Tom's Place

Tom's Place

Tom's Place,
Rock Creek

All Fotocards courtesy of Rich McCutchan unless otherwise indicated.
See USE NOTICE on Home Page.

Tom's Place	Tom's Place
The Lodge at Tom's Place	Tom's Place
Tom's Cabin at Tom's Place	Tom's Cabin at Tom's Place
Tom's Place in the winter	Tom's Place advertisement
Tom's Cabin at Tom's Place	Tom's Place at Rock Creek
End of a perfect day in the High Sierra near Tom's Place	Tom's Cabin at Tom's Place

Tom's Place Bill of Sale - Joint Tenancy
Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Rock Creek Inn	Tom's Place near Rock Creek
Tom's Place	Tom's Cabin at Tom's Place
Winter snow at Tom's Place	Owens River trout near Tom's Place

Tom's Place Photo Collection Story

The following fotocards featuring Tom's Place courtesy of Rich McCutchan
Caption verification courtesy of Jeff Parker
Photos in this group were originally part of the Tom & Hazel Yerby Archives.

Tom & Hazel Yerby

Little is known of Tom Yerby's early years. He was born in Bee Branch, Arkansas in 1885, one of 12 siblings.

Hazel Allen was born in 1889 in Snohomish, Washington. She lived some of her early years in Skagway, Alaska, where her father and uncle ran a hardware store. After numerous adventures, including singing for the miners, and stowing away on a steamship with her younger sister, she returned to the lower states. She became a stage actress ("legitimate, of course" she used to say), using the name stage name of Jane Grey, traveling with the Willard Mack group. She found herself in Jackson, Wyoming in 1913, where she met Tom Yerby. She was impressed by the fact that he was flyfishing while wearing a suit. They married in St. Anthony, Idaho in 1914. It seems they traveled around the area for a while, finally settling around Helena, Montana in 1917, where they adopted their only child, Barbara, only days old at the time.

In 1918, they appeared in Bishop. Tom operated a talor shop and dry cleaning plant on East Line Street and Whitney Alley. They purchased a house at the intersection of Clarke and Sneden. While living in Bishop, Tom was influential in the formation of the Rainbow Club, and was involved with the stocking of local waters with trout.

In 1923, Tom and Hazel purchased what was known as Rock Creek Station from Hans Lof. As Hazel once described it in her journals, the "built it from the ground up," adding a lodge, cabins, cafe and store, making it into a popular resort. After the repeal of Prohibition, a bar was added, but it was placed on the other side of the highway, as Hazelwould not have it next to the cafe.

Starting in the mid 1930s, Tom had a series of strokes. He was in and out of hospitals until his passing in 1940. Hazel took over the operation of the resort during this time, continued theoperation after Tom's death, selling in1945. She had remarried, to Kime Eldridge, a very interesting story in itself. Tom was in a rest home in Bishop shortly before he passed away. Oneevening Hazel went to see him, he told her, "We both know that I'm goingto die soon. You're still young, I think you should get married again. We have this guy Kime working for us, his name rhymes with "kind," and that's the type of man he is. I think you should marry him."

He passed away soon after. Hazel and Kime eloped to Reno and got married a suitable time later. After 26 years of marriage to Tom, Hazel spent the rest of her life with Kime, another 30 plus years of adventures between Southern California, Kime's cabin on Rock Creek, and numerous residences in the northwest, chasing the elusive salmon runs. Both Hazel and Kime passed away in 1975, within monthsof each other.

Text courtesy of Jeff Parker - June 2021.

Tom's Place - 1925 - Tom Yerby standing on the right of the photo

L/R (standing): Burton Frasher Jr., Mrs. Frasher, ?, ?, ?, ?
Seated on the log: Tom Yerby

Tom Yerby and his dog Prince on the front porch of the Lodge - August 1928

Bob Brown with string of Owens River trout.
Bob and his wife Maudie owned a cabin below Tom's Place in the 1920s

Cars buried in snow at Tom's Place

L/R: Pat on top of snow plow, ?

John Kime Eldridge

Marvin hill with at catch of geese.

Tom Yerby packing in his daughter Barbara Yerby on a mountain trail to Convict Lake

L/R: Lee ? and Pat ? on snow drift

Tom Yerby and his dog Prince on the Lodge porch.
The rock is still there!

Tom Yerby with a catch of fish

Christmas Greetings from Ed DeRiemer at Tom's Place

Rollo Meeks with "Trouble" the dog.

Tom Yerby with a stringer of fish.
Note the hands supporting the ends of the stringer.

Barbara Yerby in front followed by Hazel Yerby on the trail to Convict Lake - circa 1930

Barbara Yerby and unknown pup in front of the log cabin at Tom's Place

Bert Snyder at Kime's cabin near Tom's Place

Unknown man, same as in #7 - hunting
probably in Long Valley

Hazel Yerby and "Trouble" the dog at Tom's Place.
Hazel's stage name was Jane Grey.
Lots of friends called her Jane.

One of the original cabins and an outhouse
at Tom's Place

Opening day of deer season, mid 1930s. Tom had driven up Rock Creek Canyon a few miles, parked his truck and started hunting. This buck rand down the hill toward him. He shot it. It died close to his truck. He drove back to Tom's Place and dressed the deer. My (Jeff Parker's - Barbara's son) grandmother said, "Well that only took about a half hour. What are you going to do for the rest of the day?" Tom went down in the Owens River Gorge and helped catch that stringer of fish. Good advertising post card.

John Kime Eldridge in front of his cabin

Movie shoot near Tom's Place	Tom's Place Employees L/R (Top Row): ?, Tom Yerby, Hazel Yerby L/R (Bottom Row): ?, ?, ?, Dog, ?
Tom's Place - John Kime Eldridge Kime later married Tom Yerby's widow - Hazel	Tom's Place - John Kime Eldridge, Mr. Curley, Mrs. Curlley
Burton Frasher	Tom's Place - 1943
Owens River trout near Tom's Place	Mrs Roy Morton, Trouble the dog, Barbara Yerby, Prince the dog.
Tom's Place in the winter	Tom's Place trout catch
Tom, one of the pointers, and a lot of equipment on their way home after what looks like a successful hunt. The picture was taken just off of the current Benton Crossing Road, the fence is still there.	Kime Eldridge - 1920s
Barbara Yerby at Rock Creek - 1924	Marvin Hill near Tom's Place
Tom Whelan or Tom Yerby with ? Jeff Parker's grandparents remained close friends with Tom Whelan's wife, Ida, after his death. He built the road up Rock Creek Canyon in the early 1920s	Unknown
L/R: Barbara Yerby, ?, ?, ?, ?, ? - Tom's Place employees housing is in the background
Barbara Yerby with a handful of puppies	Tom's Place after the road was widened in 1931.
Hauling supplies to either the the U.S. Vanadium Tungsten Mine - 1936	LADWP employee housing somewhere
L/R in boat: Barbara Yerby, ? Lower corral , Rock Creek Canyon, above Rock Creek Lodge.	Fish catch from Owens River - 1920 L/R: ?, ?, ?
L/R: Leo Hill and Marvin Hill	Tom Yerby at the wheel holding a 6 month old Barbara Yerby Before Tom purchased Tom's Place, he was a tailor in Bishop. His shop was on East Line and Whitney Alley. He and Hazel owned a house at Clarke and Sneden (still there). Every day, before he went to the shop, he would take Barbara for a ride around the block. y
Tom's Place	L/R: ?, Tom Yerby, ? - at Tom's Place
Tamarack Lodge at Twin Lakes Jeff Parker's grandmother told him that, after Tom's Place Lodge was finished, the owners of Tamarack liked it so much, they built one like it. It was pretty similar until Tamarack added to theirs.	Tom's Place Jeff Parker's grandmother told him that, after Tom's Place Lodge was finished, the owners of Tamarack liked it so much, they built one like it. It was pretty similar until Tamarack added to theirs.
Tom's Place	Tom's Place
Tom's Place	Jeff ? grandmothers (?) cabin. After Tom had his first stroke, Hazel had this cabin built for herself. Prior to that, she had spent winters in Southern California, where Barbara went to school. After Tom's strokes, she had to be there more.
Rock Creek's Lake Store	Pack Train descending switchbacks
Broken Bar Pack Outfit crossing Mono Pass	Broken Bar Pack Station near Rock Creek Lakes Resort
Mt. Morgan near Rock Creek Lakes Resort
Frashers Post Card prices	Frashers Post Card advertisement
Tom's Place near Rock Creek	Construction of the original Tom's Place resort - circa 1917 Pam Milligan Vaughan writes about Hans Lof: Hans was from Norway, I think. He had a hook for one hand. The space between the logs is about 1/4". He was quite a character. Scary guy according to my mom. He built what was to become Happy Jack's Resort, and my grandparents had to foreclose on that property where Hans had borrowed over $11,000 from my grandparents. Couldn't pay it back probably because he drank too much of his "potato brandy."
L/R: Tom Yerby, ?, Norman Clyde, ?, ?, ?, ?, Tom Whelan, ?, ?, Bill Chalfant, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, Joe Riley (leaning against the car),
L/R: Unknown, Barbara Yerby, Tom Yerby in a hot springs somewhere	L/R: Barbara Yerby, ?
L/R: Tomy Yerby, ? Hill with a catch of trout from Owens River	Tom Yerby - owner and operator of Tom's Place cafe and lodge
L/R: Nelle Harney, ?, Tex Cushion with Tex's dogsled team at Tom's Place - 1930s	Tom's Place
L/R: Barbara Yerby, Tom Yerby
Tom Yerby on snowshoes	L/R: ?, Tom Yerby, Jack ? stuck in tow at Tom's Place
L/R: Bob Brown, Marvin Hill, ? - Harvesting Christmas trees	L/R: Bob Brown, Marvin Hill, Leo Hill
Tom's Place and 2nd gas station - circa 1931	Tom's Place
Barbara Yerby in the doorway of the original log cabin at Rock Creek	L/R: ?, ?, ? with a catch of trout at Tom's Place
Snow tractor towing a road grader near Tom's Place	John Kime Eldridge's cabin at Rock Creek
L/R: Bob Brown, Jack the dog, Prince the dog, Leo Hill
Barbara Yerby in front of Tom's Place - 1936-1937 Big Snow	Bert Snyder fishing near John Kime Eldrige's cabin at Rock Creek
Tom's Place circa 1936 - 1937
Barbara Yerby	Joe Boody (Dr. Boody's son) and Barbara Yerby
Joe Boody	Joe Boody
? and Barbara at the Yerby's house in Bishop.	Barbara at the Yerby's house in Bishop.
Barbara Yerby and Hazel Yerby	Barbara Yerby and ?
? and Barbara Yerby	Barbara Yerby and Ida whelan Jeff Parker's grandmother told him that Ida Whelan had a parrot, that must be her on the right. She said the parrot would whistle for the dogs. When the dogs came up, the parrot would say, "bad dogs."
? and Barbara Yerby dressed for the bathing beauty pageant at the 1929 Mark Twain Days at Mono Lake.	???????
Barbara Yerby and a couple of horses.

09/21

Cabins at Rock Creek Inn	Cabins at Rock Creek Inn
1930 - Mrs. Josephine Frasher greets Burton Frasher Jr. (center) and Burton Frasher Sr. (right) upon their return from fishing in Rock Creek Basin	Rock Creek Lodge
Rock Creek Lakes Store and Campgrounds	Rock Creek Lakes Store - 1938
Midway Service Station - Rock Creek	Camping out at Rock Creek
Rock Creek Lodge	11/23 Camping out at Rock Creek - 1930 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)

09/21

Dog sled teams bringing supplies to Tom's Place	Tom's Place Cafe Store and Gas Station
Tom's Place	Tom's Place Cafe Store
Tom's Place
11/23 Tom's Place - 1947 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	11/23 The Lodge at Tom's Place - 19xx (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)
11/23 The Lodge at Tom's Place - 1948 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	11/23 Cabins at Rock Creek - 1392 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)
11/23 Rock Creek Inn - 1931 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)	11/23 Rock Creek Lakes Store - 1927 (Photo courtesy of the Online Archive of California)

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This page was last updated on 30 April 2024