Located at Commons Beach Park is an interpretive display near an old structure that reads:
Tahoe City's Constables
In 1901, Tahoe City needed a constable. The town expected an influx of workers and summer visitors with the completion of the 15-mile Lake Tahoe Railway line from Truckee and the opening of the 400-room Tahoe Tavern hotel. Such a busy place would need law and order. Robert Montgomery Watson, an accomplished horseman and trailblazer, got the job.
The only jail in town was a dank concrete bunker on Commons Beach. The story goes that Constable Watson offered his prisoners the option of sleeping on his kitchen floor instead. The jail may not actually have housed a single prisoner.
Watson held the position until his death in 1932 at the age of 77. Two acting constables served until early 1935, when Harry Edward Johanson became the town's second full-time peace officer. Harry Jo, as he was known, was an accomplished amateur athlete, Hollywood stunt double, former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer, and trained architect. He designed the second jail, the one you see here, where his prisoners had a view of the Tahoe City waterfront. Harry Jo retired in 1967, and today the old jail is used as a storage facility for the Tahoe City's Public Utility District.
This is the town's second jail. I believe the first jail (bunker) was located at the historic Watson Log Cabin, northeast of here.