by Kathy Hoffman | Mar 22, 2019 | Historical Photo Albums, History
Before 1915, the Big Bear Village was not much more than a collection of small resort camps. The Big Bear community was centered around the huge Pine Knot Lodge, which was located just south of today’s village. In fact, the local community was known as Pine Knot...
by Kathy Hoffman | Mar 22, 2019 | Historical Photo Albums, History
By the 1930’s and 40’s, Big Bear Village which was still known as Pine Knot up until 1938, has completed the transformation from a small cluster of camps into an actual village. Compare the first photo in this Big Bear Village Photo Album to the first...
by Kathy Hoffman | Mar 22, 2019 | History, Mining
VALLEY GOLD COMPANY – 1896 In 1894, about the same time that the Gold Mountain operations at Big Bear Lake were struggling along, another interesting big money venture for extracting gold from the Big Bear area was being carried out by the “Valley Gold Company...
by Kathy Hoffman | Mar 22, 2019 | History, Mining
In 1860, Bill Holcomb started a Gold Rush that began bringing people into the Big Bear valley in significant numbers for the first time. Within just a few months of his discovery, the once secluded Big Bear/Holcomb valley area had the highest concentration people in...
by Kathy Hoffman | Mar 22, 2019 | History, Mining
BILL HOLCOMB The story of Big Bear’s gold rush begins at the corner of Stanfield Cutoff and Big Bear Boulevard. Back in 1859, this area was known as Starvation Flats. It was home to a small group of prospectors who were searching these hills for gold. One of those...
by Kathy Hoffman | Mar 21, 2019 | Historical Timeline, History
BIG BEAR HISTORICAL TIMELINE ART 3 1916 thru 1938 This is part 3 of a historical timeline of noteworthy events in Big Bear’s history. It was started by my very good friend and local historian Tom Core, who passed away in 2006. The Timeline is continually updated, with...
