Located in Mottville, Michigan, the Mottville Camelback Bridge spans 270 feet across the St. Joseph River and is a beautiful example of camelback bridges that once commonly dotted the landscape across Michigan and also into neighboring Ontario. Built in 1922 under the direction of bridge engineer, C.A. Melick, the Mottville Bridge is the surviving longest example of a concrete camelback arch bridge in Michigan. A standardized set of plans used by the Michigan Highway Department at the time featured the concrete camelback arch bridges at 90 feet long and 22 feet wide. While the Mottville Bridge was bypassed in 1990 by a modern highway bridge running parallel to it along US 12, it is not the first bridge at this location, even though it has been there the longest in terms of its lifespan. Several bridges and crossings have graced the general location of the Mottville Camelback Bridge in this slice of St. Joseph County, Michigan. First, there was a Native American trail called
Madera County Road 400 is an approximately twenty-four-mile roadway following the course of the Fresno River in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Road 400 begins at California State Route 145 near Madera and terminates to the north at Road 415 near Coarsegold. Traditionally Road 400 was known as "River Road" prior to Madera County dropping naming conventions on county highways. Road 400 was part of the original Yosemite Stage Route by the Washburn Brothers which began in 1882. The Yosemite Stage Route would be realigned to the west in 1886 along what is now Road 600 to a rail terminus in Raymond. Parts of Road 400 were realigned in 1974 to make way for the Hensley Lake Reservoir. Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 400 Road 400 is historically tied to the Wawona Road and Hotel. The Wawona Hotel is located near the Mariposa Grove in the modern southern extent of Yosemite National Park. The origins of the Wawona Road are tied to the Wawona Hotel but it does predate th