Skip to main content

Colorado Road (Fresno County)

By

Colorado Road is a rural highway located in San Joaquin Valley of western Fresno County.  Colorado Road services the city of San Joaquin in addition the unincorporated communities of Helm and Tranquility.  Colorado Road was constructed between 1910 and 1912 as a frontage road of the Hanford & Summit Lake Railway.  The roadway begins at California State Route 145 near Helm and terminates to the west at James Road in Tranquility.  




Part 1; the history of Colorado Road

Colorado Road was constructed as frontage road connecting the sidings of the Hanford & Summit Lake Railway.  The Hanford & Summit Lake Railway spanned from South Pacific Railroad West Side Line at Ingle junction southeast to the Coalinga Branch at Armona.  The Hanford & Summit Lake Railway broke ground during August 1910 and was complete by April 1912.

The Hanford & Summit Lake Railway established numerous new sidings.  From Ingle the sidings of the line were Tranquility, Graham, San Joaquin, Caldwell, Helm, Burrell, Riverdale, Robinson, Hub, Lynn and Hardwick.  The Hanford & Summit Lake sidings between Tranquility southeast to Helm were adjoined by a frontage road which came to be known as Colorado Road.  The Hanford & Summit Lake Railway and the sidings along modern Colorado Road can be seen on the 1914 C.F. Weber Map of Fresno County.  


San Joaquin would be formally plotted as a town in 1915.  The Hanford & Summit Lake Railway would be sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad during October 1917.  The Southern Pacific would rename their new line along Colorado Road as the "Riverdale Branch."  San Joaquin would become the only city to formally incorporate along Colorado Road which occurred during February 1920. 

Colorado Road can be seen aligned between Tranquility and Held as a major county highway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Fresno County.  The north/south highway through Helm would become part of California State Route 145 in 1970 when the highway was extended from Kerman to Interstate 5.  


The Riverdale Branch between Burrell and Riverdale was abandoned during 1952.  What remained of the line north of Burrell was sold to Port Railroads in 1994.  The Riverdale Branch along Colorado Road became was later sold to the San Joaquin Valley Railroad in 1996.  



Part 2; a drive along Colorado Road

Westbound Colorado Road begins at California State Route 145 near Helm.  Traffic is advised San Joaquin is 7 miles from Helm on Colorado Road whereas San Joaquin is 12 miles.  Note, all the photos in this section of the blog were taken during 2019.



Colorado Road westbound follows the Riverdale Branch and enters the city of San Joaquin at Manning Avenue.  








Colorado Road westbound passes through the city of San Joaquin. 





Colorado Road continues west to Tranquility and terminates at James Road. 





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
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
3 comments
Read more

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

By
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
6 comments
Read more

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

By
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
Post a Comment
Read more