Skip to main content

Success Valley Drive

By

Success Valley Drive is a 5.4-mile mountain highway located in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Porterville.  The roadway (assigned as Tulare County Mountain Road 160) follows the South Fork Tule River from County Route J42 northwest to California State Route 190 near Lake Success.  Success Valley Drive has been present in Tulare County since the 1870s and was heavily used during the Tule River magnesite boom in the early twentieth century.




Part 1; the history of Success Valley Drive

Success Valley is where the South Fork and main course of the Tule River meet in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Porterville.  Success Valley would become part of the Tule River Farm in 1860 following the conclusion of the 1856 Tule River Indian War.  

During 1864 Tule River Farm was reorganized as the Tule River Reservation by authorization of Congress.  The original reservation is thought to have had about 450 members of the Yokut tribe and approximately 350 Paiute who relocated after the 1863 Owens Valley Indian War.  The original reservation was not popular with locals in the community of Porterville which pushed for it be relocated.  

During 1873 the Tule River Reservation was relocated by Presidential Executive Order to the South Fork Tule River east of Porterville.  The current reservation along with Success Valley Drive can be seen in Townships 21S-22S, Ranges 28E-29E on the 1892 Thompson Atlas of Tulare County.  





The Tule River watershed between Porterville and Springville would emerge as a source of magnesite ore near the turn of the 20th Century.  The magnesite ore boom in Success Valley would lead to the development of a modern highway in the Porterville-Springville corridor (which would be assigned as California State Route 190 in 1934).   The Southern Pacific Railroad would also develop the Success-Springville Branch along the Tule River in the Porterville-Springville corridor.  The Southern Pacific Railroad would plot the sidings of Plano, Success and Clavicle along the Porterville-Springville corridor.

Success Valley Drive can be seen spanning from Indian Reservation Drive north to Success siding near California State Route 190 on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Tulare County.  The map displays a spur railroad following the general course of Success Valley Drive and the South Fork Tule River to Howton siding.    


The Southern Pacific Railroad would file abandonment paperwork for the 2.4 miles of the Success-Springville Branch between Clavicle and Springville during January of 1935.  An additional 5.8 miles of the Success-Springville Branch between Success-Clavicle would be abandoned by the Southern Pacific Railroad during June of 1941.  The remaining 6.66 miles of Success-Springville Branch would be abandoned by the Southern Pacific Railroad between Porterville and Success during August of 1957.  The Porterville-Success segment of the Success/Springville Branch was abandoned to make way for the upcoming Success Reservoir which was to be constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The September/October 1958 California Highways & Public Works notes in a District VI report that 7 miles of California State Route 190 was to be relocated east of Porterville to make way for the Success Reservoir.  The relocation of California State Route 190 through the Success Reservoir site is stated to be funded by the Federal Government at a cost of $1,700,000 and was anticipated to be completed by Fall 1958.  The original terminus of Success Valley Drive at California State Route 190 and the site of Success siding would both be flooded by the waters of the new reservoir.  Success Valley Drive was truncated back to the new state highway alignment.





Part 2; a trip on Success Valley Drive

Northbound Success Valley Drive begins at Indian Reservation Road (Tulare County Route J42). 



Success Valley Drive jogs northward and crosses over the South Fork Tule River. 







Success Valley Drive continues through the terrain and numerous winding curves in a generally northwestern direction to a terminus at California State Route 190.  Portions of the original terminus of Success Valley Drive can be seen west of California State Route 190 repurposed as part of the Tule Campground.  
























Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more