MILEPOSTS #1013
By Bill Pumford, Image from Russ Keller Collection
TITLE: ARROWBEAR LAKE TAVERN: This week’s image is an interesting postcard photo that was mailed in 1934 of a tavern at Arrowbear Lake. The building itself is the original clubhouse for Arrow-Bear Park built in 1925. The clubhouse included a dance pavilion, and Arrow-Bear Park membership came with horseback riding, fishing, boating, and winter activities in addition to lots available at low costs. There was an area in front of the clubhouse for boats. Not much is known about the Arrowbear Tavern but it appears that in 1933 Robert Sutherland managed the tavern and acquired a permit for dancing which featured a three-piece orchestra. The tavern did not last long. Beginning in 1934 the building and property was used by Tom Lieb as part of his summer camp for the conditioning of high school boy athletes for the football season. Tom Lieb was the head football coach at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The camp was originally named Camp Loyola but in 1938 it became Camp Lieb. In 1939 Tom Lieb created Camp Arrowbear for the girls. By the mid-1940s the property, including the clubhouse building and the lake, was purchased by the Salesians who created Camp Don Bosco for boys which utilized the old clubhouse as a lodge. The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church whose mission is to help poor and at-risk children. By the early 1980s most of the Camp Don Bosco property was lost due to taxes. Most of the buildings have since been torn down and only parts of the original clubhouse foundation remain. If anyone has more information about the short-lived Arrowbear Tavern please let us know.