Lincoln Highway alignment found near Fresh Pond

While heading east following the Lincoln Highway route past Fresh Pond, we turned left on Outer Limits Road, then a quick right on to Dubasary Lane headed towards the Ranger Station. As is often the case in California's mountains, the Lincoln Highway's old 1913 route diverges from today’s Highway 50 freeway winding its way around the contours of the hills. In the early part of the 20th Century, equipment like a steam shovel was unavailable, so the roads couldn’t be cut into the hills like they were in subsequent years. Often the Lincoln Highway would follow older wagon roads and emigrant routes. Here is no exception as this route follows the old Johnson Cut-Off Trail from the mid-1800s.

Map showing location. Click map for larger view.

Just down Dubasary Ln., we came upon a section of the old road complete with a white centerline, which you can see in the photo at the top of the page. We tried to follow it, but Highway 50 is just to the right, and during its construction in the 1950s, the old road was covered with rock, making access impossible.

Traveling a bit further down Dubassary Lane, we spotted a “C” monument, also known as a “right-of-way” monument. These concrete structures were used by the highway department to signify the state-owned roadway. Typically they were placed about 15 feet from the edge of the state highway, with an imprinted letter “C” facing the road. The “C” stands for California. Nevada has its own monuments with the letter “N.” This marker had no “C” visible, so we jumped out of the car and investigated.

Trey pointing to the “C” monument with no visible “C”.

While the monument had no visible “C” from Dubasary Lane, there was a “C” imprinted on the opposite side, which indicates the old road was on the other side of the chain-link fence. Now the old route started to make sense. The old Lincoln Highway was closer to the newer Highway 50 than previously thought.

The hidden “C”.

It was hard to get this photo as the chain-link fence made it impossible to walk around. The “C” is clearly visible and indicating the roadbed edge was 15 feet on the other side of the fence. In the following photograph, our car is parked, facing west at the site of the monument. We can see how far the old road is from Dubasary Ln., about 15 feet past the fence at left.

Below is the official Lincoln Highway map showing a satellite view of the area. I have shown some of the features and drawn in red the found route of the old Lincoln Highway.

Map showing the found route and some other features. Click map for larger view.

We can surmise that with the modern Highway 50 in the 1950s, the older road was destroyed. It was too close to the new highway, so it was moved away from the freeway and given the name, Dubasary Lane. This newly found route will be presented to the Lincoln Highway Association cartographers for approval and addition to the official map found here.

The Lincoln Highway was America’s first coast-to-coast highway for automobiles. When first planned it followed roads already in place. Here in California's mountains, the old road often followed the older wagon and emigrant trails from the 1800s. Here is no exception as just across Dubasary Lane from the “C” monument is a “T” monument put up by the Trails West organization. It mentions that this is part of the Johnson Cut-Off Trail from the 1850s. Down in the American River Canyon from here was the Bartlett Bridge, which predates the famous Brockliss Bridge. The wooden Bartlett Bridge was destroyed by flood on March 7th, 1855, and replaced with the stone Brockliss Bridge a few miles upriver. We couldn’t find a drawing of the Bartlett Bridge but found this one of the Brockliss Bridge, which the Pony Express used during its incarnation.

Brockliss Bridge over the American River by Edward Vischer. Toll House at right.

Often we find ourselves at some special location in history that even pre-dates the old Lincoln Highway. The old road spans the time from horse and buggy and the new-fangled automobile.

The Lincoln Highway is your road to adventure.

The Lincoln Highway from Fry Creek to Milestone 29

Tuesday found Monica and I venturing into the Eldorado National Forest, searching the Lincoln Highway's old southern route between Fry Creek and Milestone 29. This is a fantastic section of old roadbed that has, for years, been buried under an accumulation of forest debris and erosion. We hiked this portion before, but the road/trail was blocked by manzanita and other plants, making it nearly impossible to travel farther.

Great news, as the forest has been cleared for fire prevention. All the growth that had hindered our progress has been removed, making for an easy hike. Most exciting is many hundreds of yards of rock retaining wall has now been exposed after over 100 years. Let's take a walk and we’ll show you what we have found.

Iron piece on the west side of Fry Creek.

In the photo above, I’m looking at one of the first objects we found, a California “C” Monument, which was used to designate the state’s road boundaries. What is fascinating is there is no “C” printed on the block. There is only one other time we have found these markers with no letter “C” embedded in it. The marker indicates that our official map may be changed to show this previously unknown loop of the old road.

A hundred yards or so from the “C” Monument, the old road crossed Fry Creek. The only evidence of a bridge is iron sticking out of the granite on the west side, and a retaining wall on the east side.

The photo above shows the small retaining wall, on the opposite side from the iron piece, hidden behind some bushes. The photo below shows the site looking west accross Fry Creek. There must have been a bridge here.

The photo below shows the road just a few hundred yards east of Fry Creek, where we came upon this beautiful stone retaining wall. We don't know the year these walls we built. The Lincoln Highway was designated in 1913, but this road is older than that. This was California’s first wagon road, designated in 1895, predating the automobile, so the walls could have been built during the 19th Century.

The photo below shows some of the clearings that have exposed this long retaining wall. We were quite impressed with the length and height of some of these walls. Truly expert craftsmanship to have withstood over 100 years of neglect.

Below we see one of the longer walls and the piles of manzanita that have been cleared. This wall was completely hidden from view before this recent clearing. Below is one of the longer retaining walls we came upon. Notice the piles of manzanita bushes that have been cut out, exposing this once hidden wall.

A little further on, we came upon a stream crossing and a terra cotta pipe passing under the roadbed. We have seen rock and metal culverts before, but never terra cotta or clay. Quite unusual.

Monica is holding a portion of the clay pipe we found laying around. It’s quite thick and heavy.

Still, further on, we came upon a stream crossing and another terra cotta pipe passing under the roadbed. In the photo below, we have walked a bit further east and found another pipe. Check out the size of that Terra Cotta pipe emerging from under the roadbed. It was in such good condition we wondered if it was a recent replacement. Nothing else has been repaired along this stretch of Lincoln Highway, so we assume this is an original culvert. Why clay was used in this particular situation, we do not know.

Below is a photo closeup of the pipes double-layered construction. The outer white layer is quite hard. Not sure what type of material it’s made from.

We are just about through with our hike and we can see Monica walking east on the old road towards our destination, Milestone 29 off Highway 50.

With the recent clearing having been done this stretch of the historic road is easily hiked. The retaining walls are extensive and easily spotted now with the clearing. Lot’s of bear scat around so it’s best to walk this during the daylight before dusk, lest one come upon a furrier traveler on the old road.

Monica heading east near Milestone 29.

Below is a map showing the location of our adventure. We started near Fry Creek at the left and followed the blue line towards Milestone 29 on the right. Very little of this section of the old road is visible from Highway 50.

Click map to see a larger version.

Below is a map showing the two routes of the Lincoln Highway through the mountains of California. Our adventure this time is on the southern route in El Dorado County.

Click map to see a larger version.

The Summit Station and Hotel, Donner Summit

Looking at the photo above you would be forgiven for not knowing that this is likely one of the most historic spots in California railroad history. I’m standing at the site of the Central Pacific Railroad “roundhouse” at Summit Station, Donner Summit. It’s the only evidence of what was a beehive of activity along the transcontinental railroad. In the background, we can see the entrance for tunnel 6, the longest of the tunnels the railroad built. The concrete I’m looking at makes a large circle. This was the foundation for the roundhouse.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

With this 1870 photo, we can see the 67’ turntable roundhouse in the photo center. The Summit Hotel is the large white building on the left. The wooden snow tunnel coming towards us it the west portal to Tunnel Six.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

The above 1884 diagram is quite helpful in identifying the objects in the photo.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

The above 1920s photo and the one following were taken from the same spot. The first photo shows the Summit Hotel at left, with a ramp to the railroad snow sheds at right. Travelers would wait at the hotel until the train arrived and then proceeded across the ramp to the snow shed and the waiting train. It looks like some folks are digging in the street, maybe looking for gold? Some more people wait at the hotel and behind the truck.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

The fantastic photo above shows why people were waiting for the train outside. Notice the snow shed at right, which appears to be on fire with a great amount of smoke billowing out of the vents near the roof. The shed is not on fire; the train has arrived! Everyone would wait until the last minute to work their way through the smoke to the waiting train.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

Here we see the other side of the loading ramp at the Summit Hotel. This photo was taken around 1900, so we are still in the horse and buggy era with a couple of riders with their horses on the road. With a covered area leading to it, at right, is what appears to be a three-story “outhouse.”

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

This 1927 photo shows the transition from “horse and buggy” days to the automobile era. We are looking the same direction as the photo with the horse riders, but now we see a car driving on the Lincoln Highway, with Lincoln Highway sign visible just to the car's right. The road turned right, just before the building as the ramp to the trains is still standing.

According to the Donner Summit Museum, this is likely one of the last photos of the Summit Hotel as it burned down in 1925. Why is this photo dated 1927? I’ll let you know when I find out.

Map showing key features.

Once upon a time at "Lookout Point", Emigrant Gap.

Emigrant Gap’s name came from 19th Century travelers who used this narrow ridge and gap to continue their travels to the Bear River Valley. The emigrants would have to lower their wagons down a very steep slope to reach the Bear River Valley far below. The site soon became known as “Lookout point” and was separate from the small town of Emigrant Gap, located about a 1/2 mile to the south-east.

The photo above shows the first visitors building to occupy this spot, a Pacific Gas & Electric Company (P.G.&E) lookout, built so travelers on the Lincoln Highway could stop and view Lake Spaulding's 1913 construction, a project of the power company. Notice the Lincoln Highway sign at the far left.

The photo above was taken by TC Wohlbruck, who purchased this property from LB Allen, who owned a hotel at Emigrant Gap. We can tell it’s a Wohlbruck photo from the distinctive writing on each of his pictures. He would sell these photos as postcards from his Canteen/Service Stations at Echo Summit, Donner Memorial State Park, and Emigrant Gap. Wohlbruck was one of the first people to recognize the profit potential in offering service for the new-fangled autos and their drivers. We can see the Lincoln Highway heading off to the left of the entrance to the Canteen.

A Wohlbruck photo above shows the Cafe that was a part of the “Lookout Point Hotel”.

Another Wohlbruck photo above showing the sleeping quarters of the “Lookout Hotel.” Walking out the doors, guests would confront the amazing view and cliffs leading down to the Bear Valley.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

The above photo comes to us from the TC Wohlbruck era and shows the curved rockwork at the Canteen/Service Station. Herstle Jones, who built the later Nyack Lodge, was assumed to be the stonemason that put up this wall. Herstle and his brother Oscar were expert stone masons and constructed or added to the Rainbow Lodge at Big Bend and the Soda Springs Hotel. This photo shows that TC Wohlbruck was the one who built the wall that would become part of the Nyack Hotel.

The construction of the Nyack Hotel in progress on the now renamed Lincoln Highway, “Hi-Way 40”.

The above photo shows the completed Nyack Lodge, owned by Herstle Jones. We can see beautiful stonework in front of the building.

The photo above shows the service station component of the Nyack Lodge complex. E. Stewart Wells, whose family still runs the Nyack Shell nearby, was the service station operator.

Here we see a color photograph of the interior of the dining room of the Nyack Lodge. Guests looked out over the precipitous cliffs to the Bear Valley and Spaulding Lake, far below.

Here we have a great color photo of the cozy interior of the lodge with a lit fireplace. Notice the fantastic rock work which was a signature of the lodge.

Nyack Lodge Menu from the 1940s.

Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

With the construction of Interstate 80 in the early 1960s, the Nyack Lodge faced a crossroads. They needed a bit of space from the Southern Pacific Railroad, but with that company's refusal to release a portion of their land to make the necessary room, the lodge's fate was sealed. The massive building was destroyed, but the service station building was cut into three sections and moved a short distance to today's Nyack Shell Station site. The present-day service station is part of the old lodge complex! The old lodge was well built, and the demolition crews used explosives to take the rest of the building down.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection

The above photo from the 1960’s shows the parking lot that has replaced the older buildings at “Lookout Point”, Emigrant Gap. This is the scene we are familiar with today.

Map of the location and certain features.

The Yuba River, a historic transportation corridor

This particular spot along the Yuba River has been recorded over the years as transportation has changed. The river is a natural passage once one has passed the summit, headed west. The earliest course along this route were the native people, followed by the first emigrant train across the Sierra, The Stevens-Townsend- Murphy Party. Soon after, others followed this “Overland Emigrant Trail” to realize their dreams. The photo above, taken at the time the road was the Dutch-Flat Donner Summit Wagon Road (DFDLWR), between 1860 to 1870s.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

The DFDLWR operated from 1861 to 1871, with no tolls collected after 1869. The road was less traveled once the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, as traveling by the railroad was much faster. Over the next 40 years, the three counties maintained the road, but maintenance was limited, as only local traffic used it.  

In 1913 the Lincoln Highway used the old road as part of its transcontinental route, with improvements were made so that automobiles could traverse over the mountains on the old wagon road. The above photo taken by TC Wohlbruck shows the road as the Lincoln Highway, sometime in the 1920s. 

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

In 1927 the Lincoln Highway became Highway 40, which in these parts closely followed the older Lincoln. Soon traffic became unbearable. A new highway was built, which is visible on the northern side of the river, opposite the older Lincoln Highway in the above color photograph. The old DFDLWR and Lincoln Highway were no longer maintained as traffic moved to the more modern thoroughfare.

Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

Eventually, as traffic grew Highway 40, it was plagued by crowded roads, such as we see in the above photograph. In 1956 Interstate 80 was the solution! We can see one of the Interstate’s bridges being built in the photograph with the right side of the bridge passing over the older Lincoln Highway.

Map of the location.

Dutch Flat Wagon Road at Castle Creek, Soda Springs.

The wagons in the above photo are headed east on the old Dutch Flat/Donner Summit Wagon Road. The road was built by the Central Pacific Railroad to bring men and equipment to the construction sites along the rail bed. The railroad was completed in 1869, so these wagons are likely headed up to the summit construction with supplies from Dutch Flat.

Once the railroad was built, traffic slowed on these old roads until the transcontinental Lincoln Highway for automobiles was completed in 1913. The Lincoln Highway often utilized the Dutch Flat Wagon Road through Placer and Nevada Counties, and this is one example. The bridge crossing at Castle Creek is still there, through the bridge is made from concrete, and only carries the curious adventure who utilizes the roads less traveled.

Location at Castle Creek, Soda Springs.

Big Bend in Transportation History

The above photo, taken by TC Wohlbrück, shows Big Bend during the Lincoln Highway era. We are looking east, with the road heading off to the right, and the ranger station straight ahead. The original path of the Lincoln Highway through the Sierras often followed the earlier wagon roads, and the car was a new thing, and roads were just starting to keep up. The Lincoln Highway was America’s first transcontinental highway, and its construction was the first attempt to transition from wagon to auto.

The same location is shown in the above photo. I’m standing on “Old Wagon Road,” where it meets Hampshire Rocks Road. Old Wagon Road is the Emigrant Trail and Lincoln Highway. We can see the old road just up ahead, veering to the right. There is still a ranger station off to the left. Before it was Hampshire Rocks Road, this stretch of Highway 40, built in the early 1930s, improved on the older Lincoln Highway.

The photo above shows the old road just a few yards off Hampshire Rocks Road. The road goes about another 1/4 mile, and then rejoins the modern highway.

Map of location.

Yesterday and today on the Lincoln Highway, Big Bend.

This 1920 photo by TC Wohlbruck shows the south fork of The Yuba River below the northern route of The Lincoln Highway at right. This section of the old roadbed is still pretty intact and walkable for being over 100 years old with no upkeep.

About the same location as the 1920 photo. Notice how well the rock wall has weathered.

The photo below shows the construction of the Highway 80 overpass near Big Bend, in the early 1960s. The road below is Highway 40, complete with thick traffic, part of the reason for the interstate's construction. We can see the earlier Lincoln Highway and overland Emigrant Trail passing under the bridge to the right of the river. Just beyond the bridge is where the first two photos were taken.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

The map below shows the location. The blue line is the Lincoln Highway.

Lincoln Highway bridge at Rainbow in the Sierra Nevada

A favorite spot of ours, along the northern route of The Lincoln Highway in California, is Big Bend, in the Sierra Nevada. This area is filled with history, including the first wagon train encampment across the Sierra, The Stevens-Townsend-Murphy Party.

The photo above was taken in 1915 when this was bridge was part of the Lincoln Highway. Here the highway crossed the South Yuba River, very close to where the wagon trains would have crossed during the 1850s and ’60s. This bridge site is located just downriver from today's bridge on Hampshire-Rocks Road. While the bridge is long gone, the abutments on both sides of the river are still visible.

Location of the bridge site.

Highway 40 crossing at Emigrant Gap

This 1931 photo shows Highway 40 crossing the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks at Emigrant Gap. The truck crossing the tracks is headed west and towards the photographer. This crossing would be converted into an auto tunnel under the tracks as traffic increased over the years. The westbound truck is headed up the hill to a lookout/canteen, which is pictured below. This was the Lincoln Highway until 1927 when the named highways were converted to the number system.

Notice how the downhill truck has to stop, wait until the other truck crosses before proceeding. You can imagine the confusion and danger as two automobiles try to cross, and a train is headed down the tracks. Apparently, there were quite a few accidents here.

Photo: Donner Summit Historical Society, Norm Sayler Collection.

Eventually, the beautiful Nyack Lodge would be built at this location, and a more modern freeway would be built a bit further from this spot. The fork in the road we see in the second photograph shows the Highway going left, and going right, the entrance to the lookout.