Glen Alpine Springs

Photo Album

Page One

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Nathan Gilmore and Family, 1888

Gathered at the Soda Springs in 1888, the Gilmore family celebrated the wedding of their daughter Susan to George W. Pierce, a banker. Nathan Gilmore stands in the center behind the spring with his daughter to his right. Behind them is the new hotel built for the great number of new guests who came each summer. It was the first of many marriages performed at the resort over the years -- a tradition that continues even today. Arrangements can be made through the Glen Alpine Springs Historical Office.

The "Soda Spring" at Glen Alpine, 1905

The Soda Springs, discovered in 1873 by Nathan Gilmore is covered by a pagoda by 1905. At the left in the picture is the office and post office, behind it, the white block, is a tent cabin. In the early days of the resort, the springwater was bottled and shipped out through the Tallac Wharf on Lake Tahoe. Brownish in color because of a high amount of iron, the water has 138.36 cubic inches of Free Carbonic Acid Gas per gallon. The other major components that make up its sizzle and appeal is calcium carbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium chloride and calcium sulphate. Temperature, 39.5F. It makes great lemonade!

The Horse Drawn Stagecoach, 1909

They came by train. They came by steamboat. They came by stagecoach. Whether it was from San Francisco or Virginia City, they traveled by overnight sleeper trains to the docks that jettisoned onto Lake Tahoe. There, guests at Glen Alpine boarded a steamboat, cruised across the lake and were picked up the Glen Alpine horse-drawn stagecoach. Guests arrived or left at the Post Office and resort Office which was directly across from the Spring. The best seat on the stagecoach was next to the whip in front. The stagecoach still exists, though not at Glen Alpine.

The 2-Story Hotel, 1919

There were two floors and 16 rooms in the hotel which sat in the meadow close to the spring. The rates were $3.50 a day or $18.00 a week for a single, $6 a day or $32 a week for double. Showers included. Meals were served in the Dining Hall across the lawn. Built about 1886, the hotel burned down in the 1940s.

Luxury Life in a Tent Cabin, 1905

$3 per day for a tent cabin at the resort in 1905. It included beds, furniture, electric (notice the Japanese lanterns) showers and toilets. Meals were served in the dining hall and lunches were provided for hikers and those going for day fishing or horseback riding. There are no rattlesnakes at Glen Alpine Springs, but there are plenty of mosquitos. As you can see, we might think of this as 'roughing it' in 1905. However, it was quite elegant and fashionable to spend the summer weeks in the cool mountain canyon.

The Post Office and
the Pierce Arrow Stagecoach, 1917

The resort had so much mail in the summer it opened it's own official U.S. post office in 1904 with Susan B. Pierce the first Postmaster. It was discontinued in 1918, but reopened in 1929 and sporadically opening and closing until it was finally shut down in 1945. The 1916 Pierce Arrow Stagecoach carried passengers between Fallen Leaf and/or Tahoe Lakes and the resort. The Pierce Arrow is still around and hope to have it back at Glen Alpine some day. In the background you can see the original Gilmore Home which was later converted to a hotel called the Cliff House.

Elegant Suppers in the
Maybeck Dining Hall, 1925

The tablecloths were white. Flowers were on every table. Napkins were linen. The plates were china. Guests "dressed" for dinner at Glen Alpine Springs Resort. The Galts offered breakfast and lunch at 75 cents each in 1923. Dinners were one dollar. In this photo of the interior of the Maybeck Dining Hall you can see the stonework buttresses carried through to the inside, the industrial windows and the heavy support beams. The Maybeck buildings were definitely fireproof. Of course, since the Dining Hall was on the side of gentle hill, it had a beautiful view of the meadow below.