{"nrhp_refnum":"72000245","name":"Outlet Gates and Gatekeeper's Cabin","other_names":["Historic Gatekeeper`s Log House and Site"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"U.S. 89 at mouth of Truckee River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tahoe City","county":"Placer County","state":"CA","lat":39.16662786200004,"lon":-120.14342659999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-12-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Native American","Engineering","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly two-acre site at the only outlet of Lake Tahoe, at the mouth of the Truckee River near Highway 89 in Tahoe City, Placer County, California. It holds a turn-of-the-century log gatekeeper's house (dated 1909) next to the lake's outlet gates, first built in 1870.","why_significant":"The log house was described as one of the oldest at North Lake Tahoe and was proposed as a museum of early Tahoe history. The adjacent outlet gates were central to the 'Tahoe Water War' between lakeshore owners and downstream Truckee River users, settled in 1910-11. The site is also linked to the basket weaver Dat-So-La-Lee, who wove there.","narrative":"This two-acre wooded site sits at the only outlet of Lake Tahoe, where the Truckee River begins in Tahoe City. It includes a turn-of-the-century log house built of logs from a local sawmill, dated 1909. The gatekeeper used it as an office to record the lake's height and control water released downstream toward Nevada. Beside it are the outlet gates, first built in 1870. Control of those gates sparked the 'Tahoe Water War' between lakeshore owners and downstream river users, a dispute that lasted two decades and ended in 1910-11 when methods for measuring water content in snow allowed better prediction of lake and river levels. The site is also tied to Dat-So-La-Lee, a renowned basket weaver who worked in front of the cabin's location. Supporters hoped to keep the grounds as public open space and create a museum. The log house was later destroyed by fire, while the dam and gates remained the significant surviving elements.","period_of_significance":"1909","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Later documents record that the log cabin was burned and judged beyond restoration in 1979; the dam and gates were considered to retain integrity, and the site was to remain listed with the cabin no longer a contributing element.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.527637-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/72000245.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860410","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/placer-county/outlet-gates-and-gatekeepers-cabin-72000245/"}