Originally Published in LIVE.WORK.PLAY Magazine: by Richard Miner, Past President of the Incline Village and Crystal Bay Historical Society
Ever since moving to our gem of a town on the northern shores of Lake Tahoe in 1997 I’ve found myself wondering about the people for whom many of our streets are named. Later, after becoming involved in the Incline Village and Crystal Bay Historical Society, this interest took on a more practical bent, but only recently did I have the opportunity to call in some chips from several folks who said they had lists or knew some of the answers.
If I’d started my investigation 20 years ago I could have tapped into some of the original sources, for Art Wood, Harold Tiller, Bill Anderson and Raymond Smith were still walking among us. Sadly, all are now gone, but as luck would have it, Harold’s son Larry Tiller is still very much with us and Larry agreed to a couple of interviews on the subject.
Arranged below, in alphabetical order, are his recollections regarding the origin of almost thirty of the sources of Incline Village street names. Keep in mind that all these streets were named during the time before the Crystal Bay Development Company sold its Incline holdings and pretty much applies only to property below the Mt. Rose highway except for the Ponderosa Subdivision just to the Northwest of the 431/28 traffic circle. All subsequent development, street naming, etc. was in the hands of the Boise Cascade Corporation.
Anderson Drive: Named for Bill Anderson whose construction company built most of the early roads according to the plan developed in 1961-63 by urban architect Raymond Smith.
Betty Lane: Betty was Art Wood’s housekeeper and was brought in from Oklahoma City by Art.
Campbell Road: Rod Campbell owned a motel on the road to Crystal Bay which burned in the mid-1960’s. The entry road is still visible across SR 28 from the site of Eugene’s Chateau.
Carano Court: Donald L. Carano was a law partner of Robert L. McDonald (see below). Don later owned Reno’s El Dorado Hotel.
Cole Circle: Named for Raymond Smith’s son Cole. Cole married Larry Tiller’s sister Nancy.
Dale Drive: Dale was a son of the owners of the Kindred Family Construction Company which did much work framing early Incline Village housing.
David Way: David Dortort was a Hollywood producer who was instrumental in the creation of the Bonanza TV show. David spoke at an anniversary event hosted by Chuck Greene, Lorne Green’s son, at the Incline Village Library in 2004.
Gary Court: Named for Art Wood’s oldest son. Gary later worked for the McDonald Carano law firm.
Harold Drive: Harold Tiller, co-founder of Incline Village along with Art Wood.
James Lane: One of the Bonanza TV company people whose last name was actually “Lane.” The Tiller’s lived on this street for a while.
Jensen Circle: Dyer Jensen was an attorney for McDonald Carano but baseball player Jackie Jensen, a friend of the Crystal Bay Development Company (CBDC) execs, is also a possibility.
Joyce Lane: Joyce was Bill Anderson’s first wife and still lives seasonally in a home they built near the site of the old Cartwright Ranch house above the Ponderosa theme park.
Juanita Drive: Named for Art Wood’s wife who hated the snowy winter weather and moved back to Oklahoma City when the Woods divorced.
Kelly Drive: Charles Kelly was the maintenance manager for Eugene’s Chalet, a favorite local hangout on the Lake side of the road going up the hill to Crystal Bay.
Lucille Way: Named for an early employee of the CBDC.
Mayhew Circle: Dick Mayhew was in charge of the survey company that did much of the work for the CBCD ownership documents and subsequent development of Incline Village.
Mays Boulevard: Don (?) Mays was an early area real estate agent who worked for Ed Malley in his Crystal Bay office and was involved in early property sales in Incline Village.
McCurry Boulevard: Named for the sales manager of the CBDC who replaced David Heath, the first sales manager for the company.
McDonald Drive: Robert L. McDonald became famous in these parts as the man who “waded through snow drifts with a briefcase full of cash” in 1959 to pay an about to expire purchase option written by millionaire recluse George Whittell for the land that became Incline Village. At the time Robert was a partner in the Reno law firm of Bible, McDonald and Jensen and had been retained by Art Wood and partners to buy the property come hell or high water because Whittell had decided not to sell the land after all. McDonald later purchased the law firm which still is known as McDonald Carano. He passed away at the age of 88 on November 15, 2008.
North Dyer Circle: Dyer Jensen (see above) gets two street mentions, making the naming odds slightly more in favor of Jackie Jensen for Jensen Circle in this author’s mind.
Pat Court: Pat Woods was Art Wood’s youngest son.
Robert Avenue: Robert L. McDonald deserves two street names.
Selby Drive: Selby Calkins was the head of advertising and promotion for SBDC.
South Dyer Circle: Dyer Jensen (see Jensen Circle) gets a second street name, but maybe the first was for baseball player Jackie after all? Larry Tiller’s wife of 55 years is Dyer’s daughter Diann.
Spencer Way: Harry Spencer was a journalist friend of CBDC execs who lived on Shoreline Circle. But this part of Incline Village was developed by Boise Cascade so the provenance of the name is still a bit of a mystery.
Tiller Drive: No such confusion on this name—The Tiller family for sure.
Many other street names were given for golfing terms, bird names, and scenic features of area and so require little explanation, and some mysteries still remain. In closing, Larry’s mother, Ann Tiller, kept voluminous archives of names, locations, newspaper clippings, etc. all of which Larry gave to IVGID, the Thunderbird or Parasol Foundations after Ann’s death in 2007. My recent inquiries on the disposition of these documents are still pending but when located could serve for future articles on the history of our community.
