Oddities; Minkler and Centerville

Many a days travel on CA 180 east of Fresno has taken me by some weird small locations I've only kind of looked into until today; Minkler and Centerville. Essentially both locations are close to being ghost towns and have really lost their significance to time. I was heading back towards Fresno on CA 180 and encountered Minkler first along Byrd Slough.

The sign in the second picture above indicates Minkler has 30 residents but given the age of the sign I highly doubt it really is that many people today. Minkler was essentially a rail siding that was created back in 1920. Back in the hey day of Minkler it was located at the junction of the Wahtoke District Railroad and Porterville-Orosi District Railroad. The Wahotke District Railroad used to travel north on the Kings River towards Piedra which terminated at a local rock quarry. Both lines were abandoned in the 1960s and 1970s:

Porterville-Orosi District Railroad

Wahotke District Railroad

Today there are only a couple structures in Minkler still inhabited. One of them on the south side of CA 180 is called the Minkler Cash Store is reportedly a place where locals just basically regale tourists and people passing by about local lore.

A mile or so west of Minkler over the Kings River is Centerville. Centerville actually is one of the oldest communities in what is now Fresno County having been founded back in 1854 as Scottsburg. By 1858 Poole's Ferry was established as a crossing of the Kings River which was part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which had only been created five years prior. The original town site was destroyed in a flood in 1867 and it was resettled to the west as Centerville in the present location. Centerville has approximately 400 residents according to the 2010 census but I'm not sure what area that figure actually consists of.

Interestingly according to the 1935 California Divisions of Highways Map of Fresno County CA 180 to take a substantially different route through Centerville than the modern alignment. The 1935 shows CA 180 using an old section of Ventura Avenue along with Smith Avenue.

1935 California Division of Highways Map; Fresno County

Comments

Morgan Territory Road

Morgan Territory Road is an approximately 14.7-mile-long roadway mostly located in the Diablo Range of Contra Costa County, California. The roadway is named after settler Jerimah Morgan who established a ranch in the Diablo Range in 1857. Morgan Territory Road was one of several facilities constructed during the Gold Rush era to serve the ranch holdings. The East Bay Regional Park District would acquire 930 acres of Morgan Territory in 1975 in an effort to establish a preserve east of Mount Diablo. The preserve has since been expanded to 5,324 acres. The preserve functionally stunts the development along roadway allowing it to remain surprisingly primitive in a major urban area. Part 1; the history of Morgan Territory Road During the period of early period of American Statehood much of the Diablo Range of Contra Costa County was sparsely developed. Jerimah Morgan acquired 2,000 acres of land east of Mount Diablo in 1856 and established a ranch in 1857. Morgan Territory Road is

The 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge (Madera County)

The 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge is an early era arch concrete structure found alongside modern Madera County Road 200. The structure was modeled as a smaller scale of the 1905 Pollasky Bridge (still in ruins at the San Joaquin River) and was one of many early twentieth century improvements to what was then known as the Fresno-Fresno Flats Road. The 1915-era bridge was replaced with a modernized concrete span during 1947 but was never demolished. The original concrete structure can be still found sitting in the brush north of the 2023 Fine Gold Creek Bridge. Part 1; the history of the 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge The 1915 Fine Gold Creek Bridge lies near the site of the former mining community of Fine Gold. Mining claims were staked at Fine Gold during the Mariposa War during 1850. The community was never very large but became a stopping point on the stage road between the original Fresno County seat at Millerton and Fresno Flats (now Oakhurst). The stage road eventually bypas

Old Sonoma Road

Old Sonoma Road is an approximately five-mile highway located in the Mayacamas Mountains of western Napa County. The roadway is part of the original stage road which connected Napa Valley west to Mission San Francisco Solano as part of El Camino Real. Much of Old Sonoma Road was bypassed by the start of the twentieth century by way of Sonoma Highway. A portion of Old Sonoma Road over the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge (pictured as the blog cover) was adopted as part of Legislative Route Number 8 upon voter approval of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act. The 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge served as a segment of California State Route 37 and California State Route 12 from 1934 through 1954. Part 1; the history of Old Sonoma Road Old Sonoma Road has origins tied to the formation of Mission San Francisco Solano and the Spanish iteration of El Camino Real. Mission San Francisco Solano was founded as the last and most northern Spanish Mission of Alta California on July 4, 1823. The new M

Gribblenation

Search This Blog