Hollywood Discovers Big Bear

A Hollywood movie set at the old Pine Knot Lodge at Big Bear Lake in the 1920’s – Rick Keppler collection. In March of 1911, a film company from Hollywood, called the Essanay Company, arrived at the Pine Crest Resort near Lake Arrowhead. They unloaded...

Cecil B. DeMille

Hollywood producer/director Cecil B. DeMille used Big Bear Lake as a film set for many years. He had a home on the lake, and was a familiar face in the Big Bear community. – Rick Keppler collection. Famous film director/producer Cecil B. DeMille was one of the...

Cedar Lake, Film Set

The old Cedar Lake mill. – Rick Keppler collection A couple miles west of the Big Bear village, up in the hills off of USFS road 2N10, nestled in the woods, is a small manmade lake. This lake is the home of the Cedar Lake Christian Camp that provides lodging and...

ALBUM – Big Bear Lake Dam

In 1909, the Bear Valley Mutual Water Company accepted John Eastwood’s design for a new dam at Big Bear Lake to replace the original rock dam that had been built in 1885. Eastwood’s unique design called for an all concrete structure without any rock or...