By Mark McLaughlin
The community of Kings Beach is going through big changes as the streets are improved, sidewalks and traffic circles installed, and other pedestrian-friendly amenities take shape this summer. With Kings Beach getting such a dramatic facelift, it seems like an appropriate time to reflect on the neighborhood’s history.
Kings Beach developer Joseph King came to Truckee from Texas during the 1920s. Recently, 92-year-old Frank L. Titus, who knew Joe King well, wrote me about the man. After World War II, King had built a large shopping center in the heart of town near the beach. The building included Loynd’s Pharmacy and several other businesses. Frank Titus was the pharmacist who worked at Loynd’s. The drugstore was on the east corner of the complex and Joe King’s home, where he lived with his wife, Lillian, was in the back of the building on the beach. To the east of the King complex was the Buckhorn Bar & Café, also owned by Joe.
The Kings Beach post office had opened in 1937, but closed just five years later in 1942. It was located across the street in an imposing brick building also owned by King. While that building was under construction Joe King was there every morning watching it go up brick by brick. One day, Frank asked him why he spent so much time watching the men work. Joe said, “I’ve got a contract with that mason across the street, and it’s based on him laying 500 bricks a day. I’m here to see that he does it.”
In 1954, King had a water fountain built near his iconic brick building, an amenity that he and his wife donated for use by the public. Kings Beach also had a large pine tree growing in the middle of the road, much like Tahoe City’s venerable Big Tree.
A common urban legend states that Joe King won the cash to buy and develop the land at Kings Beach in a poker game with Capt. George Whittell Jr., but it’s more likely that King won some of the money in a high stakes card game with wealthy real estate developer Robert P. Sherman. Sherman and his partners owned much of the land that became the Tahoe Vista, Brockway and Kings Beach neighborhoods.
In 1926, Sherman had purchased 13 acres of land at the state line, and the following year he constructed the original Cal-Neva Lodge, which he used as a real estate office and guest house to woo prospective clients. The lodge, which offered alcohol and gaming, was built to resemble a cabin from the Broadway play “Lightnin’” starring Will Rogers. The building featured an artificial indoor stream and waterfall with a dining room pool stocked with live trout. Similar to the Cal-Neva’s Indian Room today, the dining room and dance floor had the state line painted across the room.
The Old Brockway Golf Course was established in 1924 as a recreational amenity for celebrity friends and socialite guests that stayed at the Brockway Hotel near the hot springs at the east end of Kings Beach. The layout was designed by John Duncan Dunn, a premiere golf course architect of his era. In the 1930s, Old Brockway became the course of choice for celebrities visiting Lake Tahoe or performing at the Cal-Neva.
Crooner Bing Crosby hosted his first “Crosby” tournament clambakes there in 1934 and 1935. Listed among the many American legends to stroll the links at Old Brockway were entertainers Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Lucille Ball. Other notables include Joseph P. Kennedy (father of President JF Kennedy) and former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
During the stock market frenzy of the 1920s, Robert Sherman subdivided his North Tahoe properties into small lots and offered many of them for $500. One of the first to buy land in Tahoe Vista was reportedly a well-known madam who ran a house of prostitution in Sacramento.
Joe King also helped Grass Valley restaurant owners Jim and Margaret Knudson get their popular Jimboy’s Tacos franchise established. After trying their first tacos at a friend’s house, the Knudson’s converted a 16-foot trailer into a mobile kitchen that they towed up to Kings Beach in 1954. Sales were slow at first, but within a year or two the tasty tacos went from a misunderstood novelty to a culinary hit.
In 1958, King built a small building on North Tahoe Boulevard for the sole purpose of giving the Knudson’s business a more permanent home, thus giving birth to the first Jimboy’s Tacos storefront. The word got out about the tasty food, and performers and celebrities from the Cal-Neva and other casinos became regular customers. Members of Frank Sinatra’s famous “Rat Pack” and stars from the popular “Bonanza” television show were reported seen munching at the little roadside taco stand.
Over time, a large portion of the King’s Beach Center became a furniture store before conversion into a bowling alley. In the summer of 1967, the Kings Beach Bowl opened in the same building. The bowling alley had been gutted and the owners let their teenage kids, who had a band called The Creators, begin performing there. A professional booking agent was soon hired who invited top-tier rock ‘n’ roll artists to the North Shore, many from San Francisco’s Fillmore music scene. Legendary 60s bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival, Country Joe and the Fish, Iron Butterfly, Buffalo Springfield, Janis Joplin, Muddy Waters and other legends tore it up at the Kings Beach Bowl. Holding a raucous rock concert in a small bowling alley with 10-foot-high ceilings seems ludicrous today, but local Tahoe hippies and music lovers packed the venue each weekend.
In August 1967, the Grateful Dead band arrived to play “Lake Tahoe Tour.” They enjoyed themselves so much that the following winter in February 1968 they traveled to Tahoe for their “Trip or Ski Tour.” The band then played again later that summer. Tickets cost $5. In 2001, the Grateful Dead released a two-disc set of their February 1968 two-night concert run at the K.B. Bowl. The music venue closed down at the end of 1968, and 20 years later the North Tahoe Event Center was established.
Ultimately, Kings Beach has blossomed into a flourishing community. The neighborhood has a long, storied history, with many colorful characters and events. The Grateful Dead said it best: “What a long strange trip it’s been.” Keep on truckin’ K.B.
Tahoe historian Mark McLaughlin is a nationally published author and professional speaker. His award-winning books are available at local stores or at thestormking.com. You may reach him at mark@thestormking.com. Check out Mark’s blog at tahoenuggets.com.
