Development & Conflict

Development and Conflict. . In the 1890s, the decline in silver mining on the Comstock in Nevada reduced the demand for lumber from the Lake Tahoe basin. Local businessman Duane L. Bliss, owner of Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company, recognized a new business opportunity at Tahoe City: tourism., Bliss dismantled his operation at Glenbrook and shipped the company's buildings on barges across the lake. Then he built a railroad line to the pier at Commons Beach and began construction on a grand hotel, the Tahoe Tavern. On the pier at Tahoe Commons, he built the two-story Tahoe Mercantile., Many people opposed this encroachment on public lands. Once local lumberman, Walter Bickford, even won a lawsuit against Bliss--but to no avail. Bliss continued his operations at Tahoe City until his death in 1907, when his son William took over the family businesses.One night in 1937, a mysterious fire leveled the Tahoe Mercantile, as well as the local post office and the Cedar Log Saloon. Bliss never rebuilt at Tahoe Commons. Over the years, the old Tahoe Tavern hotel competed with an increasing number of newer resorts. Eventually it fell into disrepair and was demolished in 1964.