Special Collections, University Library, University of Nevada, Reno

A GUIDE TO THE RECORDS OF
THE EL DORADO COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, LAKE TAHOE DIVISION
Collection No. 90-65

 

 

EL DORADO COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. LAKE TAHOE DIVISION.

The Lake Tahoe Division of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce was organized June 14, 1938 by a group of south Lake Tahoe businessmen and women as a branch of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce. Formal incorporation took place November 10, 1938. As stated in the bylaws, the purpose of the group was to advance the commercial and industrial interests of the county and to work for the upbuilding and betterment of the several communities within the county boundaries by cooperating with other organizations and individuals in an endeavor to serve and protect mutual interests. Charter members included Ralph T. Plimpton, H.F. Lewright, Ralph King, Eldred H. Bray, O.R. Martin, Louis C. Krueger, John Keller, Ray Walters, John S. Lawson, Anna M. Martin, and A.W. Lampson. Although not stated in the bylaws, homeowners were also invited to become members and provide financial and moral support.

Among the initial projects of the Lake Tahoe Branch was a successful lobbying effort with the California State Highway Commission to have a maintenance crew and equipment kept at Lake Tahoe during the winter season and to make improvements on Highway 50 between Placerville and Tahoe (hereafter referred to as "the lake"). The Chamber also formed committees to work for the construction of an air field at the lake, to promote the lake through "radio travelogues" and other advertising media, to collect data on damage done by the high water level of 1938, to ask the California Department of Fish and Game to extend the fishing season at Tahoe an additional thirty days in September, to correct unsatisfactory mail delivery during the winter at Tahoe, to alleviate the menace of the many trees to highway traffic between the "Y" and Camp Richardson, and to obtain adequate fire equipment for the district.

In August of 1938 the Chamber began to investigate ways of obtaining a building which they might use for meetings and as a tourist center. The Chamber held a Buck Stew on Oct. 15, 1938 to help raise funds and celebrate the purchase of a building at Lawson's Resort, and with these funds, donations from businesses at the lake and in Sacramento, and a mortgage from the Bank of America, the Chamber completed the purchase by the end of that year. The records in this collection indicate that the Chamber was unable to raise enough additional funds to meet its mortgage payments and on August 19, 1941 the Chamber legally assigned the building to members Ralph King and John E. Keller to avoid foreclosure. Although the records in this collection date only to 1942, the Chamber continued to operate to the present time.

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The records of the Lake Tahoe Branch were donated to the Special Collections Department by the Manuscripts Division of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The Bancroft received these records from Mrs. Dorothy King DeMare, daughter of Ralph King, secretary of the Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, realtor, and principal overseer of the Echo Lakes development. Mrs. DeMare graciously agreed to the transfer of these records to the Special Collections Department, as the Department already had an extensive collection of Lake Tahoe manuscript and printed materials.

The records in this collection date from 1938-1942, the period of and immediately preceding King's term as secretary for the Lake Tahoe Division. There is .75 cubic feet of material and there are no restrictions on use of the collection.

The bulk of these records date from 1938-1939, and except for financial records, are fairly complete. In particular, the minutes and correspondence are very useful in documenting the activities of the Chamber, and considering the small number of members, those activities were numerous, as seen from the proceeding pages. These materials also document the interaction between the Tahoe Division and its parent organization, the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce, which in addition to the Tahoe Branch was composed of a number of other branches to accommodate its often geographically remote membership. El Dorado Chamber records in this collection consist of a constitution, bylaws, and minutes from June 1938 to June 1939. Also included are bylaws for the Arcadia, California, Chamber and minutes of the Sacramento Valley Council of the California State Chamber of Commerce (1939).

Records of the Lake Tahoe Branch, in addition to previously mentioned bylaws, minutes and correspondence, include subject files. The individual files are listed below, but in general reflect the previously mentioned Chamber activities. Also included are two photos, both of Lake Tahoe.

Processed by: Susan Searcy
Date: October 4, 1990

 

 

The records of the Lake Tahoe Division of the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce are arranged into the following series:

1. Administration

2. Correspondence

3. Subject Files

4. Other Chambers of Commerce

5. Photographs

 

 

Series 1. Administration. 1938-1941. Six folders.

Arranged by type of material and alphabetically within each type.

Box 1

90-65/1/1 Bylaws. 1938.

90-65/1/2-4 Minutes. June 21, 1938 to Aug. 19, 1941.

90-65/1/5 Organizational meeting. December 1938.

90-65/1/6 Financial. 1938.

 

 

Series 2. Correspondence. July 1938 to 1941. Six folders.

Arranged chronologically.

Box 1

90-65/2/1 July-Oct. 1938.

90-65/2/2 Nov.-Dec. 1938.

90-65/2/3 Jan.-June 1939.

90-65/2/4 July 1939.

90-65/2/5 Aug.-Dec. 1939.

90-65/2/6 1941.

 

 

Series 3. Subject Files. 1938-1940. 20 folders.

Arranged alphabetically.

Box 1

90-65/3/1 Ballots, election of 1939. Includes a list of members.

90-65/3/2 Buck Stew. Invitation, menu, committee members. 1938 (all Buck Stew materials are from 1938).

90-65/3/3 Buck Stew. Acceptances.El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce.

90-65/3/4 Buck Stew. Regrets.

90-65/3/5 Buck Stew. Letters to donors.

90-65/3/6 Building. Purchase and foreclosure. 1938-1942.

90-65/3/7 Building. Insurance. 1938-1940.

90-65/3/8 Building. Solicitations for purchase funds. 1938-1939.

90-65/3/9 Building. Solicitation responses.

90-65/3/10 Building. Rental. 1940.

 

Box 2

90-65/3/11 Clippings. 1938.

90-65/3/12 Inquiries [from visitors]. 1938-1939.

90-65/3/13 Lake level hearing. 1938.

90-65/3/14 Legislation. 1938.

90-65/3/15 Mail delivery. 1938.

90-65/3/16 Membership. 1939; n.d.

90-65/3/17 Publicity. 1939.

90-65/3/18 Resignations. 1938-1939.

90-65/3/19 Resolutions. 1938-1939.

90-65/3/20 Tree removal. 1939.

 

Series 4. Other Chambers of Commerce. 1933-1939. Five folders.

Box 2

90-65/4/1 El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce. Constitution and bylaws. ca 1938.

90-65/4/2 El Dorado Chamber. Minutes. June 1938-June 1939.

90-65/4/3 Sacramento Valley Council of the California State Chamber of Commerce. Minutes. 1939.

90-65/4/4 Arcadia (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce. Bylaws. n.d.

90-65/4/5 Handbook: "Building and Maintaining a Local Chamber of Commerce." 1933.

 

 

Series 5. Photographs. n.d. Two items.

The collection included two photos: an aerial view of Incline Village, Nevada [ca 1930s or 1940s?] and an aerial view on a postcard of Lake Tahoe, showing Fallen Leaf, Gilmore, Half Moon, and Susie Lakes and Desolation Valley, n.d. Both photos have been transferred to the photo archives of the Special Collections Department.