Willms Road is an approximately 7.3-mile rural highway located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Stanislaus County. The highway is named for Willms Ranch which was plotted along the stage road to Knights Ferry in 1852. The corridor originally had a northern terminus which lined up with the 1864-era Knights Ferry Covered Bridge at the Stanislaus River. Since 1981 the structure has been closed to automotive traffic and new alignment became part of Sonora Road.
Part 1; the history of Willms Road
What is now Willms Road was part of a larger stage road which once connected La Grange directly to the Knights Ferry Covered Bridge at the Stanislaus River. The La Grange-Knights Ferry Road is shown heading directly northwest of La Grange directly to Knights Ferry on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California. West of Knights Ferry the road is shown continuing to a terminus at Farmington. This corridor has taken the modern names of Cooperstown Road, Willms Road and Sonora Road.
The name of "Willms Road" is a reference to Willms Ranch. Said ranch was plotted by California Gold Rush pioneer John Reemer Willms. John Reemer Willms was born in Hanover, Germany and arrived in Sacramento when he was 20 years on October 12, 1849.
Willms along with several business partners initially set up a trade post on the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry. In 1852 Willms and his partners bought the property where the current Willms Homestead now stands for the purposes of raising horses to be used at the mines of Viriginia City, Nevada. By the 1880s Willms would come to own over 10,000 acres of cattle grazing land. The current Willms Homestead would be constructed along the road which now bears his name in 1892. The Willms Cattle Land Company would incorporate in 1909 and is still mostly family owned into modern times.
Modern Willms Road appears between Warnerville of the Sierra Railway and Knights Ferry on the 1906 Stanislaus Land & Abstract Company map.
The corridor of Willms Road appears as "Knights Ferry-Cooperstown Road" on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Stanislaus County. It isn't fully clear when the current name was assigned to the corridor.
Part 2; a drive on Willms Road
Northbound Willms Road begins at the mutual terminus of Cooperstown Road and Warnerville Road near Maxwell Cemetary.
Willms Creek crosses a branch of Dry Creek amid a vista of the surrounding bluff filled terrain.
Willms Road continues north to the site of Willms Ranch and Homestead. A historical plaque regarding the history of the ranch can be found alongside the roadway.
Willms Road continues to a terminus located California State Routes 120 and 108. The roadway continues ahead as Sonora Road into Knights Ferry.
Willms Road once was aligned over the Knights Ferry Covered Bridge. Said structure can still be found at the Stanislaus River at the Knights Ferry Recreation Area. A former flour mill and power plant can be found along the north side of the bridge.
In 1862 Knights Ferry became the fourth Stanislaus County Seat replacing La Grange. Despite becoming the Stanislaus County Seat, the community would suffer massive damages from the Great Flood of 1862. The Great Flood of 1862 destroyed the 1854 era flour mill and 1857 era bridge over the Stanislaus River. By 1863 a new flour mill built by David Tulloch and what was known as the Knights Ferry Covered Bridge were constructed from 1863 through 1864.
The Knights Ferry Covered Bridge is a four span design which towers over the Stanislaus River at 330 feet in length. This covered span remains the longest in the United States west of the Mississippi River. The structure was purchased by Stanislaus County in 1885 and was converted into a public road. The bridge was ultimately closed to automotive traffic in 1981 and rehabilitated in 1989.
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