Placerville 60 Miles Milestone - South Lake Tahoe, CA
N 38° 56.395 W 119° 58.606
11S E 241994 N 4314323
This granite milestone is located at the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum.
Waymark Code: WMTF5V
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 11/14/2016
Views: 1
This historic milestone is located in front of the Lake Tahoe Historical Society Museum. It was obviously removed from its original location along U.S. Route (Highway) 50 and placed here as a static display. There is another granite milestone at Mile 59 to Placerville located
here. Wikipedia has a page devoted to
U.S. Route 50 and mentions these granite milestones. An excerpt reads:
In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 50 (US 50) runs east from I-80 in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe.At the dawn of the automobile era, the state legislature authorized California's first state road on March 26, 1895, by creating the post of "Lake Tahoe Wagon Road Commissioner" to maintain the road from Newtown Road near Smith Flat (just east of Placerville) to Nevada. The county deeded the 58-mile (93 km) road to the state on February 28, 1896. Funding was only enough for minimal improvements, including a new stone bridge over the South Fork American River at Riverton in 1901. The Department of Engineering took over its maintenance in 1907, immediately completed a survey and posted granite milestones that marked the distance from Placerville, and in 1910 started sprinkling the dirt road with water in summer to keep down dust (as had been done in the 1860s). A 1915 law added the short distance from Smith Flat west to the east limits of Placerville to the state road.
I am in contact with the local historical society to request any additional information they can share regarding any surviving granite milestones along Highway 50. If/when I hear back from them, I'll post that information in this waymark.