Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Thu Jul 21 2016, 08:48PM

Where some of the streets named after Big Bearians from yesteryear ?

Say, Jeffries, Conklin, and McWhinney to name a few.

Re: Street Names
BootsNBridles, Fri Jul 22 2016, 01:02PM

Erwin, McAllister

Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Fri Jul 22 2016, 01:14PM

almost everywhere you look there are names of early members of the valley. One is missing and that is the road that has become Bonnanza. I always felt that was unfair but Dan McNeal didn't want to live on Gay lane

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Fri Jul 22 2016, 02:21PM

I think a 'Tyndall Dr.' somewhere would be appropriate. !skier

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Fri Jul 22 2016, 02:22PM


is he a relative of the owner of the hostel ?

Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Fri Jul 22 2016, 03:34PM

Dan owned McNeals trading post. Not sure who Gay was?


Re: Street Names
Hooky Bobber, Fri Jul 22 2016, 04:07PM

A lot more out in Bear City area.


Re: Street Names
Hooky Bobber, Fri Jul 22 2016, 04:16PM

Dan McNeil
Backward Antiques Stone, Peder, then a lot of them have been changed over time Meadow became Park. So have areas Hamilton became Eagles knoll

So can any one put the first names with the last. IE BEE

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sat Jul 23 2016, 05:56PM


Ebay $4.50 for the picture.

1950's McNeals Trading Post Village Drive Big Bear Lake Cars Photo Snapshot.

link to item on ebay.
[Click Here]

Re: Street Names
©ammy, Sat Jul 23 2016, 08:26PM

Knickerbocker Road

Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Sat Jul 23 2016, 11:15PM

The one road I'm glad we never got was Oscar De La Hoya . I never heard of anyone wanting to name a road after themselves. I think he did name his driveway after himself. I think he kind of got himself ran out of town over that.
I always wondered how Cherry lane got it's name?

Re: Street Names
BOMBER_BOB, Sun Jul 24 2016, 07:11AM

Shay Road, named after Ephraim Shay invented the gear-driven locomotive that could haul immense loads on steep grades, around sharp curves, and over poor track. the type of locomotive used in the logging industry.

Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Sun Jul 24 2016, 10:09AM

is that they shay it was named after? I never heard that. I thought it was a local cattle guy?

Re: Street Names
Doug G, Sun Jul 24 2016, 12:01PM

We had some cabins along shay road when I was a kid, I always figured it was named for the same Shay's that had inhabited the old Shay's ranch house, the one used in many movies & tv shows.


Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Sun Jul 24 2016, 12:12PM

probably so but where did he come from? The othe'r day there was a conversation and there are two Baldwins and they weren't sure which Baldwin lake was named for

Re: Street Names
BootsNBridles, Sun Jul 24 2016, 06:05PM

Conklin, Van Dusen, Cushenbury, Booth, Maltby, Rathburn, Bartlett, Gilner, Talbot,

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 06:42PM

Gus Knight Jr

The Bear Valley Hotel

Big Bear's first hotel was built in 1888 by 21 year- old, Gus Knight Jr. who realized that the new lake would bring tourists to the area. Knight, along with partner John Metcalf, purchased 80 acres south of the lake and in June opened the 30 guest, Bear Valley Hotel. Unfortunately the hotel was destroyed by fire in 1900. Automobiles started making the trip to Bear Valley as early as 1909, Charles Henry (the brother-in-law of Gus Knight) rebuilt the Bear Valley Hotel and in 1906 a group of wealthy investors from Redlands, purchased the hotel along with the surrounding 112 acres and changed the name to the Pine Knot Lodge. The Pine Knot Lodge was considered luxurious mountain living and was host to many movie companies while they were working in the area. The lodge closed in 1928.


Knights Camp

After his Bear Valley Hotel burned in 1900, Gus Knight filed for bankruptcy. In 1906 he inherited 40 acres east of Pine Knot and built Knights Camp which he opened in 1915. Located on the south shore of the Lake , the resort featured separate cabins, central dining hall, dance hall, store, and a fleet of motor and row boats.

By May of 1892, the Bear Valley Wagon Road was opened from Hunsaker Flat (Running Springs) to Fawnskin (via Green Valley), and in 1899 Gus Knight and Hiram Clark (Clark Grade Road) built the Bear Valley and Redlands Toll Road via the Santa Ana Canyon past Bluff Lake.


Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 06:50PM

Guy Maltby

In 1930, Guy Maltby, owner of the Bear Valley Milling And Lumber Company designed and built the huge four-storey clubhouse surrounded by a a golf course, beautiful landscaping, tennis courts, swimming pool, and gymnasium. The symbol of the club was a beautiful statue of Peter Pan sitting on a huge mushroom in the garden. The Peter Pan Woodland Clubhouse was a showplace and host to many gala parties, and was the center of social life in Big Bear City .

Also a style of house in the valley.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 06:51PM

Jed Van Dusen

One of the first routes into Bear Valley was a difficult trek via the Santa Ana Canyon . In June 1861 Jed Van Dusen opened a wagon trail down the back side through Hesperia and the Cajon Pass to San Bernardino.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 06:59PM

Barton Ln.

Dr Benjamin Barton a state assemblyman and pioneering physician was influential in bringing Fred Perris, the assistant state engineer to Bear Valley to consider the site as a possible reservoir.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 07:18PM



Wilson dubbed the grassy expanse "Bear Valley" and one of the nearby shallow seasonal marshes "Big Bear Lake". This same ephemeral feature is today called Baldwin Lake after Elias J. "Lucky" Baldwin of Rancho Santa Anita fame, who bought the nearby Gold Mountain Mine that was renamed for him in 1876.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 07:35PM

Talmadge Rd.
Bartlett Rd.

Cedar Lake.
In 1913, the Talmadge brothers purchased the property where the lake, dam, and camp are now situated. They used the land to graze cattle, then sold it in 1922 to the Bartlett brothers, who built the dam in 1928. They in turn sold it in 1937 to family member Guy Bartlett, who charged visitors 25¢ for admission to the property.


Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Sun Jul 24 2016, 07:38PM

I have never believed Baldwin lake was what Wilson named. I don't think he went that far East.
Wilson kept a journal. If anyone has a copy please scan and post some of it.
I have always felt he came up the seven Oaks trail. Crossed between the small bodies of water near lagonita lodge and camped on the North shore just East of Fawnskin then departed up towards Hanna flats. It is the most logical and easiest way if you were coming across the area for the first time. He was also trailing Indians and that seems the way they would travel. I would love to read about it in his words Not filtered through us Johnny-come- latelys.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 07:59PM



Look like your right BGS.

1906
Gus Knight, Sr., died and his Bear Valley ranch, 600 cattle, and 25 horses were sold to Bill Shay.

Source.
[Click Here]

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 08:01PM

1914
Will Shay and C. O. Barker purchased from the estate of the late E. J. Baldwin all 3,500 acres of his pasture land beside Baldwin Lake, and 600 head of cattle for $30,000.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Sun Jul 24 2016, 08:05PM




Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin started a second Gold Rush in Big Bear with the construction of his 40 stamp mill at Gold Mountain.

Re: Street Names
BootsNBridles, Sun Jul 24 2016, 08:47PM

Add Barker to the list then

Re: Street Names
©ammy, Mon Jul 25 2016, 09:01AM


Anybody know approximately where this golf course was?

Re: Street Names
BootsNBridles, Mon Jul 25 2016, 10:39AM



Maybe this map will help: [Click Here]

Looks to be where the airport is and the properties on the south side of North Shore Blvd.

Maybe not. Looking at it closer it seems it might be the land between Greenway and Paradise. That makes more sense since the airport was already in it's baby stages at that time.

Re: Street Names
BootsNBridles, Mon Jul 25 2016, 10:44AM

That map makes me ask what and where were the Vagabond lakes?


Back to names- Stillwells of course should be added even if they don't have a street. Same with Tidwell I imagine.

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Mon Jul 25 2016, 06:21PM


Gee I wonder. not.

William Edwin Knickerbocker.

Biography of Willam Edwin "Bill Knick" Knickerbocker and the Story of the Knickerbocker Mansion in Big Bear Lake, California

“Bill Knick” (excepted from Southern California Miscellany by Elizabeth Cox)

Unlike Paul Bunyan, Bill Knick never owned an ox. Instead, he owned several axes, all of which he kept sharp enough to split a hair on a moment’s notice.

Knick’s birth name was William Edwin Knickerbocker, a name far too fussy for his liking, so he called himself Bill Knick. Knick was born in Pennsylvania in 1869 to a Seneca mother and a Dutch father. And while it might stretch the truth to claim he was born with an axe handle in his hand, this would be a minor exaggeration. In truth, Bill Knick was as much of a natural at chopping down trees as trees are to growing in a forest. He spent his childhood gathering fallen timber from Pennsylvania’s forests. And by age twelve he was strong enough to handle an axe and began felling trees on his own. A woodsman from the get-go he grew up with splinters in his hands and sawdust in his blood.

As a young man he traveled to California, arriving in the San Bernardino region about 1901. Inclined to forest living, it was natural for Knick to gravitate to the rugged, tree-rich mountain forests of Big Bear Valley where he found a land worthy of calling his home.

Exercising an optimistic approach toward the gold-rich wealth of Holcomb Valley, Knick staked two mining claims. He supported his mining ventures by doing what he did best, working the timber industry felling trees and hauling logs by horse-drawn wagon down the mountain to Banning. In 1904, at age thirty-five, love struck an arrow into Knick and he fell fast and hard into the loving arms of Rose Pollard. The sweethearts married and settled into a cabin in the nearby town of Doble. Within ten years they had a family of four children and Knick was busy as ever working his mines, cutting timber and fulfilling duties as Big Bear Lake’s dam keeper. It was during this time that far-fetched tales about Knick’s strength, stamina and skill originated. However, mountain old-timers remember one particular story they swear is true.

It seems that for the sole purpose of developing an appetite, Knick would hike four miles to a ranch store. Once there, he’d catch up on local news before buying a quarter side of beef weighing over a hundred pounds. With a goodbye wave, he hoisted the beef onto his back and carried it home, not stopping once on the trek and never becoming winded from the load. Now, while this story may leave a smile on the teller’s face, the house that Knick built is no doubt a testimony to his remarkable skill.

Built in 1920, on Knickerbocker Road, a stone’s throw from Big Bear Village, Knick’s historic log mansion stands proudly today as a reminder of the amazing William Edwin Knickerbocker: Big Bear’s own Paul Bunyan.

Since the early 1920’s, the Knickerbocker Mansion has stood watch over Big Bear Valley from its perch on a hillside just south of the village of Big Bear Lake, California. Bill Knickerbocker was a huge and hearty man. He worked his way Westward from Pennsylvania in the early 1900’s. Reaching California, he settled in a place called Pine Knot, now known as Big Bear Lake, and became the first damkeeper for the recently completed dam. Knickerbocker searched and finally found a beautiful piece of high ground, where he could overlook the town he loved. There, along with his wife and five children, he built a magnificent log mansion. An expert axman, Bill Knickerbocker felled the trees for this historic home himself. History Photo

The outside of the Mansion is constructed from halved logs that were installed vertically for the siding. The house is built of all natural materials with extensive pine and cedar paneling throughout and is home to two huge native-stone fireplaces. A bullet graze inside the kitchen door frame (one of a series of bullets fired during a boisterous card game) gives evidence to some of the colorful history of the Knickerbocker Mansion. This three story log mansion sits majestically on two and a half acres of land above Big Bear Lake and backs up to the San Bernardino National Forest.

Source.
[Click Here]

I'd bet my bottom dollar there is a member here that can confirm or elaborate on this post.


Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Mon Jul 25 2016, 08:16PM

Pretty close except he did much much more. There was nothing that could be done on the mountain that he did not do and was very good at it.
The bullet story always bugs me also as it is wrong.
What has been pointed out as the mark of the bullet was actually a grove worn by the door closer between the dining room and the kitchen. The actual bullet was fired into the wall above the kitchen window. One of the players was obligated to wash the dishes and he stalled until the bullet was fired to spur him into action.
I have always been troubled even by that story as his three daughters were sleeping upstairs. while they were very safe there was always a chance things could go wrong. I myself have had three different bullets end up where I had not intended.
I still can't understand how he could have possibly done all the things he did. It would take me at least three lifetimes and I think I would still fall short.
Thanks for posting this. The previous owners have been told about the bullet. I have not met the current owners so they can't be blamed for any errors.


Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Mon Jul 25 2016, 08:26PM

He was a GREAT MAN, much respect.

A 'true legend'

Re: Street Names
TheUnforgiven, Mon Jul 25 2016, 08:27PM

Not to open old wounds, but would this be your Aunt ?
1921

Another cold hard winter with all roads into the Big Bear Valley hopelessly closed.

Several Big Bear children became ill including Lucy Knickerbocker. Neighbors united and took the children down the desert road wrapped in blankets on sleds. After a battle of two days, the waiting autos were reached. Sadly, it was too long for little Lucy who died from a ruptured appendix.



Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Mon Jul 25 2016, 08:36PM

That is one of the things that prevents me from finishing my book. I have to find if there were two daughters lost under sort of similar circumstances. The one in this story is represented as being very young, possibly still born. and is the marker at the doble graveyard that says Knickerbocker child. But she was buried in Polique canyon . I have no idea where? Another daughter was having problems while pregnant and had severe bleeding and they tried to evacuate her in this manner but died after a community effort. I don't know where she was buried
This is why I try to be very accurate and don't mind being proven wrong. I think this story is one of those that is written then picked up by others and even inhanced until it is hard to know what is true

Re: Street Names
©ammy, Mon Jul 25 2016, 09:38PM





Thanks for the map. That clears it up for me.

But the Vagabond Lakes... Based on their proximity to Baldwin Lake and the fish hatchery, they look like they're out in the area of Erwin Lake. But the road between Baldwin Lake and the fish hatchery is throwing me off. So is the route of the Victorville Road as compared to the current route of Hwy 18. So I can't be certain on the Vagabond Lakes' location.

Re: Street Names
bills grandson, Mon Jul 25 2016, 09:43PM

These maps are drawn up to sell property. Often by people who have never been there. projects are often planed that are never completed.
There were pieces of the golf course still left in the 60's. As houses were built they eliminated the course. The park of course is the last remaining

Re: Street Names
Hooky Bobber, Wed Aug 10 2016, 06:56PM

Should be a street after Charlie Tayels

Re: Street Names
Socalman, Fri Dec 16 2016, 08:09AM



Now that his son has also passed, it would certainly be appropriate! For those who do not know, Tommy Tyndall was the owner of Snow Summit back in the 50"s (?) and early 60's until his tragic death while working on the slopes.



Re: Street Names
Christopher, Tue Feb 21 2017, 08:10PM

Talbot road was named after The Talbot family who lived there in the 1940's. Clarence was the father of Flora Talbot Copley and the grandfather of Terry Copley.

Re: Street Names
Hooky Bobber, Tue Feb 11 2020, 10:05AM

Here are a few names the deserve remembrance
Norma Harper-Property Developer/DWP
Dave Pontell-DWP
Fred Ransom-Built a lot of the Ski lifts in the area along with Roads in the Valley
Real Williams- Roads/Highways