Skip to main content

Raynor Ranch Road and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road

By

Raynor Ranch Road is a 3.7 mile remanent of the larger Stockton-Los Angeles Road along the Mariposa County and Merced County line.  The Stockton-Los Angeles Road was commissioned as a major stage road between the cities of Los Angeles and Stockton in 1853.  

The Stockton-Los Angeles Road crossed the Chowchilla River at Newton's Crossing and formed much of the modern boundary of the Merced County/Mariposa County line.  Raynor Ranch would be commissioned along the stage road in 1863 and would come to own much of the former highway right-of-way by the start of the twentieth century.  Raynor Ranch Road as presently configured is open to public travel between Preston Road and Le Grand Road.  




Part 1; the history of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road related to Raynor Ranch

What is now Raynor Ranch Road was a component of the larger Stockton-Los Angeles Road. The Stockton-Los Angeles Road came into use after the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush began.  The Stockton-Los Angeles Road was a replacement of the earlier El Camino Viejo.  Unlike El Camino Viejo the Stockton-Los Angeles Road avoided the dense Tule Marches in San Joaquin Valley.  The Stockton-Los Angles Road stayed close to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains to avoid flood prone terrain.

At the Fresno River the Stockton-Los Angeles Road utilized Fresno Crossing to pass the watershed.  Fresno Crossing had once been part of Jim Savage's Fresno River Trading Post during the era of the Mariposa War.  The corridor continued west from the Fresno River to Newton's Crossing at the Chowchilla River.  Newton's Crossing was owned by William F. Newton who owned a home on the north side of the Chowchilla River in what is now Mariposa County. 

The Stockton-Los Angeles Road between the original Fresno County seat of Millerton and Newton's Crossing can be seen on the 1857 Britton & Reys Map of California.  North of the Chowchilla River the corridor is shown forming most of the Merced County and Mariposa County line towards the vicinity of Snelling.  Merced County would split from much of western Mariposa County on April 19, 1855. 


The Buchanan Copper Mine would be located along the Stockton-Los Angeles Road south of Newton's Crossing in Buchanan Hollow during July 1863. The Buchanan Mine is thought to have once had a population of between 1,000-1,500 residents by the early 1870s. North of Newton's Crossing much of southern Mariposa County would go through a similar copper boom centric to Copper Hill and Green Mountain. Raynor Ranch would be established along the Stockton-Los Angeles Road in southern Mariposa County also in 1863.

Copper prices would decline in the decade after the Civil War and much of the activity near Buchanan shifted towards cattle ranching. The Buchanan Post Office would be established during September 1873 and remained operational until June 1904. The last remaining businesses in the community were a bar and store which closed during World War II.

The popularity of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road began to decline rapidly as the Central Pacific Railroad was constructed through San Joaquin Valley during the 1870s.  Farm diversions for irrigation in San Joaquin Valley and the presence of various rail sidings along the Central Pacific Railroad spurred infrastructure development which made development through previous wetlands easier.  Eventually this development led to Legislative Route Number 4 being routed next to the rails in 1909 which became part of US Route 99.

The Stockton-Los Angeles Road between Newton's Crossing and Snelling is still prominently displayed as a major highway on the 1882 Bancroft's map of California.  


Much of the property surrounding the Stockton-Los Angeles Road in southern Mariposa County would become privately held by Raynor Ranch.  Raynor Ranch is named after a tributary of the Chowchilla River and still operates in modern times.  

Much of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road of southern Mariposa County is shown to have been long removed on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Mariposa County.  The stage corridor is shown to still be a public highway between Preston Road and Le Grand Road in Township 8 South, Range 17 East like it is in modern times.  




Part 2; a drive on Raynor Ranch Road

Westbound Preston Road is carried through southern Mariposa County to the Merced County line at Raynor Ranch Road.




The entrance gate at Raynor Ranch notes it was established in 1863.


Facing south on Raynor Ranch Road towards the ranching property gate one can envision the stage corridor which once continued to the Chowchilla River and Newton's Crossing.  A Mariposa County placard is present along with a sign noting the eastbound turn onto Preston Road.  


Facing the opposite direction on Raynor Ranch Road reveals a Merced County placard.  


Raynor Ranch Road continues northwest for approximately 3.7 miles to a terminus at Le Grand Road.  The Raynor Ranch corridor mostly overlays the county line like the Stockton-Los Angeles Road once did in the 1850s. 

















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