Then and now: From dancing to redevelopment

Dancing halls were once the rage in South Lake Tahoe. Photo/Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum

In 1948, the Bijou Park Club boasted dancing. Harry Rose’s Bar hosted a community Easter Egg Hunt on Highway 50 not far from today’s Tahoe Meadows.

Years later, a two-story white wooden building near that site housed Armstrong Realty and Rentals which had apartments in the back. I rented a studio unit there in 1961 for $75 a month, utilities included. Parking in back was on a dirt driveway from Highway 50.

The South Shore in 1965. Photo/Bill Kingman

The 1965 photo shows that same section of Highway 50 as a shopping/business area including Lou’s Burgers, The Chef’s Inn, White House Realty, Milano Realty, and a Richfield gas station.

Over the years, some later businesses there included Bandana’s Pizza, Lumbleau School of Real Estate, Federico’s College of Hair Styling, Mountain High Records, and others. In wintertime, however, flooding of Highway 50 at Wildwood Avenue was a persistent problem and locals jokingly would refer to it as “Lake Wildwood.” A detour one block closer to Ski Run Boulevard was the intersection of Sonora Avenue and Highway 50. That intersection was covered/eliminated in the 1980s with construction of the Fantasy Inn.

This is the same location at the other photos as it exists in 2014. Photo/Bill Kingman

Redevelopment now has restored both sides of that Highway 50 area with vegetation and drainage control. Many motels and other businesses were razed near Wildwood Avenue where the Memorial Log, large lawn, and greenery now exist

— Bill Kingman