Lone Star Ghost Town Site and Visalia District Railroad Grade

About a half mile south of the intersection of Jensen Avenue and Fowler Avenue in Fresno County is the remains of a small rail siding known as Lone Star and the grade of the Visalia District Railroad.

Lone Star is a former rail sidings of a Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF) line known as the Visalia District Railroad. The Visalia District Railroad began operations apparently in 1891 and branched east of Fresno at the Central Pacific Mainline in modern day Calwa. From Calwa the Visalia District Railroad traversed southeast into Tulare County through the following communities; Cecile, Lone Star, DeWolf, Clifton, Del Rey, Miley, Parlier, and Reedley. The Visalia District Railroad and it's sidings can be observed appearing by comparing the 1891 Fresno County Map to the 1914 edition.

1891 Fresno County Map

1914 Fresno County Map

Post Office Service operated in Lone Star apparently from 1891 to 1895 and again 1900 to 1910. As can probably be inferred from it's name, Lone Star was named after the State of Texas. Lone Star as a community never appears to have grown very much and is now the location of a produce warehouse. From Fowler Avenue the grade of the Visalia District Railroad can be easily observed.

I'm not certain when the Visalia District Railroad was dismantled but it does disappear between 1981 and 1998 on maps I've compared on historicaerials.com. Interestingly part of the Visalia District Railroad Grade and the Lone Star station has been preserved in the produce warehouse yard which can be seen from Fowler Avenue looking east.

The Visalia District Railroad Grade is very evident one mile west of Lone Star at Clovis Avenue.

The legacy of Lone Star actually lives locally as the nearby grade school is named after the community. Lone Star being located on Fowler Avenue is part of the Fresno County Blossom Trail, more information can be found here:

Fresno County Blossom Trail; 30th Anniversary

Interestingly Lone Star is located only two miles south of the former rail siding of Butler which is also on Fowler Avenue.

Nexus of the Universe; Bulter, CA ghost town site

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield. Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away. In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south. Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center. Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat. The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area. In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield. When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site. The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge. Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road. The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1) If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield. Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield. Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1) Somerfield would go through va