Local effort to restore oldest building on the South Shore: Osgood Toll House

Long before the road between Placerville and Virginia City was paved and maintained by state transportation departments, the job of keeping roads clear of rocks and snow fell on opportunistic land owners.

The steady stream of prospectors from the declining gold fields in California to the 1858 silver strike in Virginia City created considerable damage, as well as traffic jams, along the route.

An opportunist name Nehemiah Osgood arrived in the South Shore from his home in New Hampshire in 1859. He built a toll house at the base of Echo Summit which was known then as Meyers Grade and Osgood Grade. He build the house where Echo Creek merged with the Upper Truckee River. Osgood collected money from those passing by for road maintenance. The road was busy in both directions with coaches, freight schooners, bullion wagons, carrying the tides of prospectors eastward to the Comstock Lode, and Pony Express riders. The typical toll was 5 cents per animal and 6 bits for men and their wagons.

Once the railroad made it's way west the need for toll houses disappeared and the Osgood Toll House was abandoned in 1898.

The toll house moved down Echo Creek during a flood, ending on the Celio Ranch where it remained and used for storage for 50 years. The Lake Tahoe Historical Society moved the structure to the corner of Rufus Allen Blvd and Highway 50 in 1974, then again to it's current resting place behind the museum in 1991.

Plans are now being made to arrest the decay only a 156 year old building can experience. The current Lake Tahoe Historical Society President Bob Harms has started the fundraising for the restoration effort. Harms started off "Bob's Tollhouse Challenge" by donating $5,000 and has challenged others to match his start.

The complete restoration will take more than $10,000. but Harms says it'd be a great start.

People can donate at the museum which reopens in February on Saturdays. They can be reached by phone at (530) 541-5458, or by email at laketahoemuseum@att.net.