SHM 256 - Historic Transportation Traditional Cache
SHM 256 - Historic Transportation
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Quick and easy park and grab.
Container used is a spawn from GC17WY1 Holy Macro!
Historic Transportation from Honey Lake to Virginia
City
The historic road corridors from the Truckee Meadows northwestward
into the Honey Lake area contains a tangle of intertwined routes
following the course of valleys, portions of an emigrant trail
cutoff, toll roads, county roads and casual parallel routes
developed to bypass blockages such as mudholes. Construction of the
paved precursor to U.S. 395 and recent freeway construction along
this same corridor have obliterated much of the earlier road
system, cutting it into isolated segments. The road is associated
with the continuing history of transportation in the state of
Nevada, reflecting the process of road improvement and economic and
demographic change.
Honey Lake 1856-1863
In 1856, the early settlers of the region, the Honey Lakers,
proposed the territory of Nataqua, encompassing the land along the
eastern Sierra from Susanville to Carson Valley. The 1859 silver
strikes in the Comstock Lake generated a prosperous market for the
ranchers' livestock and produce. Freight wagons and stagecoaches
ran regularly over the rutted road from the Honey Lake area to
Virginia City and strengthened the settlers' attachment to eastern
Sierra settlements rather than those in California. the Honey Lake
ranchers felt so strongly about their independence and connection
to the Great Basin environs, they fought the 1863 Sagebrush War
attempting to block their annexation to Plumas County,
California.
Emigrant Trail 1851-1855
In 1851, James Pierson Beckwourth (1798-1866), the son of Sire
Jennings Beckwith and a slave, located and constricted a wagon road
connecting the California Emigrant Trail at the Truckee Meadows to
Marysville, California via Sierra Valley (portions of Highway 70).
Beckwourth, a trapper and trader, hoped to earn his fortune with
the opening of the road; however, he was never reimbursed as
promised by the mayor or Marysville for road construction. The
trail served for a few years as an alternative pass through the
Sierra; it became a byway for local traffic after 1855.
Roadside Stations and Ranches 1850s-1900s
This marker is located at the Peavine Ranch, an overnight stop for
the travelers along the road from the Truckee River to ranches near
Honey Lake. The ranch advertised a well-stocked table and bar and
first class beds. Purchased in 1862 by Fielding Lemmon, it was
initially part of real estate and mining promotion as platted on
this 1867 map, but Peavine grew instead into a prosperous livestock
operation. Several other ranches were located along the road, yet,
for nearly a hundred years regional growth centered around downtown
Reno and Sparks. Over time, most of the ranches and stage stops
were replaced by small isolated communities, then larder
communities, and eventually suburbs.
Highway System 1930s-Present
The Three Flags Highway gave way to U.S. 395, which was an
extension of Virginia Street in Reno. In the 1970s a four-lane
system was proposed. The highway generally follows the same
transportation corridor and still cuts through the Peavine Ranch
property.
Three Flags Highway 1923-1930s
One of the first federally funded highways in Nevada was a macadam
road from Reno to the Nevada/California border. The Nevada Highway
Commission was organized in 1917. Federal money was mandated for
Nevada in 1921 and construction started in April 1922 for the Three
Flags Highway, the road linking Canada, the United States, and
Mexico. Portions of the road still remain.
Toll Roads 1850s-1860s
Prior to state and federally constructed highways, a stage and toll
road between Honey Lake and Virginia City was more or less
maintained under a succession of private owners such as Myron C.
Lake. In 1861, Lake traded property in Honey Lake Valley for the
log toll bridge across the Truckee River with Charles W. Fuller of
Susanville. Lake applied for a franchise to improve, maintain and
construct a toll road from three miles south of this bridge to the
California/Nevada border excluding passage through town streets of
Reno. The early road, approximately 20 miles long, was in a
constant deplorable condition and impassable at times.
Congats to find waldo on the
FTF
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