By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
The Lake Arrowhead branch library in Blue Jay was the place to be for folks who are curious about the history behind a number of mountain spots.
This was Russ Keller’s monthly historical presentation, sponsored by the Lake Arrowhead New Friends of the Library.
The June 12 presentation focused first on Pine Crest Resort. In 1904 when 160 acres of land came on the market, Dr. John Baylis – an original member of the Squirrel Inn – did not want it to be sold to a lumberman. When he was unable to convince the other Squirrel Inn members to purchase it, he got a loan of $8,500 to buy it.
Baylis started construction in 1906 with a goal of building the largest public resort in the San Bernardino Mountains. He succeeded – by 1917 Pine Crest had become just that. It could accommodate more than 500 people and had a pool, tennis courts, a library and a restaurant.
Two stone columns across Highway 189 mark the entrance to what was the south park of Pine Crest. In 1911 a forest fire destroyed the buildings in the south park.
After Baylis’ death in 1952, the Assemblies of God Church purchased Pine Crest in 1954 for $160,000; they still own it.
In the early 2000s, Pine Crest attempted to develop south Park as a Ranger camp but county and public outcry killed the project. They sold south park, which is now the Better Place Forest.
Baylis was instrumental in renaming Crest Drive to Rim of the World Drive; Baylis Park on Highway 18 was created in his honor.
Keller then moved on to Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church. Prior to 1939, Catholic families met at schools and fire stations with a visiting priest. In 1939 they leased a building in Crest Park, later purchasing and remodeling it. The sculpture garden in the back of the church was created in 1953, fulfilling the dream of the first pastor. A sculptor from Portugal carved the sculptures from white Portuguese marble, paid for by June Lockhart’s parents.
Keller then read from a brochure about the development of the Lake Arrowhead Community Presbyterian Church. The congregation first met at various locations around the mountain, including the movie theater. The Los Angeles Turf Club, which acquired Lake Arrowhead and the Village, donated land that could be leveled to the church; the building was designed by architect Paul Williams and construction began in October 1950. The first service was held in April 1951 with folks sitting on folding chairs. Later money was donated for pews and the bell tower.
An article in the Los Angeles Times in June 1947 noted that the Turf Club had donated land for a hospital to be built in Lake Arrowhead. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange opened the hospital in 1951 with 37 beds and eight nurses. In 1967 it became Mountains Community Hospital. The MCH Foundation was founded in 1991, dedicated to ongoing expansion and improvements. The first Le Grand Picnic was held in 1994 at the home of Gene and Billie Yeager.
The Village Inn was located where Stater Bros. is today. Keller passed around postcards from 1923 and 1927. What happened in between? In August 1925 the Los Angeles Times announced the Village Inn had been purchased by five people in film. Each room would have the name of a famous actor, actress or director. But by February 1926, what had become the Screen Club Inn was once again called the Village Inn. In April 1979, it was burned as part of the burn-to-learn exercise in Lake Arrowhead Village.
There are, Keller said, three stories about the legacy of the arrowhead that appears at the base of the mountain:
- The Cohuillas Indian tribe was harassed by neighboring tribes. They called on the god of peace to lead them to another area and were instructed by the Great Spirit to look for a fiery arrowhead to guide them. On a dark night, a blazing arrowhead appeared where the arrowhead is now.
- A newspaper called the Lake Arrowhead Log claimed to tell the true story of the arrowhead: that it was formed by limestone being eroded by wind into the arrowhead shape.
- In the booklet “Tragedy and Romance of the Arrowhead” by Judge Guy Garner, he shares an American Indian legend handed down to him. A beautiful Indian maiden was loved by two braves. To resolve the situation, the chief fashioned two arrowheads out of flint and presented one to each brave, one of whom was to go east, one west. They were to find the hardest flint they could and make arrowheads, then return in six weeks to fight a battle to the death. That battle took place at the base of the mountain where one brave fell mortally wounded with an arrow to his heart. The other rushed to his side, withdrew the arrow and shot it into the mountainside. Six months later, a giant arrowhead appeared on the mountain.
“Back to reality,” Keller said. A geologist from Cal State San Bernardino said his assumption is that the arrowhead is manmade, that there are no photos of it prior to the 1860s.
What Keller believes is that it’s a natural formation due to the granite slab that exists about a foot below the surface so plant life can’t grow there.
The Arrowhead Springs hotel was built in the 1860s by David Noble Smith as an infirmary to cure consumption. By 1884, it had been sold and became the first hotel, which burned down in 1885. The second hotel opened that same year and burned in 1895. The property sat vacant for 10 years when the third hotel was built by Seth Marshall. Its steam caves had the hottest springs in the world due to being on the San Andreas fault.
Marshall believed the waters were really curative and asked a USC geologist to test the waters. The results? The professor said the mud and waters contained radioactive substances.
That third hotel burned in November 1938 due to a forest fire that came down the mountain. A fourth hotel – the current one – was designed by architect Paul Williams and opened in December 1939. It was sold to Conrad Hilton in 1951, to Hilton Hotel in 1951, to Campus Crusade for Christ in 1961 and finally to the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in 2017.
During both WWI and WWII, Keller said, the building served as a hospital.
As the presentation drew to an end, Keller passed around a postcard with this message: “Dear Mrs. Irving, This place has everything. I must marry a millionaire and spend the rest of my life here.”
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