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Former California State Route 180 in Citrus Cove

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Citrus Cove is a small canyon located east of Cove Road in Fresno County which California State Route 180 passes through.  Modern California State Route 180 climbs above the orange groves in this canyon via a modern two-lane highway.  The original alignment of California State Route 180 is located within the canyon which is now a switchback road passing through the orange groves.  This older alignment was in service as California State Route 180 until 1952 and was for years a major barrier for traffic reaching destinations in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The original alignment of California State Route 180 from Cove Road east to Squaw Valley via Citrus Cove can be seen on the 1950 United States Geological Survey map. 





Part 1; the history of California State Route 180 in Citrus Cove

Citrus Cove is a small canyon in which is located on California State Route 180 immediately east of Cove Road.  As the name suggests, this canyon is lined with a citrus grove.  Citrus Cove is where California State Route 180 rises out of San Joaquin Valley into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. 

During 1905 Legislative Chapter 598 would authorize a survey to locate a route for a highway to be constructed from Grant Grove of General Grant National Park into the Kings River Canyon.  This corridor would be formally added as a planned state highway by way of 1909 Legislative Chapter 223 as Legislative Route Number 41.  

Planned Legislative Route Number 41 appears on the 1918 California Highway Commission map as a special appropriations road.  



The 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act would provide funding for construction of the Kings River Canyon Road.  In 1933 Legislative Route Number 41 would be extended to Tracy via Fresno.  The state highway west of Grant Grove followed Dark Canyon Road (now partially Forest Road 14S45), Pinehurst Road (now California State Route 245) Dunlap Road, and Old Dunlap Road (now Ruth Hill Road), and a winding switchback road in Citrus Cove through to Centerville.  The initial Grant Grove-Centerville alignment of Legislative Route Number 41 passes through the communities of Pinehurst, Miramonte, Dunlap and Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley).  

What was then known as Dunlap Road can be seen west of Squaw Valley passing through Citrus Cove into San Joaquin Valley on the 1924 United States Geological Survey map of Dinuba. 


Legislative Route Number 41 east of Fresno would be assigned as California State Route 180 when the initial Sign State Routes were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.


The initial alignment of California State Route 180 from Citrus Cove east to Squaw Valley can be seen on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Fresno County (unbroken red line).  


A planned new alignment of California State Route 180 from Boulder Creek east to the Sequoia National Forest boundary near Dunlap appears budgeted for the 89th-90th Fiscal Years in the January 1937 California Highways & Public Works.  The project corridor is shown to be broken up into zones spanning a total of 11 miles.  


California State Route 180 along the slopes of Ruth Hill appears on the cover of the November 1938 California Highways & Public Works.  The cover caption notes construction of the planned new alignment was shelved due to funding falling short.  The existing corridor is called the "Squaw Valley Grade" in the caption.  



The realignment of California State Route 180 from the outskirts of Squaw Valley to Grant Grove appears as budgeted 30-mile project zone for the 91st-92nd Fiscal Years in the February 1939 California Highways & Public Works.  


The Squaw Valley-Grant Grove realignment of California State Route 180 was featured in the June 1940 California Highways & Public Works as being a cooperative project between the Federal Government and State of California.  The chosen alignment is noted to first have been first surveyed by the Federal Government in 1931 to provide better access to General Grant National Park.  The existing highway is noted to be extremely winding and have grades in excess of 10%.  General Grant National Park was reorganized and in expanded during 1940 into Kings Canyon National Park.  




The November 1941 California Highways & Public Works details the opening of the new alignment of California State Route 180 bypassing Squaw Valley and Dunlap.  The then new highway is referenced in the article as "Kings Canyon Road" and is noted to have been completed on August 28, 1941.  This is the first known instance of Kings Canyon Road nomenclature being used.  The name is still used for much of California State Route 180 east of downtown Fresno in modern times. 





The original alignment of California State Route 180 from Cove Road east to Squaw Valley via Citrus Cove can be seen on the 1950 United States Geological Survey map. 



The September/October 1948 California Highways & Public Works announced a realignment project for California State Route 180 between Citrus Cove Road (now Cove Road) and White Deer Road (now Hopewell Road) upcoming for the 1949-1950 Fiscal Year.  This project corridor was intended to replace the winding grade which existed within Citrus Cove eastward through Squaw Valley towards Mill Creek.


The November/December 1951 California Highways & Public Works announced the realignment of California State Route 180 between Citrus Cove and Squaw Valley was underway.  It is unclear why this project corridor was delayed but it appears to have been completed during 1952 without further incident.  This realignment would shifted California State Route 180 and Kings Canyon Road to the grade it now occupies from Citrus Cove east to Dunlap. 


What is now Yokuts Valley was originally the home to a Yokut tribal village called Múshtihnau.  At one point the valley where  Múshtihnau was located in was called "Woman's Land."  Around 1873 American settlers co-opted the name as "Squaw Valley" which was made official following the establishment of Postal Service in 1879.  The term "squaw" in modern times is considered by many to be an ethnic slur towards Native Americans. 

During January 2023 the Board of Geographic Names elected to rename the Squaw Valley as "Yokuts Valley."  The renaming has been locally unpopular, and most businesses still carry the Squaw Valley name. 



Part 2; the original alignment of California State Route 180 in Citrus Cove

From eastbound California State Route 180 approaching Citrus Cove the original highway can be seen in the orange groves below. 



The older alignment of California State Route 180 in Citrus Cove from the modern highway.




The original alignment of California State Route 180 east of Citrus Cove crossed over California State Route 63 (Hills Valley Road).  The older alignment of California State Route 180 is still visit from California State Route 63. 



East of California State Route 63 the older cut where California State Route 180 once transitioned into Ruth Hill Road towards Squaw valley is easy to spot. 


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