Skip to main content

Randsburg-Redrock Road

By


Randsburg-Redrock Road is located in the Mojave Desert of eastern Kern County in Fremont Valley.  The corridor mostly originated in 1873 as part of the Searles Brothers stage road between Mojave and their Borax plant in Searles Valley.  The remaining balance of the road east of Garlock was plotted after the opening of the Yellow Aster Mine and creation of Randsburg in 1896.  Randsburg-Redrock Road begins at US Route 395 near the community of Randsburg and terminates 20.5 miles to the west at California State Route 14.  




Part 1; the history of Randsburg-Redrock Road

What is now modern day Randsburg-Redrock Road was partially a segment of the western Searles Brothers stage road.  Said roadway connected from the Searles Borax Plant at Searles Valley west to Mojave beginning in 1873.  The road utilized a passage through Fremont Valley wedged between the Rand Mountains and El Paso Mountains.  The western Searles Brothers stage road can be seen on the 1882 Bancroft's map of California. 


In April 1895 Gold was discovered at the Yellow Aster Mine near Rand Mountain south of the Searles Brothers stage road.  In December 1895 the Rand Mining District was established which led to the formation of Rand Camp.  Rand Camp was located north of the Yellow Aster Mine and was quickly renamed as "Randsburg."  

A spur east of the Searles Brothers stage road would be constructed soon after the establishment of Randsburg.  Garlock was plotted near the junction of the Searles Brothers stage road and the Randsburg Road.  Eugene Garlock had set up a small community centered around a stamp mill built in 1896 to service ore from the Yellow Aster Mine.  

For a brief time Garlock would compete with Randsburg in terms of being an important hub servicing the Rand Mining District.  Garlock would lose much of the importance it had when the Kramer-Randsburg Railroad was completed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway circa 1898.  The Randsburg Railroad was constructed from Kramer Junction north to the community of Johannesburg which was located a short distance east of Randsburg.  

Modern Randsburg-Redrock Road can be seen on the 1915 United States Geological Survey map of Searles Lake.  The roadway can be seen originating at future US Route 395 just east of Randsburg.  The blue pin indicates where the roadway picked up Garlock Road and continued west on the former Searles Brothers stage road towards what is now California State Route 14 (former US Route 6) near Redrock State Park. 




Part 2; a drive on Randsburg-Redrock Road 

Pictured below is the western terminus of Garlock Road at Randsburg-Redrock Road.  Traffic can turn sharply left to go eastward towards Randsburg and US Route 395.  Westbound traffic makes a soft transition from Garlock Road onto Randsburg-Redrock Road towards California State Route 14. 


From Garlock Road the course of westbound Randsburg-Redrock Road takes 12.1 miles to reach California State Route 14.  The corridor often has dramatic views of storms in the southern Sierra Nevada range.  The corridor intersects Neuralia Road just prior to terminating at California State Route 14.  













Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more