History
of Zephyr Point Building
of the Dream (1925 - 1939)
The stimulating period of birth gave way to a time of growth.
Development of the grounds was not haphazard, although the rustic
nature may have made it seem so. In September, 1925, no less than
the famed Superintendent of Golden Gate Park, John McLaren, was brought
to the point (probably by Dr. Donaldson) along with Ed Hussey, a San
Francisco elder and architect. They made suggestions regarding
roads, trails, beaches, piers, location of buildings, and the dividing
line between Conference and leaseholder sections.
The Rev.
W. J. Cookson,
missionary pastor of the little Presbyterian
Church in Eureka, Nevada, also was a carpenter. He was
temporarily excused by the Board of National Missions for two summers
to help with early structures at the Point. His wife served as
cook.
Equipment, or the lack of it, was an ever present uncertainty.
Otis Linn’s first truck was satisfactory around Reno, but it was not up
to the Osterman Grade from Carson City when loaded with lumber and
tools. It was traded for a smaller truck, fabricated from a 1920
Chevrolet. Clawson said it had a cone clutch, providing an
attention-getting jerk on every start, no fuel pump (gravity should do
the job), with the gas tank under the seat. These quirks made it
necessary to back up Glenbrook Hill. Clawson was proud of the
skill he developed in changing flat tires. There was no spare, so
it required removal of the wheel and rim, locating and patching the
hole in the tube, and replacing everything on the truck. One
trip he patched the tire nine times before giving up and walking to
Glenbrook, where the hotel manager refused to sell him a tire on
credit. So he walked another five miles to Zephyr for help.
None the less, Clawson commended the old truck for noble service,
hauling tons of material from Reno over two summers.
Lumber came from Celio Bros. Mill at Myers, 10-12 miles away.
Clawson told of many runs over there for special pieces. A path
where Robin’s Flight now sits served as a skid to get the lumber from
the top of the hill to where the work was being done.
Roads
Linn, Harvey, Cookson and Clawson went over the terrain to map a route
for the road. The first try put a curve on Mrs. Church’s
property, but then they hit on the configuration that served until the
recent improvements.
A team of hoses, a plow and a back-breaking Fresno scraper were engaged
to build the road. The teamster and his family camped on the
grounds while the work was in progress. Clawson, again, became a
one-man work gang, taking charge of the Fresno Scraper. He
seriously bruised himself and told of a couple of broken ribs incurred
by his father-in-law. Bill, who had picked up some knowledge of
explosives from his miner father, took care of dynamiting the large
boulders where necessary.
Three turns were planned, all on steep grades. There was no
gravel and the dirt was churned up so that no car could get enough
traction to make the turns on its own power. The first summer,
every carhad to be pushed
around those turns. After the water
system was established, many gallons were used to wet down the
road. Clawson said he "and the Linn kids" often did that
job. The lake Trail was later widened into a road and renamed
Linn Lane.
Buildings
Appear
Mrs. Church was most generous in allowing use of the Comstock buildings
in the early days, but from the beginning, there was a hunger by those
in command to become independent. They did use the kitchen of
Comstock
Lodge for preparing
food in 1925 and 1926. Guests were
served at long tables protected by heavy canvas awnings set up behind
the lodge.
The first structure on the grounds, proper, was fondly called "The
Pines." It was a utility building which stood near the
base of
the present Robin’s Flight. The Pines served as the only
permanent building until it was joined in 1927 by the stately Dining
Hall and Administration Building where Tahoe Center now
stands.
In 1948, Zephyr Lodge was annexed to the Dining Hall as a memorial to
the Rev.
Philip F. Payne,
manager of the grounds from 1928 until 1941.
Dormitories
Two large wooden platforms were built in 1926 to provide quarters for
conference delegates. The platforms had partitions providing many
sections and were covered with huge horse tents from World War I Army
surplus. The heavy canvas provided shelter from sun, wind, and
rain, but did little to contain normal youthful hullabaloo every night.
The first year of this arrangement, a heavy wind blew overthe girls’
tent, which was righted and re-set with a great deal of
effort.
The canvas sleeping quarters were located just below where Dobbins’
Hall is today. In 1927-28, a wooden dormitory building was
erected to replace the girls’ tent. It continued to be used as a
Girls’ Dormitory until about 1938. That was when the new Girls’
Dorm (now Lakeview Lodge) was built. The boys then moved into the
old Girls’ Dorm and it became known, logically, as the Boys’ Dorm.
No formal housing for faculty not serving as dorm counselors was
provided in the early days. Presumably they used tents.
This was
remedied by building duplexes for them, one in 1934 and the other in
1936-37.
Pergola
Some formal gathering place for worship was deemed necessary. A
thatch-covered frame was erected to provide a very lovely setting for
outdoor services. Rough pine posts were bedecked each year with
fresh pine and cedar bows. The structure was called the Pergola,
after an
ancient structure of similar design, and was located about where
Robin’s Flight now ends. Pews eventually were added from an
abandoned Virginia City Church, and a makeshift pulpit was replaced by
one hand-made by the Rev. J. E. Stuchell, a Commission member in 1934.
Water
and Electricity
Initially, water was purchased and piped from a tank on Mrs. Church’s
property. Then, until 1933, water was purchased from the Zephyr
Cove Water Company, supplied by springs above the Zephyr Cove
Stables. At that time, a pump was acquired and installed at the
lakeshore to bring water to a tank, which was located on Mount
Nebo. As time went on, new and larger pumps and water mains were
installed.
The pump supplied only the conference area. Leaseholders had to
carry water from the Lake. The always inventive Otis Linn devised
a pulley system, which could have been inspired by the Depression era
cartoonist, Rube Goldberg. Bill Clawson described it with a
smile: "A hole was drilled in a boulder out in the lake and a car axle
was secured to it. A cable was installed from that point to a
tree
near the parking lot and on the cable was a three gallon bucket
attached by a pulley. A rope tied to the bucket handle was wound
up on a drum attached to the tree. The weight of the bucket
carried it down the cable to the water where it would tip and
fill. Then the rope wound up on the drum until the bucket got to
the tree." And it worked.
Electricity also was but a dream in the difficult, early days.
For the 1925
Conference,
several Coleman gas lanterns were purchased,
with additional lanterns added each year until about 30 were
available. Maintenance and operation required over an hour each
day to clean and pump them up so they would be ready for the evening’s
activities.
Sierra Pacific Power Company brought in electricity in 1930.
Cabin owners shared in this convenience at $10 per year until 1940,
when each cabin went on its own meter.
The
Beach
We take so much for granted. Bill Clawson reminded us in his
reminiscences that nothing even resembling a beach existed when the
conference center began. Swimmers climbed rocks to got to the
lake. "Beach" campfires
took place with campers sitting on
boulders and the fire precariously perched on stones at the water’s
edge. There were rowboats, so a little pier, three feet wide and
about ten feet long was built on the rocks and it suffered severe
beatings in rough weather. A great deal of conversation, study,
and even wrangling over possibilities for establishing a beach boiled
down to three options: (1) On the north side of the point near the
Johnson property, (2) Directly below "The Pines," where the little pier
had been built, and (30 Just west of the present Portal of
Prayer. For a variety of reasons, option number two was selected.
Now, the question was how do we get rid of those rocks. Again,
the inventive Mr. Linn had his own idea: Pay his children (and others)
a penny a piece for rocks removed from the water’s edge. The
combination of pebbles and pennies grew quite large, but the impact on
the rocky shore was barely discernible.
A visiting preacher named Marhoff suggested a claw-like contraption to
grapple the larger rocks and drag them to shore. A blacksmith was
paid to build the Marhoff "Do-jigger," but it failed because no machine
on the grounds could produce the necessary power to move the rocks -
not even the trusty Old Truck.
For a few years, neighboring beaches were available at Zephyr Cove and
Maria Bay, but as Tahoe popularity and the associated development of
the area increased, the hospitality waned to the point that wire
fencing was installed. In 1935, the Commission contracted to
clear a beach and build two breakwaters for $943. A pledge effort
fell $318 short, but the operating account absorbed that amount and a
year later, the job was finally done. However, the beach was not
totally satisfactory, and the breakwater did not stand up well to the
most severe storms. The Leaseholders Association promoted a new
effort in 1947 and promised financial assistance. The present
contour of the beach was completed in 1948 along with a boathouse and
the present breakwater.
The
Store
D. G. Stewart refers to a commissary and store, and notes
that John
Harvey is said to have been "elected" the first "manager" in
1927. The store was in "The Pines" at the base of the hill.
Bill and Ruth Clawson spent their honeymoon operating the store in
1931. A later store was located near the highway up the hill and
for a time gasoline and other supplies were sold. In 1975,
Stewart noted that The Pines still served as a housing facility on the
shoreline north of "Payne Memorial Building." That’s just in
front of Eagles’ Wings Lodge, where the Pines had been moved from its
original location.
Dobbins
Hall
The Synod was invited to visit Zephyr Point for its annual meeting in
1937. The motion mentioned accommodations for 400 and auditorium
seating for 500, well beyond the capacity of the Point. D. G.
Stewart said the invitation showed an "enormity of faith," but that in
secular circles it more likely would be interpreted as "gall."
But in just one year, miracles happened. Oh, some delegates had
to be housed in tents, but Dobbins Hall, yes, the same stately
workhorse
structure still so vital to activities at the Point, was completed in
time for Synod. The climax of that Synod meeting was dedication
of the venerable auditorium/dormitory. Mrs. Stanley Hunter,
the Commission’s Financial Chair proudly announced to the delegates,
"Some denominations will not dedicate a new church unless it is
dedicated free of debt, and tonight I wish to tell you that out of love
for their parents, the four children of Dr. Dobbins, together with his
sister, Mrs. Lloyd, wish me to say that this building will be dedicated
free of debt."
Robin’s
Flight
It was at the 1937 Synod meeting that Mrs. H. T. Dobbins took notice of
the precarious descent via the old wooden staircase from the landing
above. On her husband’s birthday, she was moved to donate $1.000
towards the eventual installation of the beautiful rock staircase which
came to be called "Robin’s Flight" after Mrs. Robin Dobbins.
Though few recall, the flight began as a waterfall, complete with
fish. Flowers were more fitting, however, and a lovely attraction
was born.
The
Crews
A group of young people and their supervisors came to be known as "The
Crew" and they comprised the working staff at Zephyr.
Their
contributions were enormous, and the enjoyment they got and gave in
their work was equally huge. Members of the crews over the years
entered the ministry and service work in numbers far greater than the
general population, and many of them remained associated with Zephyr
Point all their lives. A crew consisted of from eight members in
the beginning to seventeen by the outbreak of World War II. They
generally stayed an entire season. Early crew members received
$40 a month for uncounted hours and an endless variety of chores.
In 1958, a lodge finally was constructed for the crew. Later, it
was renamed, and converted to conference use in honor of Frank and
Helen Hubbard. He supervised the lodge’s construction and they
both contributed to the Point in many other ways.
