In the 1960s, a large Victorian house was moved from Parallel Drive off of Linda Lane to where Rotten Robbies gas station is now. In around 1985, I was helping to remodel the house. I was told to remove some boards when low and behold I found a library of books dated way back.
I grabbed one titled, “Clear Lake.” I read about the western grebe and about how in the 1850s people used to come up here by stagecoach to go to Bartlett Springs. They believed that the springs made you younger and healthier. I read about the stagecoach stop in Lakeport at Willow Point. It described how the passengers literally hurled from the smell of our beautiful Clear Lake. It was in October, the book said.
Now this was in 1850, way before any of today”s pollution. The algae was here then. That stuck in my mind. I continued to learn that without the algae breakouts the lake would become a swamp. The algae blocks the sun from nurturing the bottom; without it the sun would have no problem reaching the bottom and weeds would grow and grow, therefore becoming a much larger problem than the algae. Leave it alone.
