Lake Arrowhead, California | unincorporated area / community, CDP - Census Designated Place

 unincorporated area / community, draw only border, CDP - Census Designated Place

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Lake Arrowhead is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Bernardino County, California, USA. The population was 8,934 at the 2000 census. Lake Arrowhead Village is an unincorporated community, with the Chamber of Commerce the de facto governing body.

Nestled in the San Bernardino Mountains, this area was originally a hunting and fishing area for the Serrano Indians. As the Mormons developed the San Bernardino area, the mountains were seen as a source of lumber. Waterman Canyon road was built in 1852 allowing serious logging to begin.

In the beginning, The Arrowhead Lake Company, a Los Angeles syndicate, bought Little Bear Lake (the original name of the area) and surrounding land (approximately 4,800 acres) in 1920, and changed the name to Lake Arrowhead, (taking the name from the rock formation in the form of an Arrowhead on the face of the San Bernardino Mountain, near Arrowhead Hot Springs, which is rooted in Indian legend and found at the bottom of Highway 18).

The Arrowhead Lake Company's plan was to develop the mile high man-made lake into an exceptional recreational and residential area. Between 1921 and 1923, the original Lake Arrowhead Village, built in the Norman style, was erected and included a dance pavilion, an outdoor movie theatre, restaurant, beach and bath houses. Three hotels were also built -- Arlington Lodge, Village Inn, and North Shore Tavern. Over $8 million was spent developing Lake Arrowhead, a private lake, into the most upscale resort in the Southern California mountains. The Village held its official opening on June 24, 1922.

The promotion for Lake Arrowhead Village was done via postcards, newspaper and magazine advertising. Artists were encouraged to paint Lake Arrowhead Village and the surrounding area. Many of the paintings were turned into postcards to help advertise Lake Arrowhead Village. This promotion made the Village an immediate success and the promotion of the new “High Gear Road” made Lake Arrowhead a popular tourist destination.

Some of the lakeside land was subdivided and sold for private homes and secluded north shore estates. Many Hollywood stars stayed at the hotels during the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, and some purchased homes in the resort. The studios frequently used the area for locations for major motion pictures.

During the war years, Lake Arrowhead Village was a popular rest and recuperation area for service men. Because of gas rationing, tourists became scarce. Throughout the next few decades Lake Arrowhead Village continued being a wonderful tourist attraction as well as the “downtown” of the mountain communities.