Photo courtesy of the LL Historical Society Above, sunbathers enjoy Sandy Beach in an image captured from a postcard. At left, an early view of the resort as captured from the air.

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Summer found a home at Sandy Beach Resort
1/5/2011 11:51:16 AM

In 1940, Homer Neyland bought two miles of waterfront on Liberty Lake from Arthur D. Jones. His 180-acre parcel included land from Molter Avenue to, but not including, Starr Road. He bought the land to develop it. He subdivided and platted the land for residential lots and thoughtfully set aside lake access for the secondary lots.

Homer Neyland was born and raised in Liberty Lake. When he purchased the land, he did not intend to have a resort. "It was a way of earning a living," explained son-in-law Howard Dolphin.

Homer's grandparents, Daniel and Louisa Neyland, and parents, Gage and Floy Neyland, developed and owned Neyland's Grove Resort.

"You might say owning a resort was in his blood," said Denise Coyle, Homer's granddaughter.

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The stretch of land had always been known as Sandy Beach. The beach sand was all natural; they did not have any brought in. The one and only road leading to the resort stopped at the top of the hill. Homer put all the roads in himself. Those same roads are still there today, though they have been paved and improved.

Mary Floy Dolphin, one of three daughters born to Homer and Della Neyland, still has the saws the carpenter, Don Becht, used to build the cabins at the resort. Those same saws were the ones Don used when he was the carpenter at Liberty Lake Park for Mike Damascus.

Mary Floy remembers her father always doing what he could to promote and bring people out to the resort. One time one of the attractions even included two bear cubs.

There was always plenty to do at the resort. They had a dance slab with a nickelodeon. Bon fires could be built in cement pits. There were picnic tables for picnicking. Paddleboards, canoes and rowboats were available to rent. For several summers, horses were available for rent, too.  There was one child-sized rowboat (Don Becht also built) lovingly known as "Baby Biscuit" which was tethered by a rope for children to row out on the lake, but not too far, before turning around to come back in. You could launch your boat there as well as water ski, sail, fish, float on inner tubes, swim, play sports or golf at the nearby public golf course.

According to Mary Floy, there were several other resorts on the lake at the same time Sandy Beach was in operation: Dreamwood Bay, Sig's, Wayside, Neyland's Grove, Ted Weeks and Liberty Lake Park.

In 1961, Homer and Della Neyland put Sandy Beach Resort up for sale. Mary Floy and Howard Dolphin bought it from her parents. A short time later, Mary Floy's youngest sister, Betty (affectionately known as "Beppo") and her husband, Joe Trembly, became partners, with both couples running Sandy Beach Resort together.
The middle sister, Carol, never worked the resort; after she grew up and was married, she moved away.

It was 25 cents per car to get into the resort for the day when they first started out.

The resort was open from fishing season until the end of the summer season in September. It was long hours, opening at 7 a.m. until finishing the day around midnight, seven days a week. Betty Trembly remembers "always being there."

Howard Dolphin and Betty and Joe Trembly were school teachers; Howard and Betty worked for East Valley School District while Joe worked for Central Valley School District. They worked in the resort around their teaching schedule.

Sandy Beach Resort Description Known for its cabins, countless recreational amenities and namesake natural beach, Sandy Beach resort was a Liberty Lake destination for half a century. Dates of Operation 1941 to 1991 Owners • Homer and Della Neyland, 1941-1961 • Howard and Mary Floy Dolphin and Joe and Betty Trembly, 1961-1991 What's there today? Sandy Beach Mobile Villa is a 60-unit community for seniors. Did you know • There was no electricity at the resort until the mid 1940s. • The family house and first three cabins were built in 1946. • Homer Neyland landed planes on frozen Liberty Lake for the Flying Farmer's Breakfast. They went ice fishing. • There are three Liberty Lake streets named after family members: Gage, Neyland and Della.

The cabins were rented from Monday to Monday, which meant cleaning the cabins every week as the guests left and before incoming guests arrived. There were 24 travel trailer sites, a wash house as well as the store to tend. Mary Floy remembers her mother's sign in the wash house requesting ladies not to hang laundry on Sundays.

The store sold candy, ice cream, snow cones, ice cold pop, malts and hamburgers hot from the grill. There were pinball machines to play in there as well.

There were families that came back year after year to the resort for their summer vacations. While growing up, Denise Coyle and her sister, Leslie McLachlan, played with the children that returned every summer to the resort.

"It was the best place to grow up," Denise Coyle said.

The day Mount St. Helen's blew - May 18, 1980 - there was a sailboat race. Getting rid of the resulting ash was quite an ordeal as the ash covered everything. All the sand had to be turned over and everything else hosed off. It was tedious work.

For a few years, there were hydroplane races over Labor Day.

"It was a good way to end the summer," Mary Floy said.

In 1975, the resort put in 30 mobile home units on the old baseball field. In 1991, Sandy Beach closed after the summer season ended. After the store and cabins were torn down, the resort added 30 more units. Now a mobile home park sits where the resort once was.

Even now, people still stop by to look around Sandy Beach and to reminisce about the wonderful times and memories they experienced at Sandy Beach Resort.

From the original 180 acres and two miles of waterfront Homer Neyland purchased, Sandy Beach now is 600 feet of waterfront and 12 acres. Mary Floy and Howard Dolphin still live there. Their daughter and son-in-law, Denise and Tim Coyle, live next door. Several of the resort signs still hang on the side of the Dolphins' home. While the resort is gone, it is evident the love and care that ties five generations to Sandy Beach is very much still there. 

Ellen Martin Bernardo is vice president of the Liberty Lake Historical Society. She has lived in the Inland Northwest 32 years, 22 of those in Liberty Lake.

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