D.L. Bliss State Park - History

Duane. L. Bliss was born in 1833. In 1849, at the age of 16, he left Massachusetts for the El Dorado of the time: California. He arrived in San Francisco in 1850, after being delayed in Panama for several months due to illness. He first mined a small claim in the Marysville area, then in 1860, moved to Gold Hill, NV where he managed a quartz mill and became a partner in a banking firm. In 1863, he returned to the east coast to marry his bride, Elizabeth Tobey, also of Massachusetts: they would have five children.

In 1865, the Bank of California bought out the Gold Hill firm of Almarin B. Paul, Duane L. Bliss, and W.H. Baker. In 1871, Bliss, forms the firm Yerington, Bliss & Co. with Henry Yerington and Darius Mills and begin buying Tahoe area timberland. In 1872, Bliss moved his family to Carson City (from Gold Hill). In 1873, he formed the Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company with his partners and James Rigby. Bliss is president and general manager of the company’s three divisions: logging, milling and transportation.

During the 1890s, as the lumber industry at Tahoe was approaching an end, Duane Bliss began to build three projects: a passenger ship to transport visitors across Lake Tahoe, a railroad to connect Tahoe City with the Southern Pacific Tracks at Truckee, and a luxurious resort hotel at Tahoe City, to be known as the Tahoe Tavern.

The April 1901 edition of the Truckee Republican notes that D.L. Bliss, manager of the new rail line, had run the first train for the season into Truckee from Tahoe City. Despite the fact that the 15-mile trip took several days, owing to slight repairs enroute and the diversion of snow waters from the track, the road was said to be in excellent condition, and regular trips were scheduled to begin after May 15 of that year .

The next year, in 1902, his Tahoe Tavern opened its doors to an enthusiastic clientele and remained a Tahoe hotspot for the next 62 years, outliving its founder, D.L. Bliss, who died in 1907.

[sources: Tahoe Heritage: The Bliss Family of Glenbrook, Nevada by Sessions S. Wheeler with William W. Bliss (University of Nevada Press, 1992) as appearing at http://www.knowledgecenter.unr.edu/specoll/mss/96-53.html on 11/7/08; http://www.tahoecountry.com/oldtimetahoe/tavern/tt.html, downloaded 11/7/08;