Tahoe Truckee Region Local News: History


All Local History News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: The California mental health crisis is tied to both homelessness and rising crime.
UPDATE: California’s Mental Health Crisis: How We Got Here

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.

Image caption: The 1965 law known as the Williamson Act has been responsible for keeping about half of California's farmland out of the hands of developers.
The Williamson Act: How the Law That Protects California’s Farmland Works

The Williamson Act, passed in 1965, now keeps more than 16 million acres of farmland out of the hands of developers. Here's how the law puts the brakes on the development of California agricultural properties.

Image caption: The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land

How California’s 10 state conservancies buy up open land and shield it from developers to preserve the natural environment for public use.

Image caption: Translated from the Greek, “Democracy” means “people power.” How much power do the people have in California?
People Power! What Is Democracy, and How Does It Work in California?

Democracy is a 2,500-year-old system of government still looked on today as the best system, because under a democratic system, the people govern themselves. But is that all there is to it? What is democracy? And how does it work 


Image caption: Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

Image caption: The California Supreme Court has defined the state’s legal and political agenda for more than 170 years.
How the California Supreme Court Blazes Legal Trails

The California Supreme Court has kept the state at the forefront of legal issues surrounding abortion, the death penalty and same-sex marriage, starting in its earliest days in the Gold Rush era.

Image caption: From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Image caption: Moss Landing in Monterey Bay is the world’s largest battery storage facility for solar and other renewable energy.
Solar Power and California’s Clean Energy Goals

Solar power, and a network of giant battery storage facilities, are playing an essential role in moving California toward its goal of exclusive reliance on renewable energy sources.

Image caption: Like ripples in a pond, the hip impulse moved through Santa Cruz and beyond, and continues across generations.
How Did Santa Cruz Get So Hip?

Looking back at the Sixties and Seventies in Santa Cruz

Image caption: California transportation history runs from railroads to today’s car culture.
California’s History of Transportation: From Railroads to Highways

The history of transportation in California has shaped the state, from the railroads to today’s highways, making the need for planning increasingly urgent. Here’s how it all happened, and where we stand today.

Image caption: Over two weekends last October, residents of Santa Cruz and Watsonville  participated in demonstration rides aboard an electric streetcar on rails.
The ‘Rail Trail’ Movement, Explained

Thousands of miles of railroad track, including some in Santa Cruz County, now sit idle. The fate of those largely abandoned tracks has become a burning controversy.

Image caption: California continues to work on legislation that would make voting easier.
Voting Rites

California keeps on taking legislative steps that will keep it ranked in the top 10 of voter-friendly states.

Image caption: Access to abortion in California is limited in many areas, though state laws protect a woman’s right to choose.
Abortion Rights in California, Explained

California has historically been ahead of the rest of the country in expanding the legal right to abortion services. Here’s what state laws say today, and how we got here.

Image caption: The Man Lee and Wah Hop stores at the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historical Site are all that remains of Coloma’s Chinatown.
Excavating the Past

The Gold Rush runs through the veins of El Dorado County, especially in these historic landmarks.

Image caption: Old Sacramento Historic District Sacramento is an open-air museum of historic buildings.
Capital Collections

Sacramento’s rich past can be explored by visiting its many and varied historical museums.

Image caption: The Pioneer Monument at Donner Pass marks a museum and state park dedicated to the emigrants who crossed the Sierra Nevada.
A Quick Pass Through Nevada County’s Past

History museums, historical societies, and odd facts about Nevada County’s residents.

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10/25/2024
Image for display with article titled ‘Truckee 1927’ Model Railroad

The Truckee Donner Railroad Society has expanded its scope of operation with the building of a sectional train model of Truckee and the surrounding areas. The goal of the model is to capture the railroads, buildings and scenery from 1927 Truckee. 1927 was chosen because during this time there was a wide range of railroad operations.

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09/20/2024
Image for display with article titled Research Shows Lake Tahoe Is World’s Third-Oldest Freshwater Permanent Lake

Before considerable scientific research by Western Nevada College Professor of Geosciences Dr. Winnie Kortemeier, it was understood that Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America, was created during the Pleistocene era, also known as the Ice Age, roughly 10,000 to 2.6 million years ago. Through her radiometric dating of rocks and examining the basalt that has interacted with the water of Lake Tahoe, Dr. Kortemeier has determined that the lake is 2.3 million years old.

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08/28/2024
Image for display with article titled New Apple Podcast ‘Scamtown’ Features the Story of Harvey’s Casino in South Lake Tahoe

When filmmakers Brian Lazarte and James Lee Hernandez finished their latest projects, McMillions$, the story of a fraud ring that rigged the results of the McDonald's Monopoly game, and The Big Conn, a series about Eric C. Conn, a Kentucky lawyer who defrauded the US government of over $550 million through the Social Security program, everyone they knew was sending them stories of weird, quirky crimes.

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08/14/2024
Image for display with article titled Truckee Town Council Approves Historical Redesignation for 10012 Jibboom Street

After a month of recess, the Truckee Town Council met on Tuesday, Aug. 13, to discuss the redesignation of the historic resource inventory for the property at 10012 Jibboom Street.

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08/09/2024
Image for display with article titled Donner Party Hike 2024 Scheduled for September 7 & 8

The Donner Party Hike combines the love for the Sierra Nevada wilderness and its history.

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07/17/2024
Image for display with article titled History and Technical Aspects of the Big Boy Locomotive

Big Boy, the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, roared through Truckee late last Sunday.

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07/15/2024
Image for display with article titled HistoriCorps, Eldorado National Forest Seek Volunteers for Preservation Project

HistoriCorps and Eldorado National Forest are seeking volunteers of all skill levels to help rehabilitate the historic Bunker Hill Lookout Tower, with week-long volunteer opportunities running from July 28 through September 6.

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07/12/2024
Image for display with article titled History of Trains Through Truckee

Trains have been a part of Truckee since its early beginnings. Steam trains were the replacement of stagecoaches and were much more versatile.

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07/09/2024
Image for display with article titled Explore History Up Close With Sierra Speaker Series: John C. FrĂ©mont – “The Great Pathfinder”

Step into history with a compelling live portrayal by Steve Hale of Comstock Characters, who brings John C. Frémont's (also known as "The Great Pathfinder") adventures to life on Saturday, July 20, 2024, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Donner Memorial State Park.

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06/20/2024
Image for display with article titled Art Club’s Mural Celebrates Donner Lake and Changing Seasons at Truckee High

Over the last few weeks of school, the halls of Truckee High School have been buzzing with excitement as students waited for the Art Club to unveil their latest masterpiece.

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06/17/2024
Image for display with article titled Sierra State Parks Foundation Celebrates 50 Years

The Sierra State Parks Foundation was born when a group led by local women of the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, persuaded the Department of Parks and Recreation to scrap its plans for razing the 1903 Ehrman Mansion after it was acquired by the state in 1965. As a result, the concept of creating formalized public-private partnerships to improve the management of the state’s park system was formed.

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06/03/2024
Image for display with article titled Free History All Summer at Placer County Museums

Placer County Museums is welcoming everyone back to the Heritage Trail Museums Tour, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, with museums throughout Placer County offering free admission on select dates all summer.

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05/17/2024
Image for display with article titled Tahoe Forest Hospital Celebrates 75th Anniversary

The month of May 2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the first meeting of the Tahoe Forest Hospital District, which was formed one month prior, following the donation of land by Richard "Dick" Joseph where the hospital now sits.

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05/14/2024
Image for display with article titled Historic Chinatown in Truckee Honored With New Landmark Plaque

On Friday, May 10, many Truckee residents gathered to celebrate the 155th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad and the unveiling of Truckee's latest historical landmark, which recognizes the Chinese workers who built Truckee's railway.

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05/08/2024
Image for display with article titled Library Loop: Truckee’s Rich History

The Truckee Library would like to invite the community to three free upcoming events that celebrate our area's rich local history.

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04/18/2024
Image for display with article titled Long Overdue; Truckee’s Chinatowns Landmark

In April 2023, Truckee-Donner Historical Society submitted an application to the Nevada County Historical Landmarks Commission for Truckee's Chinatowns seeking landmark status.

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03/30/2024
Image for display with article titled Women’s History Month: Tahoe Destination Stewardship Council Managing Director Nettie Pardue on Being a Female Leader

In honor of March being Women's History month, Tahoe Daily Tribune has chosen to spotlight Tahoe Destination Stewardship Council Managing Director Nettie Pardue.

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03/28/2024
Image for display with article titled Help Restore Historic Fire Engine

The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District is seeking community members to help restore an antique fire engine the district recently reacquired.

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03/09/2024
Image for display with article titled El Dorado County Warns of Possible Measles Exposure

On March 5 a child with a confirmed case of measles was seen in the Emergency Department at UC Davis after being evaluated at San Joaquin Urgent Care. According to estimations approximately 300 people may have been exposed during the that time. Counties of residence for the individuals include El Dorado County.

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