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Yosemite Roads and Bridges
Yosemite National Park, California
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YOSEMITE TIMELINE OF DEVELOPMENTS | |
| 10,000 to 1 Million Years Ago | Yosemite Valley carved by glaciers | |
| 1850 B.C. | Earliest known human occupation of Yosemite Valley | |
| 1851 A.D. | Mariposa Battalion invades Valley and names it "Yo Semite" | |
| 1864 | Yosemite Grant established by Federal government; administered by state of California | |
| 1868 | Wawona Bridge built by Galen Clark, first Guardian at the Yosemite Grant | |
| 1874 | Coulterville Road (toll) reaches Yosemite Valley on June 27; first road into Yosemite Valley | |
| 1874 | Big Oak Flat Road (toll) reaches Valley 29 days later | |
| 1875 | Washburn's Wawona Road (toll) enters Yosemite Valley from the south | |
| 1883 | Great Sierra Wagon Road completed to mines near Tioga Pass; abandoned three years later | |
| 1890 | Yosemite National Park established; U.S. Cavalry takes over administration nest year | |
| 1907 | Yosemite Valley Railroad reaches El Portal; carriage road extended to Valley via new Arch Rock entrance | |
| 1916 | National Park Service established; all tolls abolished by 1917 | |
| 1925 | National Park Service and Bureau of Public Roads sign agreement; BPR takes over construction of roads in all national parks | |
| 1926 | "All-Year Highway" reaches park through El Portal; connecting park entrance road upgraded | |
| 1930s | Wawona, Big Oak Flat roads reconstructed by BPR using tunnels to preserve the landscape; Tioga road rebuilt | |
| 1956 | National Park Service initiates "Mission 66" program, including reconstruction of remaining section of Tioga Road | |
| 1960s | Controversial Tioga Road segment through Olmsted Point dedicated 1961; new segment of Big Oak Flat Road opens 1969 | |
| 1970 | One-way road system adopted in Yosemite Valley; east end of Valley closed to private cars; shuttle bus system established | |
| 1980s | General Management Plan adopted to define future development; visitation passes 3 million; park roads nearing capacity | |
| 1990 | Yosemite National Park Centennial observed | |
| 1991 | Yosemite Park road system documented by NPS Historic American Engineering Record | |
| Introduction | Acadia | Blue Ridge Parkway | Chickamauga and Chattanooga | Colonial Parkway | Generals Highway | George Washington Memorial Parkway | Great Smoky Mountains | Mount Rainier | Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway | Shenandoah's Skyline Drive | Southwest Circle Tour | Vicksburg | Yellowstone | Yosemite |