With playground construction underway at our future community center, it’s appropriate to recall the Wright family compound that occupied the site for more than a half-century. Before 2008, you may have noticed a cluster of abandoned structures on the property. These included a lodge and two cabins for family members, tiny quarters for domestic help,…
The attention Idyllwild lavished on Ernie Maxwell during his centennial last year was well deserved. But it left his wife, Betty, the other half of the Town Crier’s founding editorial duo, in the shadows. Born in Missouri in 1906, Elizabeth Beeman grew up in luxury in New York City. By her own account a born…
I first got acquainted with the Silver Pines Lodge as an Idyllwild newcomer, when I learned about artifacts unearthed there by two Idyllwild School students, Max Singer, son of the lodge’s owner Chris Singer, and his friend Bobby Righetti. Now, whenever I attend an event there, the meeting room reminds me of its longevity. Extracting…
Brendan Steele’s recent success has made golf newsworthy in Idyllwild once again. News media around the country love to highlight the odd fact that he grew up in a town without a golf course. But Idyllwild has not always been a golf-free zone. There’s a reason for street names like Fairway Drive and Green Avenue…
One of the charms of living here on the Hill is the welcome absence of typical Southern California tract housing. As soon as I settled here and began walking about the neighborhoods, I was struck by the endless variety of our residences. Just try to find any two exactly alike! That shouldn’t be surprising, given…
In a place that changes as slowly as Idyllwild, what’s new about a New Year? Seven years ago it was the imminent opening of our newest commercial development, the Village Centre shops at the corner of North Circle and Village Center drives. New? In fact, this complex was built on just about the oldest commercial…
Although you won’t find them memorialized in a street name, there are three Idyllwild pioneers I regard most highly: George Hannahs, Claudius Emerson, and Ernest Maxwell. After profiling Hannahs and Maxwell recently, it’s time for me to focus on Emerson. A recent arrival in San Jacinto from California’s Central Valley, Claudius at 28 married Zelma…
As this past summer’s well-deserved centennial celebration for Ernie Maxwell fades into memory, I’d like to focus attention on an equally fascinating Idyllwild pioneer: George B. Hannahs, Jr. His father was prominent in Michigan banking and lumber industries, eventually serving as state senator there before retiring to San Diego in 1887. Although George, Jr, was…
“Getting there is half the fun.” With summer vacation season well behind us, it may be easier to assess the validity of that old adage. In the case of Idyllwild, and with a suitably elastic definition of “fun,” I think it rings true. Let’s return this month to Florence Casebeer’s “Logbook,” where accounts recorded by…
The current ferment about where and how to manage public recreation in Idyllwild calls to mind a place where Hill folk gathered for amusement in earlier times. I speak of the land now occupied by “The Center of Idyllwild,” better know locally as The Fort. If we go back to 1904, the site was little…
