From time to time, I am asked about the spelling of Spaulding Tract, as the Spalding name does not contain a “u.” This no doubt is an issue of property title. There were two separate Spalding subdivisions. First one done in 1914, and the second the Spaulding Tract we know today was subdivided in 1924. A portion of the two subdivisions are identical, hence the need for clarification.

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After the failed first Spalding subdivision, it was brought back to life as Spaulding Tract, The story of the inserted “u” for another time. In 1924, this time around, the Spalding family with a new subdivision on the west shore of Eagle Lake, hired real estate developers to promote it. This gave birth to the Eagle Lake Cabin Site Company.

Promote they did. These folks were shrewd, and knew first hand the local residents were not their market, because they knew there was nothing there to get excited about or invest in. The Eagle Lake Cabin Site Company produced a brochure to entice folks primarily in Southern California of this hidden gem, more spectacular than Lake Tahoe. To lure people to buy lots, as an enticement was the proposed grand hotel to be built, similar to the famed El Tovar Inn at the Grand Canyon.

The lots initially sold for $50 each. When the company began selling lots in the spring of 1925, they were confident that the entire tract of 5,964 lots would be sold out in six months. While they did not reach that goal, they did sell over 3,000 lots.

In 1926 sales dramatically taped off. This was due in part of the new lot owners when came to inspect Spaulding Tract. First they encountered poor roads and when they finally arrived there were not any visible signs that gave the slightest hint the place was a resort community. So digusted many of the lot owners refused to pay property tax for a non-existant resort community. Thus, the Eagle Lake Cabin Site Company faded into oblivion.

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On July 6, 1914, the Lassen County Board of Supervisors approved John S. Spalding’s subdivision for the Town of Spalding, on the west side of Eagle Lake. It was Spalding’s intent to develop a summer resort. The Susanville newspapers had extolled wonderful praise for the project.

Yet, momentum was difficult. First, there was competition of other developments taking place—the volcanic eruptions of Lassen Peak, the construction of Lake Almanor and the newly built company town of Westwood. Yet, one of Spalding’s biggest obstacles was access, or in this case, lack thereof. Even since 1900, considerable pressure was applied to the Lassen County Board of Supervisors to make road improvements to Eagle Lake, though very little materialized. The resort town was a failure. Only one lot was sold, of note it was a purchase by a retired Lassen County school teacher, Asa M. Fairfield.

In September 1924 the Spalding family petitioned the Lassen County Superior Court to dissolve the townsite and was granted.

This is a portal midway through Bly Tunnel near Eagle Lake. The fenced off enclosure is easily seen from the road going up to the Eagle Lake Youth Camp. There are still numerous ditches, cement diversions of the canal system, extending all the way to the Sunnyside District near Janesville to past Wendel in another direction from the failed Tule & Baxter Creek Irrigation District’s Bly Tunnel project.

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Last summer I had good intentions to visit various sites to take photographs of what they look like today. The Eagle Lake Golf Course of the late 1920s was one of them, but I never made it. However, the Whaleback Fire did hinder some expeditions. John “Burt” Christie, one of the early operaters of the Eagle Lake Resort, was an interesting figure at the lake’s south shore. Besides the resort, he eventually became the caretaker of Gallatin House and the Gallatin properties at the lake. Continue reading The Eagle Lake Golf Course →

Eagle’s Nest is located in a small cove on the east side of the lake, about three miles north of Gallatin House. In 1956, the Lassen National Forest opened a small subdivision for summer home development. There are forty-two lots with long term leases with the forest service. In September 1956 the forest service held a random draw as the selection process to allocate the lots, as they had received 226 applications.

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With the winter solstice upon us, I have been looking back when the days were longer and warmer. On an excursion to the east side of Eagle Lake provides for an interesting setting of the geology of Eagle Lake. This, of course, I am indebted to Michael Clynne of U.S.G.S who enlightened me. Continue reading Eagle Lake Geology 1.0 →