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

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more