Skip to main content

Sheep Ranch Road (Calaveras County)

By

Sheep Ranch Road is an approximately 13.4-mile rural highway located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Calaveras County.  This roadway begins at Main Street in the town of Murphys and terminates at Railroad Flat Road after passing through the namesake community of Sheep Ranch.  Sheep Ranch is a town site which was plotted following the discovery of gold in 1860 at ranching lands owned by George Johnson.  The community is most famous for the Sheep Ranch Mine which was worked from 1867-1942.  




Part 1; the history of Sheep Ranch Road

Sheep Ranch Road is named after the Gold Rush community of Sheep Ranch.  Said community is located approximately nine miles north of the town of Murphys. 

During the early California Gold Rush George Johnson owned a sizeable sheep ranch north of Murphys.  Johnson's ranch was found to have gold ore deposits in 1860 which led to an influx of miners settling in the area.  The mining camp grew into a small town called "Sheepranch."  The early community was famous for being part of an open range which sheep freely roamed at. 

Early Sheepranch was bolstered by the opening of the Sheep Ranch Mine in 1867.  The community would receive Post Office service beginning in 1877 and a formal town site would be surveyed in 1878.  The Sheepranch town plot was formally patented by a Calaveras County judge J.H. Reed in 1880.  George Hurst (father of William Randolph Hearst) would purchase the Sheep Ranch Mine in 1897 but sold it off in 1898.  The Sheep Ranch Mine would remain worked as an actively until 1942.  In modern times the community's name appears in official records as "Sheep Ranch." 

Sheep Ranch Road appears in detail on the 1891 United States Geological Survey map of Big Trees.  The corridor of Sheep Ranch Road was part of a larger highway which connected Murphys northwest to Mokelumne Hill via Sheep Ranch, Mountain Ranch and Jesus Maria.  


Modern Sheep Ranch Road appears on the 1914 Punnett Brothers map of Calaveras County aligned from Main Street in Murphys to Railroad Flat Road (near Mountain Ranch) via Sheep Ranch.  


Sheep Ranch Road appears as a major local highway (dotted line) on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Calaveras County.  




Part 2; a drive on Sheep Ranch Road

Northbound Sheep Ranch Road begins at Main Street in Murphys.  The history of Vallecito and Murphys are strongly tied together.  Both were founded by John and Daniel Murphy during the California Gold Rush.  What became Vallecito was plotted first as Murphy's Diggings.  The brothers would found another gold mining camp a short time later to the northeast which was initially known as New Murphy's Diggings.  New Murphy's Diggings would receive Post Office Service in 1851 and would be renamed as Murphy's.  The community's name would be shortened to just "Murphy" in 1894.


Sheep Ranch Road from Main Street to Church Street only carries one-way northbound traffic.  Sheep Ranch Road quickly climbs out of Murphys to a bluff where it intersects Mercer Cave Road.  Mercer Caverns is a popular tourist attraction in the Murphys area.  The caverns were discovered in 1885 by Walter J. Mercer who filed a mining claim.  The caverns being part of the Calaveras Formation contained large amounts of marble and thus never had any sizeable precious metal deposits.  Mercer Caverns was fully mapped in 1986 and found to be 3,389 feet long.  













Sheep Ranch Road descends to San Domingo Creek and crosses it via a culvert style bridge.  









Northbound Sheep Ranch Road climbs to a junction with Avery-Sheep Ranch Road.  Traffic continuing straight transitions to eastbound Avery-Sheep Ranch Road whereas traffic wishing to continue on northbound Sheep Ranch Road must turn left.  Signage indicates Sheep Ranch is 2.2 miles from the junction.  































Sheep Ranch Road continues northward and crosses San Antonio Creek.  The roadway continues to ascend and enters the community of Sheep Ranch.  Sheep Ranch is located at 2,359 feet above sea level.  




















Sheep Ranch Road approaches Main Street and performs a hairpin.  Main Street in Sheep Ranch has several vintage structures and historic plaques.  The community was almost wiped by the 2015 Butte Fire which was stopped approximately a quarter mile from town.








Sheep Ranch Road departing Sheep Ranch passes through a small rancheria reserved for the California Valley Miwok Tribe.  This 0.92-acre reservation was purchased by the Federal Government in 1916 for Miwok tribal members local to the Sheep Ranch area and was originally known as "Sheep Ranch Rancheria."



Sheep Ranch Road widens to two lanes and ascends to a terminus at Railroad Flat Road.  















Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more