- City:
- Longvale, CA
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities, Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels
- New Deal Agencies:
- Work Relief Programs, Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Completed:
- 1942
- Quality of Information:
- Moderate
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Partially Extant
Description
In the early 1940s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) built the 16 mile stretch of State Highway 162 between Longvale and Dos Rios, also known as Covelo Road. Records indicate that there were 10 bridges on that stretch of road, but we count only 6 crossings of rivers and creeks.
The road was dedicated on April 4, 1942 and the celebratory parade gives an idea of how important that road and its bridges were to isolated communities like Longvale, Farley and Dos Rios at the time.
Highway 162 still looks much that same as it would have in the 1940s, a relatively narrow and winding road through the Coast Range. It has been repaved and somewhat widened over the years and most of the bridges have been replaced, given the frequent floods on the Eel River and its branches.
Source notes
Record cards in the National Archives (shown)
Site originally submitted by Gray Brechin on May 29, 2010.
Additional contributions by Richard Walker.
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Submit More Information or Photographs for this New Deal Site2 comments on “Highway 162 to Dos Rios – Longvale CA”
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Christa Fidler
Are there more pictures in the archives of the construction on Highway 162 at this time period? If so are they available online somewhere? or can they be emailed to us?
Christa,
Anything we have is presented here. There may well be more pictures in the National Archives or your local historical society or library collections. I’m afraid you’ll have to do some digging!
DW