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Dam Keeper's House
The Dam Keeper's House at Big Bear Lake is a piece of history that's both fascinating and tragic. Built in October 1890 from hand-cut granite blocks, the house was constructed using stone from the same quarry as the original dam. For nearly 100 years, it served as home to over a dozen dam keepers and their families, including the well-known Bill Knickerbocker, who lived there with his family between 1909 and 1918.
When the Municipal Water District purchased the lake in 1977 and ended the practice of releasing water for irrigation, the role of a resident dam keeper became unnecessary. The water company handed the house over to the Forest Service, hoping it could be preserved as a museum. Sadly, those plans never materialized.
Now, this once sturdy and enduring structure is in ruins. The roof has collapsed, parts of the south wall have crumbled, and some of the original granite blocks have gone missing. The interior is marked with graffiti, and the surrounding rocks share the same fate. It's a sobering reminder of how neglect can overshadow the intention to preserve history.
The Big Bear Dam area holds more layers of history as well. By 1915, the government began leasing summer home sites nearby for $15 a year. These cabin sites-located on both sides of the lake-required materials and supplies to be ferried across the water, as there were no roads to the area at the time. Remarkably, many of these cabins still stand today, some still cherished by the descendants of their original builders. This enduring connection to the past makes the Dam Keeper's House's decline all the more poignant.
Big Bear Lake - October 2007
