Skip to main content

West Westfall Road (Mariposa County)

By

West Westfall Road is a six-mile rural dirt surface highway located in southern Mariposa County.  As presently configured West Westfall Road begins at White Rock Road near the White Rock ghost town and terminates at Preston Road near the ruins of the Goodview Mine copper smelter.  This roadway was likely developed during the 1870s amid the copper mining boom at Copper Hill.  The corridor is named after Sierra Nevada foothill pioneer Fremont Westfall who used to raise cattle in the White Rock area.  




Part 1; the history of West Westfall Road

Mariposa County was incorporated on February 18, 1850, as one of the original counties following California becoming an American state.  Mariposa County initially was by far the largest county by area in California which was centered around mining claims in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  The original county seat was the now ghost town of Aqua Fria.

During the early days of Mariposa County two major highways were established between San Joaquin Valley and the major mining communities to the east of the Sierra Nevada foothills.  The northern route was what would become the Burckhalter Toll Road which was aligned over what is now mostly Bear Valley Road.  The southernly route followed the Mariposa River (now Mariposa Creek) from the town of Bridgeport via the community of White Rock.  This southern route is what is now known in modern times as "White Rock Road." 

The Mariposa River Road can be seen spanning from Mariposa southwest towards what would become the Stockton-Los Angeles Road on the 1852 C.D. Gibbs Map of the Southern Mines.  White Rock is shown to be known at the time as "Guadalupe" and was located north of Texas Ranch.  In 1852 White Rock is shown to be the southernmost established community in the current boundaries of Mariposa County.  


Beginning in the 1860s southern Mariposa County would see a copper mining boom.  Most of the mines were centered around Green Mountain and Copper Hill.  During November 1876 residents of Mariposa County would petition for a roadway to be constructed from then Fresno County mining town of Buchanan (now part of Madera County) northwest over the Chowchilla River to the Stockton-Los Angeles Road (more commonly known at the time as the Millerton Road).  The petition for this copper belt roadway appears the Public Highway records of Mariposa County.  This petition definitely included what is now Preston Road but likely also what is now West Westfall Road.   


The southern Mariposa County copper belt road would be worked by miners through the 1880s.  The region would gradually transition lands mostly used by cattle grazing.  What is now West Westfall Road is named after Sierra Nevada foothill pioneer Fremont Westfall.  Westfall was born in Kansas in 1861 and would later move to the Mariposa area in 1882.  Westfall was mostly known for supplying the Grub Gulch mine in what is now Madera County and raising cattle in the White Rock area.  

West Westfall Road is shown as a primitive rural highway on the 1920 United States Geological Survey map of Indian Gulch.  The Westfall corridor can be seen branching from White Rock Road below (marked by blue pin). 


The same map displays West Westfall Road passing by the Copper Hill mining area.  The blue pin marks where the roadway terminates at Preston Road. 




Part 2; a drive on West Westfall Road

The southbound beginning of West Westfall Road can be found at White Rock Road near the former town site of White Rock.  One of the few remaining pieces of evidence of the small community is White Rock Cemetery which was established in 1861.  





As southbound West Westfall Road begins traffic is advised Raymond is 15 miles away.  The journey to Raymond includes all 6 miles of West Westfall Road, Preston Road, Ben Hur Road and Madera County Road 613.





Southbound West Westfall Road travels though the countryside in the Sierra Nevada foothills flanking Copper Hill.  There are no homes located on the corridor but rather there are a couple ranching properties which are bounded by cattle guards.  West Westfall Road terminates at Preston Road.


































The ruins of the Goodview Mine copper smelter can be found at the southwest corner of West Westfall Road and Preston Road.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rep. Sue Myrick's letter to Gov. Easley and Sect. Tippett published in Charlotte Observer

By
US. Representative Sue Myrick's (R-Charlotte) letter to North Carolina's Governor Mike Easley and NC Transportation Secretary Lyndo Tippett was published in the Friday, November 30th edition of the Charlotte Observer . Why are we delaying the completion of 1-485 in Charlotte again? I read in The Charlotte Observer how rising prices of materials are leading to the delay. Why didn't these same rising costs delay the loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington? Why are we building loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington before we complete the one in Charlotte? We were working on the one in Charlotte back when I was mayor. That was 20 years ago! ... Last I looked Charlotte was the largest city in the state. There seems to be no recognition of that fact in Raleigh. No recognition that we are at a standstill with traffic. No recognition that we have a traffic problem. Nor is there any recognition of the fact that the state DOT utterly botched up the southern leg of our yet to be completed ...
Post a Comment
Read more

I-90 in Albany, New York and the Berkshire Spur

By
Today's Albany Times Union has a segment in their weekly Getting There? column that explains some of the history behind how I-90 is designated in the Albany, NY area as well as the Berkshire Spur. The long and short of the article was that I-90 was originally designated on the unsigned portion of the Berkshire Spur, but as free I-90 was built, the designation was moved onto the free portion of road. Additionally, there were talks in 1999 between state and federal officials about the possibility of moving I-90 back onto the unsigned portion of the Berkshire Spur, while extending I-88 onto what we know as free I-90. There would have also had been an I-88/I-90 multiplex between Rotterdam and Albany as a result. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=916307
Post a Comment
Read more