Skip to main content

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By


When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.  




Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station

Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune.  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced from Bates Station owner/operator George Bates.  Bates Station was located at the intersection of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road (now Madera County Road 406) and old Coarsegold Road (now Madera County Road 209).



Bates Station can be seen along the Fresno-Coarsegold Road in Township 10 South, Range 20 East on the 1891 Thompson Map of Fresno County.  Madera County would split from Fresno County north of the San Joaquin River on May 16, 1893. 



Bates Station can be seen at Township 10 South, Range 20 East on the 1914 Madera County Surveyor Map.  


The Fresno-Yosemite Road was added to the State Highway System via 1933 Legislative Route Number 767 as a component of Legislative Route Number 125 (LRN 125).  The original definition of LRN 125 was as follows:

1.  LRN 56 near Moro to LRN 4 (US Route 99 near Fresno via Stratford
2.  LRN 4 near Fresno to Yosemite National Park

The Fresno-Yosemite portion of LRN 125 was announced as a component of California State Route 41 in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.  California State Route 41 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated. 



California State Route 41 can be seen passing through the site of Bates Station south of Kelshaw Corners on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Madera County.

The alignment of California State Route 41 around Bates Station was featured in the December 1939 California Highways & Public Works.  The corridor described in the article began at Kelshaw Corners along Coarsegold Creek and extended ten miles southwest.  The previous alignment is displayed as being routed past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Roads 209, 406 and 207.  The new alignment saved three miles and was noted to be complete during late October 1939.  



Part 2; a drive along former California State Route 41 on Madera County Road 209

Modern California State Route 41 intersects the pre-1939 alignment on Road 209 a short distance north of California State Route 145.  


Northbound Road 209 approaches the Sierra Nevada foothills and intersects Road 208.





Northbound Road 209 enters the foothills and begins to follow the course of Cottonwood Creek.  An abandoned older alignment can be found in the brush approaching Craig Ranch.  








A second larger old alignment of Road 209 can be found north of Craig Ranch. 










Northbound Road 209 terminates at Road 406 where Bates Station once stood.  California State Route 41 would have originally continued on what is now eastbound Road 406 to Road 207.











Part 3; a drive along former California State Route 41 on Madera County Road 207

Modern California State Route 41 intersects the pre-1939 alignment on Road 207 south of Yosemite Springs Parkway near Coarsegold.


Road 207 passes through a valley filled with ranch lands and ascends to a closed gate at the boundary of the San Joaquin Experimental Range property.  Road 207 no longer connects as a through route to Road 406. 































Part 4; a drive along former California State Route 41 on Madera County Road 406

The southern part of Road 207 south of the San Joaquin Experimental Range is now signed as Red Top Mountain Road. 

Pre-1939 California State Route 41 followed Road 406 southwest to the site of Bates Station at Road 209.













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