Background and History
Background
The Happy Homestead Cemetery District (HHCD) was formed on October 14, 1952 by Resolution of the Board of Supervisors. The district stretches roughly from Stateline to the Alpine County line, Twin Bridges along Highway 50 and Emerald Bay, which includes the City of South Lake Tahoe. The area includes most of the Tahoe Basin on the El Dorado County side, with exception of the Meeks Bay area. The location of the cemetery is 1261 Johnson Boulevard near the intersection of Al Tahoe Boulevard.
History
In March 1951, a 2-year old girl named Constance Springmeyer drowned in the Carson River near Gardnerville. Constance’s grandmother, Stella VanDyke Johnson, offered a site on her land at Tahoe for the burial of her granddaughter. Mrs. Johnson also donated approximately 1.9 acres near the grave to the County for a local cemetery on June 20, 1952. Happy Homestead was established later in that same year. In the early 1980s, HHCD acquired an additional eight acres, bringing the total cemetery area to almost ten acres. Constance’s gravesite is still located on the family owned land, which is adjacent to the Happy Homestead Cemetery. The oldest grave in the cemetery belongs to Harry Rose, a World War I veteran who died in 1951.