Douglas Flat is a small former mining community founded in the 1850s in Calaveras County between Vallecito and Murphys. When California State Route 4 was commissioned in 1934 it followed the existing highway corridor through Douglas Flat via Main Street. The original corridor would persist until 1961 when Main Street was bypassed a new alignment located a short distance eastward. The 1961-era bypass of Douglas Flat was part of larger project which saw California State Route 4 also bypass Vallecito and Murphys. The original alignment of California State Route 4 in Douglas Flat can be seen in detail on the 1948 United States Geological Survey map of Columbia. Part 1; the history of California State Route 4 in Douglas Flat Douglas Flat was settled as a mining camp during the early 1850s between what is now Vallecito and Murphys. By 1857 the Harper and Lone Star claims had produced $130,000 in gold. The community was located near ...
Old Wards Ferry Road is an approximately 3.6-mile portion of the original alignment of Wards Ferry Road located near the city of Sonora, California. As currently configured this older alignment begins at modern Wards Ferry Road near Curtis Creek and terminates in Sonora at Sanguinetti Road. The Olds Wards Ferry Road corridor is largely defined by the single lane 1914-era arch concrete bridge at Curtis Creek. Wards Ferry Road is one of the oldest road corridors in Tuolumne County having been set up as a ferry crossing by Joesph Ward during 1850. Wards Ferry Road was once the primary connecting highway between the communities of Big Oak Flat and Sonora. Wards Ferry Road is most well-known from the largely one-lane wide alignment through Murderer's Gulch where it crosses the Tuolumne River via heavily graffitied 1971 Wards Ferry Bridge. Pictured as the blog cover is the 1897 Wards Ferry Bridge as it was during 1951. The 1897 Wards Ferry Bridge was built ...