Old Santa Susana Stage Road
|
Old Santa Susana Stage Road
|
|
A mosaic plaque was built in 1939 to commemorate the historic road.
|
|
| Nearest city | Chatsworth, California |
|---|---|
| Built | 1861 |
| Architectural style | None |
| NRHP Reference # | 74000517 |
| LAHCM # | 92 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | January 10, 1974 |
| Designated LAHCM | January 5, 1972 |
The Old Santa Susana Stage Road, or Santa Susana Wagon Road, is a route taken by early travelers between the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley near Chatsworth, California, via the Santa Susana Pass. The main route climbs through what is now the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park, with a branch in Chatsworth Park South.
It was an important artery linking the Los Angeles Basin and inland Ventura County and as such, was part of the main route for travel by stagecoach between Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1861 until the opening of rail traffic between the cities in 1876. The Old Santa Susana Stage Road is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Part of the stage road is also a Historic-Cultural Monument of Ventura County and of the City of Los Angeles under the name Old Stagecoach Trail.
In 1859, the California Legislature appropriated $15,000 for improving an old wagon road through the Santa Susana Pass. Additional funding was provided by the Counties of Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 disrupted mail service along the Butterfield Overland Mail's southern stagecoach route from St. Louis, Missouri via El Paso, Fort Yuma and Los Angeles and on to San Francisco via the Tejon Pass, which had begun its run in 1858. To compensate, the government contracted the Butterfield Company to carry mail between Los Angeles and San Francisco via the new wagon road over the Santa Susana Pass. The first overland mail stage run through the pass took place on April 6, 1861. The new route diverged from the Tejon Pass route at the north end of the Cahuenga Pass, following the old coast road (El camino Viejo, the former El Camino Real to San Buenaventura (Ventura) and Santa Barbara) as far as the Rancho Los Encinos before striking northwest across the San Fernando Valley toward the Santa Susana Pass.
...
Wikipedia