This 1939 summer photo by Roger Dudley shows the Cherokee Bay resort on Pipe Lake. To the left is the trading post, which sold cold drinks and confections. Beach activities included swimming, a high dive, and canoe rentals. This six-acre site is now home to the Cherokee Bay Community Club, which serves hundreds of homeowners in that neighborhood north of Kent-Kangley and west of Witte Road. Today, this part of Pipe Lake, including Cherokee Bay, plus all of Lake Lucerne is within Maple Valley. However, the western half of Pipe Lake is part of the City of Covington.
During this period Cherokee Bay resort competed with the nearby Lake Lucerne resort, which advertised its own attractions such as boating, bathing, fishing, and cabins. Nothing remains of the Lake Lucerne facilities, as that smaller water body is now primarily lakefront lots platted by the Riddell family. A handful of cabins built in the 1920s still stand on Lake Lucerne, though most are heavily remodeled. Lake Lucerne is connected to Pipe Lake by a tiny canal to the right of this northwest-looking photo. The present day Cherokee Bay lakefront facilities are just south of that connecting water channel. This photo number P09.68.02-1939 was donated to the Maple Valley Historical Society by Hal Pelton, with research help provided by JoAnne Matsumura and Carol Davis.
