carrara

Road to the ghost town of Carrara (Photo courtesy of Mark Holloway)

  In the southeastern Nevada mining town of Carrara, the big prize wasn’t gold, silver or copper—it was marble.

  In 1904, miners—who were actually looking for gold or silver—stumbled upon promising marble deposits in the hills south of Beatty. The marble, in fact, was said to contain as many as twenty different colors.

  Within a short time, a small quarry opened to mine the stone, which was valued for its beauty. The effort was quickly abandoned, however, when the marble deposits proved to be too fractured to provide the kind of large hunks that were commercially viable.

  But in 1912 larger deposits were uncovered and a company was formed to remove the stone. With great optimism—and a bit of hyperbole—the area was called Carrara in honor of Carrara, Italy, the source of the world's most famous marble.

  A town was laid out in the valley below the quarry on a site about nine miles south of Beatty adjacent to today’s U.S. 95.

  The new community was close to the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad line (long gone) so a three-mile short line railroad was constructed by the American Carrara Marble Company to provide a direct connection between the quarry and the main LV&T rail line.

  The smaller railroad was completed in 1914 and soon large blocks of marble were being shipped from Carrara to Los Angeles. By 1915, the town of Carrara had nearly 40 buildings, including a hotel, restaurants, shops, a saloon, post office, and a weekly newspaper called "The Carrara Obelisk."

  To reinforce the image that Carrara was an important community that would be around for a while, the marble company constructed a large outdoor fountain in the middle of the town that sent a plume of water six feet in the air. A pipeline was built from Gold Center, located nine miles north, to bring water for the fountain and the town.

  Unfortunately, the marble mine wasn’t profitable and in 1917 the quarry was closed. Within weeks, the newspaper went out of business, the short line railroad closed, and townspeople quickly began to pack up and move on to better prospects.

  Carrara had a brief revival in the 1920s when a spur was built by the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad (the Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad folded in 1918 and part of its line was taken over by the T & T) to link to the quarry. Like the previous effort, this one also failed and Carrara began to slowly fade into the desert.

  In the 1930s, a cement plant under Philippine ownership was constructed a mile north of the former site of Carrara. The facility, however, was abandoned in 1936 before production started.

  Extensive ruins of the cement plant, including a couple of graffiti covered concrete structures can still be seen from U.S. 95. These ruins are often mistakenly thought to be part of the old town of Carrara.

  In fact, little remains of the original Carrara. If you drive down the former road to Carrara, you must really search the weeds and sagebrush to find a handful of foundations. A few cement steps and a chimney or two are among the best reminders of Nevada's only marble-town.

  About three miles from the highway via a rough, dirt road you can drive into Carrara Canyon and find the old quarry site. A few pieces of rusted mining equipment litter the hillside.

  But while there isn't much to see of the old Carrara mining operation, the view of the surrounding expanse of the Amargosa Desert is spectacular.

Update to an Older Entry About the Ghost Town of Rochester

 [NOTE: Sadly, this column, which first appeared in 2008, is no longer accurate.  In 2012, an arsonist or arsonists apparently set a fire that destroyed these picturesque ruins.]

   A strong wind sweeps across the tumble-down buildings in the old mining camp of Rochester. In the fading late afternoon light, they become harder to see and mysterious. The ghosts are coming to life in Rochester Canyon.

   Rochester Canyon was once one of north-central Nevada’s most successful mining camps. In the early 20th century, the region produced more than $6 million in silver, gold, copper and lead.

   The ruins of the Rochester Canyon communities are located about 10 miles southeast of Interstate 80 at the Oreana exit. To reach the site, exit at Oreana (14 miles northeast of Lovelock), then travel three miles on a paved road. At a fork in the road, turn right onto a maintained dirt road and continue another seven miles to Rochester.

   Rochester Canyon was first explored in the early 1860s by prospectors from Rochester, New York (thus its name). Small-scale mining was initiated but proved largely unsuccessful.

   In 1912, Joseph Nenzel discovered large bodies of silver ore in the canyon, which sparked a significant boom.

   By 1913, more than two thousand miners were working the area and a two-and-a-half-mile long ribbon of miner's shacks, commercial businesses and other buildings began to line the center of the canyon.

   Several separate town sites were actually laid out in the canyon. Near the top was Rochester Heights, which had a popular local saloon. Farther down the canyon was Rochester, which quickly became the largest settlement with several substantial stone buildings to house hotels, saloons and offices.

   At the mouth of the canyon was Lower Rochester. At its peak in 1913-14, the town of Rochester had its own orchestra, regular freight service, dance halls and a 100-ton mill to process the ore.

   By 1915, following completion of a short line railroad that connected to the nearby Southern Pacific line, Lower Rochester grew into the biggest camp. In 1917, an aerial tram system was completed to carry ore from the mines to the mill at Lower Rochester.

   Rochester’s mines continued to be productive throughout the 1920s and 30s. The mines were shut down in 1942, as a result of shortages of equipment and supplies during the Second World War.

   Efforts to restart the mines continued after the war but none succeeded until the 1980s with the development of a large gold mining operation, the Coeur Rochester Mine, which operates on the mountain above the canyon.

   Despite the years of neglect, Rochester, as the whole area is referred to today, offers intriguing glimpses at an early 20th century mining camp.

   When you enter the former site of Lower Rochester, you will find a handful of impressive wooden mining head frames and decayed buildings on the southern hillside.

   Wandering among the ruins, you can spot the mostly intact fly-wheels, cabling and other pieces of equipment on the head frames. Additionally, there are also the partial remains of the ore-cart track and bridge, adjacent to the head frames and buildings.

   One note of caution: be very careful walking around any part of Rochester Canyon because there are many open mine shafts. Also, do not touch anything. Most of the buildings are barely standing and probably won’t survive too many more years and any abuse.

   Up the canyon from those ruins, you will find a large mill building, mostly intact. The structure seems in fairly good condition, although not safe enough to enter Opposite the mill building, you can also spot the large concrete foundations of what must have been another, larger mill site.

   The road continues up the canyon, with a handful of stone foundations and crumbling, wooden miner’s shacks peeking through the surrounding sagebrush. A commemorative plaque telling the story of Rochester can be found in front of one of the former miner’s homes, adjacent to the road.

   From the plaque, the road heads farther up the canyon but becomes rockier and there aren’t any more ruins along the way. About a mile from the plaque, you reach a locked fence and the entrance to the Coeur Rochester Mine, which is closed to the public.

   For more information about Rochester, contact the Lovelock Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 821, Lovelock, NV 89419, 775-273-7213.

Eastern Nevada's Hidden Scenic Spot: Beaver Dam State Park

 

  Because of its remoteness, most people never get a chance to experience the beauty of Beaver Dam State Park, located about a half-hour east of the community of Caliente in eastern Nevada.

  Beaver Dam is one of the least well-known and least visited park facilities in the state park system. Even the description of Beaver Dam on the state park web site notes that that it is Eastern Nevada’s most remote park and is noted for its “natural, primitive and rustic beauty.”

  However, there are good reasons for checking out the park, which offers not only scenic beauty but also fascinating history.

  Historians believe the first visitors to the area were Native Americans, who camped and hunted along Headwaters Creek and Pine Creek, which run through the park. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Spaniards may also have passed through the region while establishing trade routes.

  According to one account, in 1849 an emigrant party traveling to California crossed through the region. The rugged terrain and bad weather, however, caused them to abandon their wagons on the eastern rim of nearby Pine Park Canyon and the group continued on horseback and foot.

  Before leaving the area, two of the party, Wesley Smith and Henry W. Bigler carved their initials and the date in a cliff (“WHB, Saturday, Nov. 3, 1849”). Bigler later served as California’s governor and was the original namesake for Lake Tahoe (it was first named Lake Bigler).

  The first permanent residents of the Beaver Dam area were members of the Hamblin family, which homesteaded a ranch in the 1860s. By the turn of the century, the Hamblin ranch had become a popular spot for picnics and outings by local residents.

  In 1935, at the urging of Lincoln County residents, the state recognized the area’s natural beauty and designated it an official park, making it one of the state’s earliest parks.

  In 1961, Beaver Dam was built, which created a 15-acre reservoir (called Schroeder Reservoir) for fishing. In 2005, flooding damaged the dam and four years later the reservoir was drained and Beaver Dam Wash was restored to its pre-flood condition.

  Today, fishing is permitted in several small streams that pass through the park.

  With its high canyon walls, picturesque streams and thick foliage, Beaver Dam offers a lovely place for an outing. In a number of places, the canyon walls are colored with volcanic rock ranging from pink rhyolite to spectacular white ash-fall tuffs.

  Hikers can explore the park via four developed trails including: the one-mile Waterfall Trail, which leads to a lovely seasonal waterfall; the Overlook Trail, which takes you above the wash and offers a panoramic view of the entire park; and the Oak Knoll Trail, which leads to the creek below the wash.

  The 2,393-acre park’s plant communities include sagebrush and piñon-juniper woodlands as well as ponderosa pines, oaks, willows, cottonwoods and some species of cactus.

  The name, Beaver Dam, is related to the fact that there are beaver in the area, which—surprise—often construct dams on the various creeks and streams. Other animals that can sometimes be seen in the park include mule deer, rabbits, frogs and a wide variety of birds.

  The park has two developed campgrounds with individual sites that have a fire pit, picnic table and parking pad. Water is available between April and November.

  While open year-round, the park’s high elevation (5,000 feet) means that it can be extremely cold and might even have snow in the winter months.

  Beaver Dam State Park is located 34 miles east of Caliente via U.S. 93 and a marked, graded gravel road that leads to the park. There is a park day use fee and overnight camping.

  For more information, go to http://parks.nv.gov/parks/beaver-dam.

Austin's Historic Churches Have Colorful Backstories

St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Austin

 

St. George's Episcopalian Church, Austin

  One of the first things you notice when driving through the historic central Nevada mining town of Austin are the churches. There are three magnificent red-brick frontier-style houses of worship that are nearly a century and a half ago.

  The churches are reminders of the days when Austin was one of the largest communities in the state, when, at its peak in 1865, as many as 10,000 people lived there.

  Located 170 miles east of Carson City via U.S. 50, Austin was established in mid-1862, following the discovery of silver in nearby Pony Canyon by William H. Talcott, an ex-Pony Express rider.

  In less than a year, Austin had grown sufficiently to be the obvious choice for the Lander County seat (in the Territory of Nevada).

  By the late 1860s, the community boasted its own railroad, the Nevada Central, as well as several newspapers, banks, a thriving business district, its own mining stock exchange and those impressive churches.

  One of the oldest is St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, on corner of Court and Virginia streets, which held its first services on Christmas Eve of 1866.

  While no longer owned by the Catholic Church, St. Augustine’s Church is in remarkable shape despite its age. A local, non-profit group was able to receive state and federal grants to pay for stabilizing and renovating the structure, which is now known as the St. Augustine’s Cultural Center, and hosts art shows and other events.

  St. Augustine’s boats a distinctive front bell tower and, inside, a series of religious murals that were painted on the walls in about 1940. It also contains an historic Henry Kilgen organ.

  The Methodist Church on Court Street was also built in 1866 and was considered one of the finest churches of its day. The Gothic Revival structure, now used as a town hall, is the largest building in town.

  Its construction was financed in a rather unusual way. In about 1865, the newly arrived Methodist minister, Reverend J. Lewis Trefren, discovered that his flock badly wanted a church but there was little cash available to build one.

  Reverend Trefren, however, had a brainstorm. He would form a business corporation to finance the church, which would have as its assets share of mining claims that had been donated to the congregation. Then, he would sell shares in this new corporation and use the proceeds to pay for the church.

  Thus was the Methodist Mining Company created. According to Thomas Wren’s 1904 “A History of the State of Nevada,” Reverend Trefren headed east and managed to sell some $250,000 in stock.

  His sales pitch was simple—the Methodist Mining Company would pay dividends in Heaven as well as on Earth.

  Unfortunately, the financing scheme collapsed before work on the church was completed. Lander County briefly acquired the church to settle outstanding debts before selling it back to the congregation. In the meantime, Reverend Trefren decided to leave town and, in 1868, was transferred to a California congregation.

  St. George’s Episcopal Church on Main Street was built in 1877-78 and is the only one of the town’s historic houses of worship that is still used as a church. The building is said to have been largely paid for within a few months of being proposed.

  According to the local newspaper, the Reese River Reveille, about $300 was collected on Easter Sunday 1877, which got the project rolling.

  Shortly after, Allen A. Curtis, one of the richest residents in Austin, pledged to pay for the “frame of the building,” which included carpentry and woodwork, while another member of the congregation agreed to pay for an organ.

  A local merchant donated a 900-pound bell for church. The bell was made in New York and contains silver that was mined in Austin (which is said to give the bell a “silvery” tone).

  St. George’s still have its original Mills pipe organ, which traveled around horn by ship to San Francisco and was brought to Austin by wagon. A rather unique feature of the church is that the entrance to the bell tower is also a bathroom. A person must stand on top of the toilet to reach the rope that rings the bell.

  For more information about the town of Austin or its historic attractions, go to www.austinnevada.com.