Fawnskin, California
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Fawnskin is an
unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, United States. It is located on the northwest side of Big Bear Valley, in the heart of the
San Bernardino Mountains The San Bernardino Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in Southern California in the United States. Situated north and northeast of San Bernardino and spanning two California counties, the range tops out at at San Gorgonio Mountain ...
, at an altitude of 6,827 feet (2,081 m). The tiny community has a "permanent" population of 380, and many vacation homes that range from multi-million dollar mansions to decaying log cabins. Fawnskin has its own US Post Office, established on May 18, 1918, but to this day, mail must be picked up because there is no delivery service.


History

This small community was once an artists' colony, which attracted artisans, musicians, composers and actors from the Los Angeles area. Mountain travelers in the 19th century came to the Big Bear Valley through Fawnskin on the rough road by stagecoach and later motorcars. Several other names were temporarily chosen for the North Shore village including Bald Eagle Valley, Big Bear Village, Cline-Miller, Grout, and Oso Grande. The village has always been an attraction to vacationers seeking a retreat from city life in its mountain terrain. Several hundred homes are located along the north shore of Big Bear Lake and in the forested mountainside adjacent to the San Bernardino National Forest. Gold miners, loggers, and hunters were drawn to the adjacent Holcomb Valley during the 19th century. The Native American legend How Fawnskin Got Its Name
/ref> about how the town got its name has been turned into the urban legend. The Anglo version is that hunters discovered deer (fawn) skins stretched out to dry in the sun. Hence, the area became known as Fawn Skin and later Fawnskin. Fawnskin was once the hub of lakeside activity, serving as a
stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...
stop and tourist attraction with hotels and dining. The town's main landmark is the Fawn Lodge,Fawn Lodge
/ref> built in 1924,Fawn Lodge Update & Deed
/ref> but now closed. Composer
Fannie Charles Dillon Fannie Charles Dillon (March 16, 1881February 21, 1947) was an American pianist, music educator and composer. Life Fannie Charles Dillon was born in Denver, Colorado in 1881. She moved with her family to Long Beach, California in 1890. She grad ...
founded Woodland Theater in Fawnskin in 1924, and served as its general manager from 1926 to 1929. Other notable landmarks include the Pedersen Saw Mill, which lies just west of the lodge; and the historic post office, which lies to the east of the lodge but now is a private home rental. Downtown Fawnskin has some of the oldest buildings in the Big Bear valley. The Lighthouse Camp and Landing was a popular north shore camp in the 1920s. Hanna Flat Campground, and YMCA Camp Whittle are located within the forest above Fawnskin, and remain favorites of summer vacationers. Fawnskin's events include the comic Doo-Dah Parade and the Loggers’ Jubilee. The town also claims the only "honest" election in the nation. Anyone can vote for the Fawnskin Mayor as many times as they want, for a quarter-dollar per vote. The candidate who wins is the one who raises the most money. Hence, the town "buys" its politicians. Today, the mayoral race is a fundraising event for the North Shore Improvement Association. Billy Van Vugt is the current mayor of Fawnskin. Fawnskin is designated as a protected habitat for golden and American bald eagles. Typically, bald eagles are found in Big Bear Valley from November to April, but a nesting pair are full-time residents. Their activities can be viewed live on the Friends of Big Bear Valley Eagle Cam. In 1998, the multimillion-dollar Big Bear Discovery Center was built, and has plans to expand. The facility is operated by a partnership between the
US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
and the San Bernardino National Forest Association. Following a blizzard in March 2025, three hundred attendees of a
climate action Climate action (or climate change action) refers to a range of activities, mechanisms, policy instruments, and so forth that aim at reducing the severity of human-induced climate change and its impacts. "More climate action" is a central demand o ...
conference became stranded at a
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
campground in Fawnskin. Having run low on food and with buses becoming stuck in the snow, dozens of campers were subsequently rescued by the San Bernardino County Fire Department with a
snowcat A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States). Snow groomer ...
.


Notable residents

Two publishers and a number of small business owners operate out of Fawnskin. Several writers live there full-time, including William Sarabande. Jordan Romero, who as a 13-year-old boy conquered
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
,Jordan Romero
/ref> is also known as one of the "Fawnskin Folks." Actress/singer
Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...
and her husband actor/comedian Marty Ingels also own a home in Fawnskin. Marty Ingels and Shirley Jones bought a piece of property in 2001 and created Fawn Park in downtown Fawnskin.Fawn Park Corporation
, was registered on March 26, 2003
However, it was closed to the public from July 2006 until it was reopened in September 2011, featuring a memorial to those who died in the
September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. This small mountain resort community's parks include the historic Old Miller School House Park, Dana Point Park, and the Don Conroy Memorial Park. The community also has a Moose Lodge, a restaurant, and a Buddhist temple, but no churches. The
Big Bear Solar Observatory Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) is a university-based solar observatory in the United States. It is operated by New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). BBSO has a clear-aperture Goode Solar Telescope (GST), which has no obscuration in th ...
is located nearby.


In popular culture

Fawnskin has been a popular filming location and was featured in the 1958 B-movie, '' Giant from the Unknown'', Hallmark's ''Angel in the Family, Doctor Dolittle II,'' the 1999 Academy Award-nominated film, ''The Insider,'' and many others. Many scenes of '' Columbo: Murder by the Book'' (1971) (with guest star
Jack Cassidy John Joseph Edward Cassidy (March 5, 1927 – December 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer and theatre director. He received multiple Tony Award nominations and a win, as well as a Grammy Award, for his work on the Broadway production of th ...
, then married to Shirley Jones) were filmed here, as was a ''
Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and four short stories, all of which involve a ...
'' episode, "The Case of the Violent Village." In chapter 35 of
Stephen J. Cannell Stephen Joseph Cannell (; February 5, 1941 – September 30, 2010) was an American television producer, writer, novelist, actor, and founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and The Cannell Studios. After start ...
's novel, ''At First Sight'' (2008), the antagonist Chick Best and protagonist Paige Ellis stop in Fawnskin en route to the Bests' vacation cabin in Big Bear. The low budget horror-comedy
Jack Frost (1997 film) Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, Rain and snow mixed, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the f ...
, was filmed in Fawnskin and largely centered its action around Fawnskin Lodge. A 2003
episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...
of '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' is set in
Jackpot, Nevada Jackpot is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Elko County, Nevada, United States. The population was 855 as of the 2020 census. Located less than from the Idaho border on US 93, Jackpot has been a popular casino ...
, but the scenes were actually filmed in Fawnskin, earning the community about $150,000 in revenue.


Media

The small town's news and informal activities have been reported in two publications, ''Fawnskin Folks'' (1920s) and the ''Fawnskin Flyer ''(Est. 2005), now defunct.


See also

*
Big Bear Lake Big Bear Lake is a reservoir in the Western United States, western United States, located in the San Bernardino Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County, California. It is a snow and rain-fed lake, having no other m ...
* Big Bear Discovery Center


References


External links


Fawnskin Flyer

Internet Movie Data Base
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in San Bernardino County, California Big Bear Valley San Bernardino Mountains San Bernardino National Forest Unincorporated communities in California