The more Elisa Stancil would hike or ride her horse Jiggerz to the lake at Jack London State Historic Park, the more appalled she became by the marshy, algae-choked habitat and the leaking stone dam.
“I’ve had people, while they’re standing right next to it, ask me, ‘Where is the lake?’” she said. They remembered the pleasant oasis and didn’t recognize the “lake” in its current form. Stancil decided to do something about it.
To start the new year she’s kicking off a campaign to restore the body of water, which she calls “a hidden treasure,” to its former glory.
“We’re going to start some serious fund-raising,” Stancil said. All the preliminary paperwork is done, she said, and the project requires $840,000 to deepen the lake, resurface and save the dam, and install proper drainage.
The lake was created in 1914 on Jack London’s Beauty Ranch in Glen Ellen when London was at the height of his fame, the most well-paid and widely read writer in America. A curved stone dam was built to hold water diverted from Graham Creek, forming a 5-acre lake, used for irrigation and for the Londons’ recreation. A redwood log cabin, which still stands, was built with areas for showering and changing into bathing costumes. London kept boats there and had the lake stocked with 1,500 catfish.
Photographs of the time show a clear, sparkling body of water, quite different from the shallow, cattail-choked pond of today. London died in 1916 and his wife, Charmian, lived on the ranch until her death in 1955. The lake was maintained by London’s heirs, the Shepard family, until it became part of the state park in 1979. And over time the lake has filled in and the dam developed leaks.
“The state has had this on the top of their list (for repairs) since 1988,” Stancil said. “But clearly they haven’t done a thing.”
So Stancil has been busy shaking things up, in her own way. She is learning how to write grant requests and find funds. What she thought, two years ago, when she became a docent for the Valley of the Moon Natural History Association, would be a relatively simple two-month project has turned into a long journey.
“I’m sticking with this until it’s done,” she said, with determination.
• Those interested in the project can contact SaveLondonLake@yahoo.com.
