California State Route 49
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| State Route 49 |
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| Golden Chain Highway Defined by S&HC § 349, maintained by Caltrans |
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| Length: | 295 mi[1] (475 km) | ||||||||||||||||
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| South end: |  SR 41 at Oakhurst |
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| Major junctions: |
 SR 140 at Mariposa SR 108 in Sonora SR 88 in Jackson.svg/20px-US_50_(CA).svg.png){kind=small} US 50 in Placerville.svg/20px-I-80_(CA).svg.png){kind=small} I-80 in Auburn SR 20 in Nevada City |
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| North end: |  SR 70 at Vinton |
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State Route 49 is a north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants who swept into the area looking for gold, and a portion of it is known as the Gold Country Highway. This roadway begins at Oakhurst in the Sierra-Nevada mountains, where it diverges from State Route 41. It continues in a generally northwest direction, weaving through the communities of Goldside and Ahwahnee, before crossing into Mariposa County. State Route 49 then continues northward through the counties of Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Yuba, Sierra, and Plumas, where it reaches its northern terminus at State Route 70, in Vinton.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System[3].
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[edit] Points of interest
Listed in order from south to north.
- Robinson's Ferry (California Historical Landmark #276, postmile CAL 0.6), a ferry across the Stanislaus River established in 1848.
- Birthplace of Archie Stevenot (CHL #769, postmile CAL 3.3), who helped found the California State Chamber of Commerce and was officially named "Mr. Mother Lode" by the California legislature.
- Carson Hill (CHL #274, postmile CAL 3.3), where the largest gold nugget in California (195 pounds troy) was found.
- Angels Camp (CHL #287), one of the richest quartz mining sections of the Mother Lode and home of "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County".
- Altaville (CHL #288), an important foundry town.
- Fourth Crossing (CHL #258), an important stagecoach and freighting depot that served the southern mines until after the turn of the 20th century (postmile CAL 14.0).
- San Andreas (CHL #252), where Charles Bolles, also known as "Black Bart", was tried and sentenced.
- Chili Gulch (CHL #265, postmile CAL 26.4), site of the Chilean War.
- Mokelumne Hill (CHL #269), the richest placer mining section of Calaveras County and one of the principal mining towns of California.
- Big Bar (CHL #41) is located on the county line between Amador and Calaveras counties. The Mokelumne River was mined at this point in 1848. Established in 1849, the Whale Boat Ferry operated until the first bridge was built, about 1852.
- The Butte Store (CHL #39) is the only structure remaining of Butte City, prosperous mining town of the 1850s.
- Argonaut and Kennedy Mines (CHL #786), two of the highest-paying gold mines in the state.
- Drytown (CHL #31) is the oldest town and first in which gold was discovered in Amador County.
- Coloma (CHL #143, #530, and #748) home of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, where gold was first discovered in 1848, sparking the gold rush.
- Empire Mine in Grass Valley (registered landmark #298) was the richest hard-rock mine in the State of California in its operating history of 106 years (1850-1956).
- Camptonville is a gold rush town where the Pelton wheel was invented and is a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
[edit] Major intersections
- Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile [4][5][6] |
Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madera MAD 0.00-9.28 |
Oakhurst | 0.00 | SR 41 |
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| Mariposa MPA 0.33-48.84 |
Mariposa | 18.50 140 21.22 |
SR 140 west |
South end of SR 140 overlap | |
| 140 22.00 18.51 |
SR 140 east |
North end of SR 140 overlap | |||
| Bear Valley | 29.45 |  CR J16 (Bear Valley Road) |
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| Coulterville | 44.67 |  SR 132 west |
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| 44.7 |  CR J132 east |
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| Tuolumne TUO 0.00-R27.52 |
R6.47 120 R23.90 |
 SR 120 east |
South end of SR 120 overlap | ||
| 120 15.52 R8.78 |
SR 120 west |
North end of SR 120 overlap | |||
| R11.59 | SR 108 west |
South end of SR 108 overlap | |||
| 14.74 |  CR E5 (Rawhide Road) |
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| Sonora | 16.48 | SR 108 east |
North end of SR 108 overlap | ||
| 17.97 | Washington Street | Former SR 108 east | |||
| 20.40 |  CR E18 (Parrots Ferry Road) |
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| 23.71 | CR E5 (Rawhide Road) |
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| Calaveras CAL R0.00-30.87 |
Angels Camp | 7.21 |  SR 4 east – Murphys, Arnold, Bear Valley |
South end of SR 4 overlap | |
| 8.67 | SR 4 west |
North end of SR 4 overlap | |||
| R20.50 |  SR 12 |
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| Mokelumne Hill | 27.61 |  SR 26 |
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| Amador AMA 0.00-22.12 |
Jackson | 4.03 | SR 88 east |
South end of SR 88 overlap | |
| Martell | 5.93 | SR 88 west |
North end of SR 88 overlap | ||
| Sutter Creek | 6.98 |  SR 104 (Ridge Road) |
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| Central House | 14.72 |  SR 16 |
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| Plymouth | 17.22 |  CR E16 (Shenandoah Road) / Main Street |
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| El Dorado ED 0.00-38.23 |
El Dorado | 9.64 | Pleasant Valley Road | Former US 50 west | |
| 9.7 | Forni Road | Former US 50 east | |||
| Placerville | 14.90 | US 50 |
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| 15.69 |  SR 193 |
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| Coloma | 22.87 |  SR 153 |
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| Cool | 34.47 | SR 193 east |
South end of SR 193 overlap | ||
| Placer PLA 0.00-11.37 |
Auburn | 3.21 | I-80 / SR 193 west |
North end of SR 193 overlap | |
| Nevada NEV 0.00-R32.64 |
Grass Valley | South end of freeway | |||
| R13.66 | McKnight Way, South Auburn Street | ||||
| R14.48 20 R12.30 |
SR 20 west / Empire Street – Marysville |
South end of SR 20 overlap | |||
| See SR 20 | |||||
| Nevada City | North end of freeway | ||||
| 20 R17.40 15.06 |
SR 20 east / Uren Street |
North end of SR 20 overlap | |||
| Yuba YUB R0.00-9.37 |
3.59 |  CR E20 (Marysville Road) |
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| Sierra SIE 0.00-64.05 |
47.44 89 19.96 |
 SR 89 north – Calpine, Graeagle, Blairsden, Quincy |
South end of SR 89 overlap | ||
| Sierraville | 89 15.06 47.45 |
SR 89 south – Truckee |
North end of SR 89 overlap | ||
| Loyalton | 60.6 |  CR A24 (4th Street) |
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| Plumas PLU 0.00-7.50 |
7.50 | SR 70 – Beckwourth, Quincy, Reno |
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[edit] Other names
Route 49 has the following names, as designated by various state laws:[7]
- Golden Center Freeway: From Grass Valley to Nevada City.
- Golden Chain Highway: Entire route.
- John C. Begovich Memorial Highway: From Jackson to Route 88.
- Mother Lode Highway: From Sonora to Auburn.
[edit] References
- ^ January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
- ^ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
- ^ CA Codes (shc:260-284)
- ^ California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed February 2008
- ^ California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
- ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
- ^ 2006 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans, 129-130. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
[edit] External links
- WestCoast Roads- State Route 49
- Caltrans: Route 49 highway conditions
- California Highways: SR 49
- History Highway 49
Categories: State highways in California | Scenic highways in California | Freeways in California | Madera County, California | Mariposa County, California | Tuolumne County, California | Calaveras County, California | Amador County, California | El Dorado County, California | Placer County, California | Nevada County, California | Yuba County, California | Sierra County, California | Plumas County, California
