| Cabin Tours 2005
Lakeview Resort, the site of the Big Creek Project, Camp #10
The Bakery, Lakeview Tract
The Cat House Cabin at Bear Creek Extension Tract
Lakeview Resort, the site of the Big Greek Project, Camp # 10
Lakeview Resort originally housed the Stone and Webster engineers who were responsible for the building of Huntington Lake dams. The south side of Huntington Lake quickly became the haven of recreation that resulted because of the Big Creek hydroelectric project i» the Sierras. Camp Edwards, a lodge and a store built in 1922, was to the east of Lakeview, as was the rustic and opulent Huntington Lake Lodge built in 1915 by Henry Huntington, to bring potential investors to view and enjoy the benefits of electric power produced by the project Recreation took hold, and with the building of the north shore road, lead to the construction of some individually owned summer cabins under a special use permit.
As you look around, you will notice that behind the Resort, there is a road that leads to where the incline Railroad accessed the lake bottom, bringing supplies from Cascada (now known as the town of Big Creek) and also serviced the different tent camps that housed the employees that were located close by the dams. Camp #10 was located along this roadway. Take a walk down the road and you will see it leads you to the blockhouse that controlled the incline railroad. You will have an exceptional view of the town of Big Creek and the canyons that are part of the hydro system. Camp IE was located by Camp Keola, 1C in front of Dam 2 and IB tunnel camp was located between Dams 1 and 2.
You need to look for the remains of the four large concrete blocks that were the foundation of the concrete washer. One of the large foundations has fallen into the lake as the shore has -washed away. To the right of the four concrete foundations, across the road, is a large pit with heavy duty rebar. We surmise it anchored and held down supports of the concrete washer. The tent Camp 1C was located on the north side of today's existing road. The rock was cleaned, then processed to be mixed in the concrete that formed the dams on the south side of the lake.
Adjacent to the road located to the east of the resort, you will find remains of Camp Edwards, numerous pipes, rusted cans and other debris can still be found. There is also a pathway outlined with rock. Be careful, as it is overgrown. Just imagine a time of adventure for the early and hardy outdoor recreation lovers!
E.E. Edwards ran Lakeview resort, ferrying visitors across the lake to Will-o-the Wisp for dances and dinners before the north side of the lake had a road. Eleanor Edwards ran the resort after her 6rther until the 1960's. Ed and Lois Yates purchased it in 1960, as Eleanor moved over to Lakeshore Resort to help manage that resort. In 1979 Walk and Leslie Krukow bought the historic resort and with it returning patrons who have over the years become their friends.
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The Bakery, Lakeview Tract
The camps were self-sufficient. The pay wasn’t much, eleven cents an hour. Numerous camps had been established along the lake bottom so the workers could get to their various jobs quickly, without wasting time getting there. The work was hard, but the conditions were worse. Workers were charged twenty-five cents a day for inedible food and had no other options for obtaining meals. Inadequate sanitation led to an outbreak of typhoid. Accidents maimed and sometimes killed. In December 1912, State Labor Commissioner John P. McLaughlin visited the site to investigate conditions. Just after the first of the year, in order to make a point and only party in jest, a group of workers descended on the Camp 3 mess hall with a rope, threatening to lynch the cook. The men were fired. In retaliation a strike was organized by members of the radical labor group, Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies). Conditions improved. Besides the bakery, the administration building and the jail were also located nearby. The original owner was an engineer who worked on the dams, while his wife sold bakery goods out of the lower part of the cabin. Some activities for the construction crews included boxing and foot races when the workers were off on Sundays.
The present owners purchased the cabin in 1973 and are the children of a local favorite, Royce Neuchatz, who for 14 happy years played the piano at the Sunday evening sing-a-longs and slide shows which were conducted by Charlie Hull at Lakeshore Resort. She shared her knowledge about local history and the development of the Big Creek Hydroelectric project. Royce was a volunteer naturalist with the Forest Service and led hikes on most of the trails around Huntington Lake. She had a deep love and appreciation of the area, its history, ecology and its recreational opportunities. She couldn’t have enjoyed a more beautiful place to share with the numerous visitors she encountered during her years at the lake.
The Cowan family of Fresno, who with the owners of lot #6, owned the Hockett-Cowan Music Company, and built the core cabin on this lot in the early 1920’s. Idylwilde Tract was one of the first recreation tracts to be allowed at Huntington Lake. Materials were from the Henry Allen saw mill located at Home Creek or remains floated across the lake (as the road had not been built on the north side of the lake) from the sawmill located across the lake by Dam #1. Sawdust and cabins are still to be found by that sawmill site near Dam #1. There are still foundations of a structure close to the dam.
In 1944 Oscar Ellberg added a bedroom wing to the little cabin, making it an L-shaped cabin. The front concrete deck and steps along with extensive decorative rock work began. He converted the boat house/garage into a bunkhouse. Two separate sleeping quarters are housed in this structure. A croquet court and horseshoe pit were included in that construction period. In the 50’s a stone chimney was added. The most unique aspect and interesting construction on the lot is that of a replica and a miniature version of Oscar’s mother’s ancestral Swedish village. It first contained a stone castle, a village church and a cottage. The village evolved into a completed village, with a running stream and working mill, tiny electric street lights and trees represented by real shrubs and saplings pruned close to the ground. It is a masterpiece and has been the delight of many a visitor from the tract and campgrounds, as the cabins’ lot is adjacent to the Billy Creek stream. In 1973, the Ellbergs sold the cabin to Oscar’s niece, Carol Haun. Carol and her husband Lee happily share the village and their cabin with family and numerous friends.
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The Cat House Cabin at Bear Creek Extension Tract
The SJ&E was the vehicle that brought men and supplies to the Big Creek project. It was built by Native Americans and Chinese laborers. Henry Huntington, a visionary but also a shrewd businessman, gave out a story that the railroad was being built for a New Jersey timber and mining interest who planned to build a sawmill at Shaver Lake, the supposed terminal.
The hard project required “hard men” and lots of them. There were six tunnel camps from Big Creek Power House #1 to Power House #2 and five tent camps by the dams at the bottom of Huntington Lake and the gravel quarry at Lower Line Creek. At any one time there was reported to be over 5000 men working.
Cabin #58 could easily have been a “busy” place. The men didn’t have much time off but the cabin is remembered to have been located originally by the dams. The Forest Service doesn’t seem to have any records of the cabin and it is believed the cabin was moved to its present location in the 1930’s. Some called it the “Cat House”, others remember it as “The Place.”
You will find it has three distinct buildings. The most northerly part of the cabin is the original, starting where there is a double rafter to the right of the French doors. The French doors and right was added in 1978. The kitchen and bathroom is believed to be made up of three 8 by 10 sections combined, possibly from across the lake. The 1930’s seem a likely date as a working toilet with the date 1934 imprinted is a prized possession for obvious reasons.
A confidential source has reported they remember the “house” being patronized in the 1930’s and 1940’s by a number of local cabin owners, of whose identities we will not acknowledge. The first recorded ownership was the Lewis-Bartlett family in 1954. It was vacant for a few years, then Jeff Smith of Black Pot cooking and sailing fame purchased it in 1978. He was responsible for the 1978 addition. Phil and Kathy Minnehan became the proud owners in 2003 and we expect they will continue the cooking and sailing interests at their “famous cabin.”
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