Skip to main content

Cement Plant Road (Calaveras County)

By

Cement Plant Road is a privately owned 5.5-mile corridor located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Calaveras County.  The roadway was constructed as a short line railroad during the 1930s by Calaveras Cement from Pool Station Road to a cement quarry east of Calaveritas.  Despite being a private road, the corridor of Cement Plant Road crosses over numerous public highways via unique bridge structures.  Pictured as the blog cover is the Cement Plant Road trestle crossing over Calaveritas Road. 




The history of Cement Plant Road and corridor exploration

Cement Plant Road was built initially built as a short line railroad in the early 1930s by Calaveras Cement.  The line served as an extension of the Kentucky House Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad which originated out of Lodi.  

Calaveras Cement incorporated in 1925 and was based out of a plant located on Pool Station Road.  The company is most well-known for supplying cement to the construction site of Pardee Dam.  The company would construct a 5.5-mile private road from their plant to quarries located east of Calaveritas. 

Calaveras Cement would be sold in 1959 and again in 1979.  The company would be shuttered in 1983 due to being unable to compete with foreign cement prices and a high cost to modernize their plant.  The Kentucky House Branch was deconstructed gradually during the 1990s and the former short line to the Calaveras Cement quarry was converted into a private road. 

Below the Cement Plant Road trestle can be seen crossing over Calaveritas Road at the town Calaveritas.  The community was founded by Mexican miners in 1849 and is thought to have peaked with a population of about 800 by 1857. Much of Calaveritas would burn in a fire during 1858 which would lead to it declining.

Pictured is the Calaveras Cement Bridge crossing over California State Route 49 near Calaveritas Creek.  This structure is a hybrid concrete and wooden trestle design which was built in 1935.  The bridge has a clearance of 19.7 feet which is embedded into the concrete facade.

The western terminus of Cement Plant Road can be found at Pool Station Road.  Signage facing east indicates the corridor as a private road but is open for a half mile to All Rocks Aggregate Materials.  



The ruins of the Calaveras Cement Plant can be found west of Pool Station Road. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New River Gorge National Park & Preserve - Thurmond

By
New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is best known for whitewater rafting and other forms of adventure tourism.  Yet, found in the hollows and isolated valleys are quiet farms and former coal mining towns.  Well off the beaten path and isolated from much of its surroundings, Thurmond provides a unique view into Central West Virginia's industrial past. Thurmond began as a railroad town in the late 1800s.  Sparked by the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad and the local coal industry, Thurmond quickly grew into a sizeable transportation and coal center.  When it incorporated as a town in 1903, Thurmond was a full-fledged community - home to two banks, two hotels, and many other services and stores. A CSX freight train passes the old coaling tower in Thurmond.  It was here that many steam locomotives would refill and refuel. Thurmond was home to a C&O railyard which serviced the numerous steam engines passing through the narrow valley.  Thu...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 73

By
California State Route 73 is 21 mile limited access highway aligned over the Corona del Mar Freeway and San Joaquin Hills Toll Road.  California State Route 73 connects Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano westward to Interstate 405 in Costa Mesa.  Prior to the construction of the Corona del Mar Freeway and San Joaquin Hills Tollway California State Route 73 was a surface highway located on largely MacArthur Boulevard. Part 1; the history of California State Route 73 What became California State Route 73 ("CA 73") entered the State Highway System in 1933 as Legislative Route Number 184 ("LRN 184").  LRN 184 was given the following route definition: "LRN 60 near Corona Del Mar to Santa Ana via Main Street" LRN 184 was announced in the April 1933 California Highways & Public Works .   LRN 184 appears for the first time on the  1934 Division of Highways Map .   LRN 184 appears under State Maintenance from US Route 101/LRN 2 in Santa Ana south ...
Post a Comment
Read more