ZEPHYR POINT
Douglas County - Mono National Forest > Toiyabe National Forest
September 7, 1931: "A fire lookout station, built on a pole foundation thirty feet high, will be erected this winter on the top of a peak near the Boy Scout camp at Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe, under the supervision of H.I. Snider, of the Truckee forest service office.
Fifteen hundred dollars towards the cost of erecting the building was contributed by A.K. Bourne of Los Angeles, who recently purchased the old De Vaux property. Yesterday the Douglas county commissioners made provision to construct a road to the station. The forest service expects to construct a telephone from the new lookout station to Glenbrook and thence to Incline.
Buck Wheeler, forest ranger, will be in charge of the station." (Reno Evening Gazette)
Fifteen hundred dollars towards the cost of erecting the building was contributed by A.K. Bourne of Los Angeles, who recently purchased the old De Vaux property. Yesterday the Douglas county commissioners made provision to construct a road to the station. The forest service expects to construct a telephone from the new lookout station to Glenbrook and thence to Incline.
Buck Wheeler, forest ranger, will be in charge of the station." (Reno Evening Gazette)
September 11, 1931: "A tour of inspection was made last week by H.I. Snyder, head of the Nevada forestry division, co-operating with the U.S. Forest Service, for the purpose of establishing sites about Lake Tahoe for fire lookouts. The first station will be placed at Zephyr Cove." (The Mountain Democrat)
September 18, 1931: "A.K. Bourne, who last spring purchased the Kellum estate at Lake Tahoe, has contributed $1500 toward the cost of erecting a building for the Zephyr Cove fire outlook station to be built on a mountain peak above the boy scout camp. It is expected that the work on the building will be completed before winter storms set in.
The board of county commissioners have made provisions to build a road to the site of the new fire station in order to get building material on the ground. A telephone line will also be built by the forest from the station to Glenbrook." (The Mountain Democrat)
November 27, 1933: "Transient relief work in western Nevada continued this week, with the mountain camp at Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe, filled to its entire quota of seventy-nine men including four staff workers, it was reported today by A.L. Russell director.
Widening of the road to the forest service lookout near Zephyr Cove is making good progress, and work is under way on a road being constructed around the lookout tower." (Reno Evening Gazette)
October 3, 1936: "Two fires on the Lake Tahoe side of the Kingsbury grade were placed under control after burning through a half acre of timber. The blazes were spotted by the lookout at Zephyr Point and control work was aided by a light rain. Forest rangers stated the fires had been started by lightning." (Nevada State Journal)
July 3, 1940: "Mrs. T.C. Clifton, the former Miss Louise Hanson of Hayward, is spending the summer at Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe, where her husband is stationed as a ranger at the Zephyr Point lookout station." (Hayward Daily Review - California)
July 4, 1941: "The first forest fire reported in this area resulting from the careless use of fireworks was reported Wednesday by officials of Mono national forest.
More than 400 square feet of forest land was burned over near Zephyr Cove, Lake Tahoe. Forest rangers reported the blaze originated from the careless use of firecrackers.
Discovered by residents of the resort area, the blaze was reported to the forest service. Jim Cain, Douglas county fire warden at Zephyr Point lookout station, took charge of suppression measures. The Zephyr Point forest service pumper was pressed into service." (Nevada State Journal)
June 16, 1944: "Fire guards, rangers and dispatchers met at Zephyr Point lookout station Wednesday to discuss the coming fire season conditions at Lake Tahoe, Fred H. Kennedy, Mono-Toiyabe forest supervisor, who conducted the meeting stated today.
He noted that so far this season, because of the unusual precipitation, that the forage has remained comparatively wet, however, it is expected to dry out within a few weeks." (Reno Evening Gazette)
October 29, 1964: "One Forest Service fire lookout station was closed for the season Wednesday, another will be locked today and personnel of three other towers gained a day's vacation as light rain fell over the parched Tahoe Basin.
In the Toiyabe, the lookout on Zephyr Point in Nevada will shutter its windows today until next spring." (Nevada State Journal)
July 3, 1970: "The forest fire lookout is gradually being phased out in Western Nevada, not by the pressure of economics but by necessity due to smog.
The only remaining forest fire lookout operated by the Nevada Division of Forestry is Zephyr Point lookout, located at the southeast side of Lake Tahoe." (Nevada State Journal)
November 13, 2013: It was announced that the Tahoe Basin Management Unit of the U.S. Forest Service is proposing to relocate the lookout structure, which now stands on private property, and the usefulness of the lookout has diminished with the development of homes surrounding the site. The proposal would call for the dismantling of the building and relocating it on White Hill above Spooner Summit. The new location would be accessible to the public and will also be used as an administrative site.