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Jesus Maria Road (Calaveras County)

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Jesus Maria Road is a mostly single lane rural highway corridor located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Calaveras County.  As presently configured Jesus Maria Road begins at Railroad Flat Road and extends approximately 13 miles west to California State Route 26 near Mokelumne Hill.

Jesus Maria Road is named after the former Gold Rush era townsite of Jesus Maria.  The town and road were both named after a Mexican farmer who resided in the area during the mining heyday of Calaveras County.  The town of Jesus Maria would largely be defunct by the 1890s and there are no longer any vintage structures remaining.  Much of Jesus Maria Road east of the namesake town originally followed Whiskey Slide but was realigned onto the modern alignment in the 1940s.  Calaveras County designates Jesus Maria Road as County Road 27 and has recently surfaced most of the corridor.  




Part 1; the history of Jesus Maria Road

Jesus Maria Road is named after the former mining community and ghost town of Jesus Maria.  The community was founded around placer mining claims found on what is now Jesus Maria Creek near the beginning of the 1850s.  The community's name comes from a Mexican farmer who sold melons to miners.  Little is known about Jesus Maria other than he resided near the town which bore his name and was listed as being 53 years of age in an 1860 era census.  

Jesus Maria likely had a peak population approaching 500 residents as the community had 213 registered votes in an 1854 election.  Approximately half of the community would burn in an 1861 and later in the decade it would become more popular as a hub for farming.  Most of the mining ditches (such as Whiskey Slide) in the area were repurposed as irrigation systems.

Early Jesus Maria Road is displayed in detail on the 1889 United States Geological Survey map of Jackson.  The alignment used in 1889 is shown to be virtually identical to the modern highway from the vicinity of Mokelumne Hill to the Jesus Maria town site.  East of the Jesus Maria townsite the roadway is shown to largely follow Whiskey Slide to the vicinity of modern Whiskey Slide Road.  Continuing eastward much of Jesus Maria Road is shown following much of the modern alignment with the exception of a southeast jog towards a sawmill near Sheep Ranch.  



By the early 1890s much of Jesus Maria was largely devoid of inhabitants.  Notably the early home of John and Louisa Gnecco would burn in 1898.  By the stare of the 20th century there was reportedly only three 1850s era adobe structure left in Jesus Maria.  Jesus Maria Road can be seen passing through the remains of the town site in a 1900 era photo (Calaveras County Historical Society). 


The January 18, 1936, Calaveras Prospect reported only two remaining adobe structures belonging to the Carvana and Gnecco families in Jesus Maria.  The Carvana Store can be seen along Jesus Maria Road in 1937 (Judge Smith Collection photo sourced from the Calaveras County Historical Society).  


The modern alignment of Jesus Maria Road east of the namesake town site first appears on the 1948 United States Geological Survey map of Mokelumne Hill.  The then new alignment is shown passing through Giuffra Ranch through a winding grade south of Whiskey Slide.  The eastern end of Jesus Maria Road is shown to be realigned to where it now terminates at Railroad Flat Road. 


In 1947 the Jesus Maria townsite was purchased by Willard Hughes.  Hughes was an ancestor of one of the original town inhabitants.  It isn't clear when the Carvana Store was demolished but it wasn't present when the 2015 era Butte Fire burned the Jesus Maria town site.  The fire destroyed the remaining 1850s adobe structure once owned by the Gnecco family.  Much of Jesus Maria Road would be resurfaced after the Butte Fire.



Part 2; a drive on Jesus Maria Road

Westbound Jesus Maria Road begins at Railroad Flat Road.  


Jesus Maria Road is striped for two lanes westward to Rainbow Road.  The corridor drops to a wide single lane from this point.








Jesus Maria Road continues west and intersects Whiskey Slide Road.  The Jesus Maria Road corridor is signed with Postmile paddles indicating it is designated as Calaveras County Road 27. 


















Jesus Maria Road emerges onto the burn scar of the Butte Fire.  The cleared forest provides a clear view of Jackson Butte across the Mokelumne River in Amador County.  










Jesus Maria Road descends to the Jesus Maria town.  There are no vintage structures left in the former community.  A historical plaque used to be present but appears to have been destroyed by the Butte Fire.  










Jesus Maria Road continues west and crosses a bridge located at the confluence of Santa Maria Creek at the North Fork Calaveras River.  











Jesus Maria Road climbs from the North Fork Calaveras River and terminates at California State Route 26 near Mokelumne Hill.














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