<P> Lake Tahoe became a transportation hub for the surrounding area as mining and logging commenced prior to development of railroads . The first mail delivery was via a sailboat which took a week to visit each of the lakeside communities . The first steamboat on Lake Tahoe was the 42 - foot (13 m) paddle wheel tugboat Governor Blasdel towing log rafts to a sawmill on the south side of Glenbrook Bay from 1863 until her boiler exploded in 1877 . The 40 - foot (12 m) Truckee and 55 - foot (17 m) propeller - driven Emerald were also towing log rafts in 1870 . J.A. Todman brought steam - powered passenger service to Lake Tahoe in 1872 with the 100 - foot (30 m) 125 - passenger side - wheel steamer Governor Stanford which reduced the mail delivery trip around Lake Tahoe to eight hours . Todman expanded service with steamboats Mamie, Niagara, and Tod Goodwin . Lawrence & Comstock provided competition with their steel - hulled steamboat Tallac in 1890 and later purchased Todman's steamboats Mamie and Tod Goodwin . The Carson and Tahoe Lumber and Fluming Company purchased the 83 - foot (25 m) Niagara and built the iron - hulled steamboats Meteor in 1876 and Emerald (II) in 1887 . The 75 - foot (23 m) Meteor was the fastest boat on Lake Tahoe with a speed of 22 miles (35 km) per hour . Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company dominated the passenger and mail route after launch of their 200 - passenger steamboat Tahoe on 24 June 1896 . The 154 - ton Tahoe was 170 feet (52 m) long with a slender 18 - foot (5.5 m) beam so her 1,200 horsepower (890 kW) engines could push her over the lake at 18.5 knots . Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company purchased Tallac and rebuilt her as Nevada with length increased by 20 feet (6.1 m) to serve as a backup steamboat when Tahoe required maintenance . </P> <P> Tod Goodwin burned at Tallac, and most of the other steamboats were retired as the sawmills ran out of trees and people began traveling by automobile . Niagara was scrapped at Tahoe City in 1900 . Governor Stanford was beached at Glenbrook where its boiler was used until 1942 heating cottages at Glenbrook Inn and Ranch . Steamboats continued to carry a mail clerk around Lake Tahoe until 1934, when the mail contract was given to the 42 - foot (13 m) motorboat Marian B powered by two Chevrolet engines . Mail delivery moved ashore after Marian B was lost on 17 May 1941 with her owner and the mail clerk attempting mail delivery during a storm . The 60 - foot (18 m) Emerald (II) left Lake Tahoe in 1935 to become a fishing boat in San Diego . Historic Tahoe, Nevada, and Meteor were purchased with hope they might be preserved; but were scuttled in deep water after deterioration made preservation impractical . The latter two lie in Glenbrook Bay, but Tahoe sank in deeper water . </P> <P> Even in the mining era, the potential of the basin as a tourist destination was recognized . Tahoe City was founded in 1864 as a resort community for Virginia City . </P> <P> Public appreciation of the Tahoe basin grew, and during the 1912, 1913 and 1918 congressional sessions, congressmen tried unsuccessfully to designate the basin as a national park . </P>

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