When California State Route 180 was commissioned in August 1934 the alignment in took in Sierra Nevada range was very different than from today. The original highway alignment from Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) to east Grant Grove (then part of General Grant National Park) originally followed what is now Ruth Hill Road, Dunlap Road, Pinehurst Road (modern California State Route 245), Dark Canyon Road (partially now Forest Road 14S45). After funding fell through for the planned Kings Canyon Road the was corridor eventually picked up as a 30-mile-long cooperative project between the Division of Highways and Federal Government. The current alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley and Dunlap was complete by 1941.
Ruth Hill Road has carried numerous names through the years. The corridor often appears on older maps as Old Dunlap Road or the Squaw Valley Grade. The corridor is named after the approximately 2,600-foot-high Ruth Hill.
Modern Ruth Hill Road is entirely paved but has numerous single lane grades which approach an incline of 10%. The Ruth Hill corridor coupled with nearby Dunlap Road act as good analogs for what early State Highways in the western Sierra Nevada were once like. California State Route 180 can be seen following what is now Ruth Hill Road from Squaw Valley to Dunlap on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Fresno County.
Part 1; the history of California State Route 180 on Ruth Hill Road
During 1905 Legislative Chapter 598 would authorize a survey to locate a route for a highway to be constructed from Grant Grove of General Grant National Park into the Kings River Canyon. This corridor would be formally added as a planned state highway by way of 1909 Legislative Chapter 223 as Legislative Route Number 41.
Planned Legislative Route Number 41 appears on the 1918 California Highway Commission map as a special appropriations road.
The 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act would provide funding for construction of the Kings River Canyon Road. In 1933 Legislative Route Number 41 would be extended to Tracy via Fresno. The state highway west of Grant Grove followed Dark Canyon Road (now partially Forest Road 14S45), Pinehurst Road (now California State Route 245) Dunlap Road, and Old Dunlap Road (now Ruth Hill Road) through to Centerville. The initial Grant Grove-Centerville alignment of Legislative Route Number 41 passes through the communities of Pinehurst, Miramonte, Dunlap and Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley).
New Dunlap Road (shown as just Dunlap Road) and Old Dunlap Road can be seen as the named road corridors between Dunlap and Centerville on the 1924 United States Geological Map of Dinuba. Old Dunlap Road is displayed as following what is now Ruth Hill Road. Modern California State Route 180 now follows much of the alignment of New Dunlap Road in Yokuts Valley, but the corridor was significantly straightened (see the following paragraphs below).
Legislative Route Number 41 east of Fresno would be assigned as California State Route 180 when the initial Sign State Routes were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.
The initial alignment of California State Route 180 east of Fresno can be seen on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Fresno County (unbroken red line). The state highway corridor is shown following what is now Ruth Hill Road through Squaw Valley into Dunlap.
A planned new alignment of California State Route 180 from Boulder Creek east to the Sequoia National Forest boundary near Dunlap appears budgeted for the 89th-90th Fiscal Years in the January 1937 California Highways & Public Works. The project corridor is shown to be broken up into zones spanning a total of 11 miles.
California State Route 180 along the slopes of Ruth Hill appears on the cover of the November 1938 California Highways & Public Works. The cover caption notes construction of the planned new alignment was shelved due to funding falling short. The existing corridor is called the "Squaw Valley Grade" in the caption.
The realignment of California State Route 180 from the outskirts of Squaw Valley to Grant Grove appears as budgeted 30-mile project zone for the 91st-92nd Fiscal Years in the February 1939 California Highways & Public Works.
The Squaw Valley-Grant Grove realignment of California State Route 180 was featured in the June 1940 California Highways & Public Works as being a cooperative project between the Federal Government and State of California. The chosen alignment is noted to first have been first surveyed by the Federal Government in 1931 to provide better access to General Grant National Park. The existing highway is noted to be extremely winding and have grades in excess of 10%. General Grant National Park was reorganized and in expanded during 1940 into Kings Canyon National Park.
The November 1941 California Highways & Public Works details the opening of the new alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley and Dunlap. The then new highway is referenced in the article as "Kings Canyon Road" and is noted to have been completed on August 28, 1941. This is the first known instance of Kings Canyon Road nomenclature being used. The name is still used for much of California State Route 180 east of downtown Fresno in modern times.
Part 2; a drive on the original alignment of California State Route 180 along Ruth Hill Road
Between Cove Road and California State Route 63 much of the original alignment of California State Route 180 can be found by observing the dirt grade below the modern highway. Said grade can be faintly observed to the left below in this westbound photo.
The approximately 11-mile-long Ruth Hill Road begins on California State Route 180 a short distance east of California State Route 63.
Ruth Hill Road runs as two-lane corridor east to George Smith Road.
Eastbound Ruth Hill Road makes a right-hand turn onto southbound George Smith Road. Both roadways are concurrent for approximately a quarter mile before Ruth Hill Road makes a left-hand turn.
Eastbound Ruth Hill Road passes through the old community site of Squaw Valley where the Squaw Valley Cemetary can be found near the intersection with Indian Guide Road. What is now Yokuts Valley was originally the home to a Yokut tribal village called Múshtihnau. At one point the valley where Múshtihnau was located in was called "Woman's Land." Around 1873 American settlers co-opted the name as "Squaw Valley" which was made official following the establishment of Postal Service in 1879. The term "squaw" in modern times is considered by many to be an ethnic slur towards Native Americans.
Following the relocation of California State Route 180 in the early 1940s the community of Squaw Valley would move towards the then new highway location. Almost every business and service in the community is now located north of Ruth Hill Road. During January 2023 the Board of Geographic Names elected to rename the community as "Yokuts Valley."
Ruth Hill Road east of Indian Guide Road narrows to a single lane and ascends the namesake, Ruth Hill. The corridor emerges onto a small valley which intersects Sage Lane and Cardinal Lane.
Ruth Hill Road continues east through a steep descent into Shipes Valley where it intersects Sans Baker Road.
Ruth Hill Road widens back to two lanes and swings northeast to Dunlap. The corridor crosses a bridge at Mill Creek and terminates at Dunlap Road where California State Route 180 would have once turned right. Dunlap was plotted as a stage stop on the road to Millwood and Converse Basin the 1880s. The community obtained Postal Service in 1882 and is named after local schoolteacher George Dunlap Moss.
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