Skip to main content

Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge

By


Rattlesnake Bar was a small mining community located at the Placer County and El Dorado County line along the North Fork American River. During 1863 a wooden bridge was constructed at Rattlesnake Bar to facilitate access to quarry at Coral Caverns (now Alabaster Caverns). The original wooden span was replaced in 1865 with a suspension bridge. The 1865 suspension bridge would be open to traffic until 1954 when it was destroyed by an overloaded truck. The site of the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge became part of the Folsom Lake reservoir in 1955 and can still be viewed when the water is low.



The history of the Rattlesnake Bar Bridge

The history of the Rattlesnake Bar Bridge was featured in the September 1950 California Highways & Public Works Centennial edition.  The structure was notable during the 1850-1875 Pioneer Era due to it being one of the earliest suspension bridges constructed in the state.  Rattlesnake Bar was a small mining community located on the North Fork American River at what is now the El Dorado County and Placer County line.  During 1849-1850 a ferry across the North American River was placed at Rattlesnake Bar.  

This ferry at Rattlesnake Bar was replaced by a wooden bridge which was installed in 1863 following the devastating floods of 1862.  The wooden bridge was constructed to facilitate access to quarry at Coral Caverns (now Alabaster Caverns). The original wooden span was replaced in 1865 with the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge.  The article notes the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge was likely endangered due to the looming Folsom Lake reservoir project.  






The wooden Rattlesnake Bar Bridge was announced as being opened in the July 7, 1863, Sacramento Union (courtesy pitsenberger.com's page on the Rattlesnake Bar Bridge site).


The site of the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge can be seen south of Auburn at the North Fork American River on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California.  


The 1914 C.F. Weber's Map of Placer County displays the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge in Township 11N, Range 8E. 


The 1935 Division of Highways Map of Placer County displays the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge in Township 11N, Range 8E. 


Construction of the concrete gravity Folsom Dam began during 1951.  The Folsom Lake reservoir was planned as flood control measure in the Sacramento area.  The maximum extent of the reservoir was slated to consume the site of the Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge.  The Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge would be collapsed by an overloaded truck during 1954.  Given the structure was already in a state of condemnation Placer County and El Dorado County elected not to rebuild it.  

The collapsed Rattlesnake Bar Suspension Bridge can be seen in a photo posted by Mike Monahan on the Placer County History Facebook Page.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more