LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors has directed county staff to move forward with relocating two long-held county historical artifacts to the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum in Kelseyville.
Last Tuesday, Public Services Director Caroline Chavez went to the board to seek guidance on new homes for an early 1900s San Francisco cable car and the Old Lake County Jail.
She estimated that it would cost about $20,000 to move the cable car and $2,000 to move the jail to the stage stop museum, located on Soda Bay Road, where they would be safe and accessible to the public.
County Administrative Officer Matt Perry said the funds to move the cable car have been carried over in the budget for the last few years.
The county received cable car No. 38 in 2007 from the Lake County Fair, which had owned it for about 60 years, according to Chavez.
Chavez reported that the cable car was built around 1906 to 1907 and was a replica of the cars in the 1890s fleet that were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire.
It had been at the fairgrounds in Lakeport on display for decades but after it sustained damage from a lawn sprinkler, the fair considered returning it to the city of San Francisco, Chavez said.
The county reached an agreement with the fair to take possession of the cable car, restore it and make it publicly accessible, with the Lake County Historical Society to assist in the renovation, according to Chavez.
Her report to the board explained that the cable car was taken to the jail for renovation by the inmates, but those plans haven't worked out. Instead, a body shop was hired to make minimum repairs and paint the car.
“It has been in large part restored but it needs to find a home,” she told the board, noting during the meeting that Sheriff Frank Rivero wanted to use the awning that is sheltering the cable car for other uses.
Initially, the idea was to place it in the Courthouse Museum Park in downtown Lakeport, but during the discussion Chavez would explain the high cost and number of major change that would be necessary to create an appropriate space for the cable car at the park.
With the Ely Stage Stop now open, and with the Lake County Historical Society wanting to see the car moved to the stage stop – she took with her a letter of support from Lake County Historical Society President Phil Smoley – Chavez presented it as the most cost effective and best option overall.
She also proposed moving the Old Lake County Jail, which now sits at Saderlund Park in Kelseyville, to the Ely Stage Stop, where it would be safer.
“Unfortunately, it is in a highly vandalized area,” she said. “They're pulling the shingles off of it and throwing them in the barbecue. We need to get that out of there to preserve it.”
The historical society is interested in both the cable car and the jail, and Chavez said county staff can do the preparation work at the stage stop, including putting down the concrete pads needed for the artifacts.
The cable car will need to be rolled onto a flatbed for transport; at 38 feet long and 11,500 pounds, it can't be lifted with a crane, Chavez said.
Moving the cable car to the Courthouse Museum Park was estimated to cost a minimum of $60,000 just for the engineering needed to put in a foundation for the car, Chavez said.
At the Ely Stage Stop, a concrete pad can easily be installed and Chavez said the county was looking at putting up a prebuilt pole barn kit as a cover. “It would be protected out there.”
“These artifacts need to be preserved,” said Supervisor Jim Comstock, who remembered seeing the cable car at the fair when he was a child.
He agreed that the Ely Stage Stop appeared to be an excellent location.
“I would totally support moving both of these artifacts to the Ely Stage Stop,” he said. “Their presence enhances what's already been done there and what's planned for the future there. I like what's been done there and I think this is just another enhancement to it.”
Supervisor Anthony Farrington had concerns about whether the cable car fit with the county's agricultural history theme of the museum, as well as issues of cost.
Board Chair Jeff Smith said something had to be done to protect the cable car, and he said it made sense to put it at the stage stop museum, but he wanted to see a larger building erected to accommodate it.
Supervisor Denise Rushing favored giving the cable car and jail new and safer homes. “I think we have an obligation to preserve that which has been entrusted to us,” she said, adding that she supported the Ely Stage Stop location.
The board gave Chavez consensus to move forward with taking the cable car and old jail to the Ely Stage Stop.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.