In The News – First ‘Talkin’ Tahoe’ event highlights North Tahoe mining boom history
March 3, 2025 | Member Submitted
Originally Published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune, 2/27/2025, Written by Leah Carter
Travel North Tahoe Nevada (TNTNV) hosted its first “Talkin’ Tahoe” event this month in the Duffield Theater at Incline High School. Bill Watson, the Executive Director and Curator of the Thunderbird Lodge, facilitated the “Timber, Tracks and Tributaries” discussion on the history of the flumes, Marlette Water System and railways above Incline Village.
The discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, a large deposit of silver ore, turned Virginia City, Nevada into a boomtown and spurred the development of significant infrastructure, some of which still functions today.
This coincided with the logging boom, which pushed the region to develop methods to transport large amounts of timber, silver and gold between cities. This transport came namely in the form of railways and steamboats, while the Marlette Water System was constructed to provide water to surrounding areas.