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History · Zephyr Cove

12% of Zephyr Cove’s homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Lena N. Gale Cabin. Its Register listing is the Lena N. Gale Cabin. Below: maps from 1955 on.

1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Zephyr Cove’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Zephyr Cove are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Zephyr Cove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Zephyr Cove’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Zephyr Cove came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Zephyr Cove.

Read it all →

Before Zephyr Cove was established, the Native American Washoe people lived around the area. The first Anglo-American settlers to encounter the area were Kit Carson and John Fremont in 1844.

In 1862, Anglo-Americans settled around the community. They named the community Zephyr Cove, which was named after the Washoe Zephyr.

A post office called Zephyr Cove has been in operation since 1930. The name of the post office popularized the term and it soon became the name of the community.

On March 1, 1964, Paradise Airlines Flight 901A crashed near Zephyr Cove, killing all 85 people aboard.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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On the map

Zephyr Cove on the map, 1955 to 1992

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Zephyr Cove. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Zephyr Cove on the 1955 USGS mapZephyr Cove on the 1969 USGS mapZephyr Cove on the 1982 USGS mapZephyr Cove on the 1992 USGS map1955Glenbrook sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Zephyr Cove.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Zephyr Cove

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Lena N. Gale Cabin
Lena N. Gale Cabin
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Rustic1
Lena N. Gale CabinRustic

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Round Hill VillageIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSkylandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKingsbury1 historic placeC

Questions about Zephyr Cove’s history

What is on the National Register in Zephyr Cove?

One place: the Lena N. Gale Cabin (listed 2001).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.