Skip to main content

Triangle Road (Mariposa County)

By

Triangle Road is an eleven-and-a-half-mile rural highway located in Sierra Nevada range of Mariposa County.  The corridor begins at California State Route 140 near the community of Midpines and serves as a cutoff of Mariposa which connects south to California State Route 49.  The corridor was north of Darrah was developed in 1912 in to serve as a fire road and was circa 1936-1937.  Pictured is the blog cover is the Snow Creek Bridge near the community of Darrah. 




Part 1; the history of Triangle Road

The development of early Triangle Road is tied to the history of rural community of Darrah near Snow Creek and Buckingham Mountain.  The community was based around the landholdings of Richard Darrah which began to see substantial growth in the 1870s.  The Snow Creek School (later Mount Buckingham School) would open in 1878, and the community would obtain Post Office Service in 1880. 

Triangle Road can be seen complete north from the Chowchilla School (where the road now meets California State Route 49) to Darrah on the 1897 United States Geological Survey of Yosemite.  Jerseydale Road can be seen branching north of Darrah towards said namesake community.  


The surveying and construction of Triangle Road north of Darrah was conducted during 1912 by a company out of Bootjack.  The purpose of the corridor was to serve as a fire road which would shield the densely developed areas of Mariposa County.  

The extension of Triangle Road northwest to California State Route 140 near Midpines was surveyed in January 1936.  Mariposa acquired the necessary right of way during February 1936 and construction would break ground during the following November.  The corridor was developed as a Civilian Conservation Corps project out of Camp Bootjack and included a new bridge over Snow Creek.  The extension was announced as having an anticipated completion by November 1937. 

Source livingnewdeal.org

The completed extension of Triangle Road north of Darrah appears on the 1947 United States Geological Survey map of El Portal.   The extension is shown to run south of Buckingham Mountain.




Part 2; a drive on Triangle Road

Southbound Triangle Road can be accessed from California State Route 140 near Midpines. 



Triangle Road ascends to a ridge which overlooks the Bootjack area.  







Triangle Road descends to the Snow Creek Bridge with Buckingham Mountain looming overhead.  The Arc Deco design of the Snow Creek Bridge easily places it to the era of Civilian Conservation Corps construction.  















Triangle Road passes through the community of Darrah and intersects the namesake Darrah Road.  


Triangle Road continues south from Darrah and terminates at California State Route 49.  















Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway

By
From 2017 through to early 2019 I drove the majority of the California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway from CA 89 southwest to CA 99. CA 70 is an approximately 178.5 mile state highway which starts at US 395 near the Nevada State Line and travels west through the Feather River Canyon to CA 99.  CA 70 is often referred to as the Feather River Highway" given it's close association with the river.  Historically CA 70 was previously signed as US 40A and CA 24.  The Legislative Routes prior to the 1964 California Highway Renumbering that made up the current route of CA 70 are as follows: -  Legislative Route Number 21 from US 395 westward to Oroville. -  LRN 87 from Oroville south to Marysville. -  LRN 232 from Marysville to the current junction with CA 99.  CA 70 was even dual signed with CA 99 into Sacramento on what was LRN 232 for a time. The change from US 40A/LRN 21/LRN 87/LRN 232 can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more