I am a huge fan of the Lake Tahoe Historical Society. When possible, I attend any presentation offered. Tonight's was incredibly interesting as the audience members were either retired teachers, former librarians, or grownup students from here. Their input made it extra special.
"Join the Lake Tahoe Historical Society as Larry Lambdin presents "From Lake Valley School to Lake Tahoe Unified South Shore Schools from 1952 to Present". Larry is a retired LTUSD teacher and LTHS museum volunteer. He will share a PowerPoint presentation of his legacy project about early education on the South Shore. Before there was a Lake Tahoe Unified School District, another school system existed made up of one room school houses, a warehouse, and a barn. Students rode the train to school. It was the Lake Valley School District."I arrived early and had a chance to talk with the presenter. Sharon took this photo. I have to wonder about what we discussed.
During the turn of the century, there weren't a lot of children living in South Lake Tahoe. Silver mining in Nevada had died down and, consequently, logging in the Tahoe Basin dropped off. Those who owned homes came mostly in the summertime. Their children attended classes elsewhere. But by 1929, as the population of full-time residents began to rise, so did the need for regular schooling.
Before LTUSD was established in 1951, South Shore education relied on the Lake Valley School District, a scattered system of one-room schoolhouses, barns, and warehouses. Students frequently took the train to school. After a massive post-WWII population boom, LTUSD was formed to consolidate these fragmented facilities into a unified district.
Up until 1948, South Shore schools went from first to eighth grade. High school was typically sought outside of the area. High school students would leave Sunday night for Placerville, spend the week with a boarding family to attend classes, then return home on Friday night for the weekend. But the thought of sending their children away for weeks at a time was more than some parents could take.Once a high school was established, it moved around a bit. For several years it was housed at the American Legion Hall where hundreds of students were enrolled until 1968 when South Tahoe High School was built. There were so many location changes, and new schools being built, I couldn't keep up with Larry. Such history in such a little town.
What really caught my attention was this tidbit. I knew about this history but not how it tied into one of LTUSD's schools. Wow. So to replicate the high altitude of Mexico City, site of the 1968 Summer Olympics, officials from the United States Olympic Committee chose Echo Summit (13 miles west of our cabin) as the site of a high-altitude training camp as well as the 1968 U.S. Men's Final Olympic Track & Field Trials from Sept. 6-16. The National Forest Service allowed for the temporary construction of a 400-meter oval in the middle of the forest on top of Echo Summit.This, it turned out, was incredibly fortuitous. These Trials featured four world records. The men's team selected at Echo Summit is widely regarded as one of the strongest in Olympic history, winning 12 gold medals in Mexico City. |
Pictured are those amazing members of the
1968 men’s U.S. Track and Field team at Echo Summit. |
After the Trials, the Tartan track at Echo Summit was removed and installed at South Lake Tahoe’s Intermediate School (now South Tahoe Middle School), where it served young athletes until 1992, including hosting South Tahoe High School track meets.
It cost the city of South Lake Tahoe $42,960 to move the track, which became the first Tartan track (surfaced with a synthetic polyurethane made by 3M) in the nation to be located at an intermediate school.
As the decades went by, however, unaccountability and neglect took its toll on the city’s investment. Cracks, an uneven surface, pooling water — and even goose poop — trumped the rich history of the track, and the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association put a stop to STHS home meets for safety reasons, with South Tahoe High hosting its final track meet at STMS on April 4, 1992.In the years after 1992, Lake Tahoe track and field lovers proposed the idea of fundraising for a new track. Hugely successful fundraising campaign was started in 2007, with former Google software engineer Ray Sidney leading the way with a $250,000 contribution. Long story short on April 19, 2008, South Tahoe High hosted its first track meet in 16 years. How very, very cool is that?!
Each Lake Tahoe Historical Society's presentation is an extensive history lesson which covers more information than I could possibly absorb. Part of why this track history intrigues me so much (hence the deeper dive) is the fact that I walk by it quite often. How wonderful to have the background knowledge of such a familiar spot.It was extra special being there with Cyndi since she had been part of the LTUSD from 1st grade until her high school graduation. She had her own history lessons to share. What a blast!
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