This is our tribute to The Twain Harte Inn. The cache is for Travel
Bugs, but its main purpose is for trading Geocoins. 
In 1862, Patrick Williams acquired 640 acres of land, including the
meadow where the Twain Harte Golf Course is now located. Williams
planted apples and pear orchards, ran a few head of cattle, and
maintained a watering place for the freight wagons bound for the
east slope mines. Williams’ water trough was located where the
Twain Harte Inn (formerly the Twain Harte Lodge) stood until it too
burned in 2002. William’s son, John D. Williams, inherited the
ranch after his father’s death, but in 1919 sold out to Alonzo and
Keturah Wood. Wood subdivided the area in 1924, and Katurah named
it Twain Harte, after their two favorite (and famous) Mother Lode
authors—Mark Twain and Bret Harte. Twain Harte is believed to be
the first private recreational subdivision in the Sierra Nevada
according to Carlo DeFarri, county historian.
In 1926, Albert L. Nevins and Dr. E. Turner bought into the Twain
Harte Development Co. Wood retained only a 40 acre piece that came
to be known as Lilac Terrace.
Nevins and Turner energetically pulled together plans for the
subdivision. They started Twain Harte Dam during the summer of 1927
but ran short of funds. Edward M. Marquis agreed to to put up the
money needed to complete the dam. But when the company failed to
pay off the note in 1934, Marquis foreclosed and took over the
company, changing the name to Twain Harte Realty
Marquis added a lodge, then a bar, then a modest motel. The wooden
arch, today the town’s trademark was first built in 1933, and has
been re-built many times, losing the hyphen somewhere along the
way. The current arch was built in the 1970’s, and modified in 1995
and again in 2003 by the Rotary Club, active in Twain Harte since
1951, and which has been responsible for many of the improvement
projects in the village and surroundings.
Ray Eproson, who bought the Twain Harte Grocery in 1930, allowed
the development company to construct a golf course on the Twain
Harte Meadow, exacting as his share, a rent of $1.00 per year. The
golf course became popular with well known personalities of the
day, including Mario Giannini, late president of the Bank of
America. Eproson also was the first Postmaster and Fire Chief for
Twain Harte. The Eprosons built a large house along Twain Harte
Drive in 1947. It has been converted to a restaurant and has become
another familiar landmark. Eproson Park was also created to pay
tribute to their endless civic contributions. In 1943, Nevins
and Eproson bought out the Marquis holdings, which included a
subdivision, a hotel, a service station and some outbuildings. In
1947, they sold the hotel to John Rocca, who operated the
establishment until it burned to the ground in
1953
.
FTF prize Never used headlamp.