Little Lake | |
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Former settlement | |
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  Little Lake Location in California | |
| Coordinates: 35°56′12″N117°54′24″W / 35.93667°N 117.90667°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Inyo County |
| Elevation | 3,130 ft (954 m) |
Little Lake is a former settlement in Inyo County that lies just off U.S. Route 395 on Little Lake Road.
Little Lake was established largely as a traveler's stop along what eventually became US 395, after the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power dammed the site's eponymous landmark – once known as Owens Little Lake – as part of its work on the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1905.
While early on the town had a store, auto repair shop and gas station, its most famous landmark was its namesake, rock-faced hotel constructed in 1923. [2]
Little Lake was a necessary stop for travelers journeying up to the Eastern Sierra from Los Angeles for decades. In the 1920s, a trip from Los Angeles to a town such as Lone Pine might take two or three days necessitating a stay at locations like Little Lake before continuing onwards. [3] In the 1940s, “sportsman traffic heading northward along US 395 considered Little Lake an important stop to spray cooling water on boiling radiators, feed hungry stomachs or to get gasoline.” [3]
As technology improved, travelers no longer needed to stop as often for rest and supplies. By the 1960s travelers could easily go from Los Angeles to locations in the Eastern Sierra with little more than brief stops for gas. With these improvements small settlements like Bramlette, named after the founder and later renamed Little Lake, became increasingly obsolete. [3] In the early 1960s, US 395 was realigned. As a result, the former alignment that Little Lake was built on became a frontage road known as Little Lake Road, and the need to access it by leaving US 395 eventually spelled the demise of local businesses. In 1981, with Little Lake's population at 52 residents, Southern Pacific's "Slim Princess" Narrow Gauge Railroad that passed Little Lake had already long been abandoned and the rails were permanently removed. [4] The Little Lake Hotel, which had evolved into an apartment building for local residents, burned in 1989 and was never rebuilt. [2] In 1997, the United States Postal Service ended service at Little Lake, and by the early 2000s Little Lake Road, building foundations, off ramps and even its road signs were bulldozed into oblivion and hauled away.
Though it remains properly marked as a geographic location on a few maps, the entire townsite had been restored to its natural state by the summer of 2001. The little lake, for which the town was named, is all that remains. [5] [3]
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Inyo County is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is on the east side of the Sierra Nevada and southeast of Yosemite National Park in Central California. It contains the Owens River Valley; it is flanked to the west by the Sierra Nevada and to the east by the White Mountains and the Inyo Mountains. With an area of 10,192 square miles (26,400 km2), Inyo is the second-largest county by area in California, after San Bernardino County. Almost one-half of that area is within Death Valley National Park. However, with a population density of 1.8 people per square mile, it also has the second-lowest population density in California, after Alpine County.
Big Pine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Big Pine is located approximately 15 miles (24 km) south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3,989 feet (1,216 m). The population was 1,756 at the 2010 census, up from 1,350 at the 2000 census. The Big Pine Band of Owens Valley Paiute Shoshone Indians of the Big Pine Reservation operates their tribal headquarters from here.
Bishop is a city in California, United States. It is the largest populated place and only incorporated city in Inyo County. Bishop is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4,150 feet (1,260 m). The city was named after Bishop Creek, flowing out of the Sierra Nevada; the creek was named after Samuel Addison Bishop, a settler in the Owens Valley. Bishop is a commercial and residential center, while many vacation destinations and tourist attractions in the Sierra Nevada are located nearby.
Independence is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California. Independence is located 41 miles (66 km) south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3930 feet. It is the county seat of Inyo County, California. The population of this census-designated place was 669 at the 2010 census, up from 574 at the 2000 census.
Lone Pine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States, located 16 mi (26 km) south-southeast of Independence at an elevation of 3,727 ft (1,136 m). The population was 2,035 at the 2010 census, up from 1,655 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the Owens Valley, near the Alabama Hills and Mount Whitney, between the eastern peaks of the Sierra Nevada to the west and the Inyo Mountains to the east. The local hospital, Southern Inyo Hospital, offers standby emergency services. The town is named after a solitary pine tree that once existed at the mouth of Lone Pine Canyon. On March 26, 1872, the very large Lone Pine earthquake destroyed most of the town and killed 27 of its 250 to 300 residents.
Tecopa is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Mojave Desert in southeast Inyo County, California, United States. Originally occupied by the Koso and Chemehuevi Indians, Pioneers began populating what would become the CDP in the late 19th century to support nearby mines. It is now better known for the natural hot springs in the northern part of the CDP. It was the subject of an article by John Gregory Dunne published in the Saturday Evening Post and reprinted in Dunne's book, Quintana & Friends, published by Dutton in 1978.
Owens Valley is an arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States. It is located to the east of the Sierra Nevada, west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains, and is split between the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert. The mountain peaks on the West side reach above 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in elevation, while the floor of the Owens Valley is about 4,000 feet (1,200 m), making the valley the deepest in the United States. The Sierra Nevada casts the valley in a rain shadow, which makes Owens Valley "the Land of Little Rain". The bed of Owens Lake, now a predominantly dry endorheic alkali flat, sits on the southern end of the valley.
The 1872 Owens Valley earthquake – also known as the Lone Pine earthquake – struck on March 26 at 02:30 local time in the Owens Valley, with the epicenter near the town of Lone Pine. Its magnitude has been estimated at Mw 7.4 to 7.9, with a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (Extreme). It was one of the largest earthquakes to hit California in recorded history and was similar in size to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Twenty-seven people were killed and fifty-six were injured.
Owens Lake is a mostly dry lake in the Owens Valley on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California. It is about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Lone Pine. Unlike most dry lakes in the Basin and Range Province that have been dry for thousands of years, Owens held significant water until 1913, when much of the Owens River was diverted into the Los Angeles Aqueduct, causing Owens Lake to desiccate by 1926. In 2006, 5% of the water flow was restored. As of 2013, it is the largest single source of dust pollution in the United States.
The Owens River is a river in eastern California in the United States, approximately 183 miles (295 km) long. It drains into and through the Owens Valley, an arid basin between the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and the western faces of the Inyo and White Mountains. The river terminates at the endorheic Owens Lake south of Lone Pine, at the bottom of a 2,600 sq mi (6,700 km2) watershed.
Swansea is a former settlement and unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) south of New York Butte, at an elevation of 3,661 ft (1,116 m).
Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous United States; Boundary Peak, the highest point in Nevada; and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, which protects the oldest living trees in the world. The forest, encompassing much of the Owens Valley, was established by Theodore Roosevelt as a way of sectioning off land to accommodate the Los Angeles Aqueduct project in 1907, making the Inyo National Forest one of the least wooded forests in the U.S. National Forest system.
Manzanar was a town in Inyo County, California, founded by water engineer and land developer George Chaffey. Most notably, Manzanar is known for its role in the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.
State Route 190 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that is split into two parts by the Sierra Nevada. The western portion begins at Tipton at a junction with State Route 99 and heads east towards Porterville before ending at Quaking Aspen in the Sequoia National Forest. The eastern portion begins at US 395 at Olancha, heads east through Death Valley National Park, and ends at State Route 127 at Death Valley Junction. The 43.0-mile (69.2 km) portion over the Sierra Nevada remains unconstructed, and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has no plans to build it through the wilderness areas. SR 190 is a National Scenic Byway known as the Death Valley Scenic Byway.
State Route 136 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, running along the northern edge of Owens Lake in Inyo County from U.S. Route 395 in Lone Pine to State Route 190.
U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a United States Numbered Highway, stretching from Hesperia, California to the Canadian border in Laurier, Washington. The California portion of US 395 is a 557-mile (896 km) route which traverses from Interstate 15 (I-15) in Hesperia, north to the Oregon state line in Modoc County near Goose Lake. The route clips into Nevada, serving the cities Carson City and Reno, before returning to California.
June Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mono County, California, United States. It is located against the southern rim of the Mono Basin, 12.5 miles (20 km) south of Lee Vining, at an elevation of 7,654 feet (2,333 m).
Owenyo was an unincorporated community in Inyo County, California. It was located on the Southern Pacific Railroad 5 miles (8 km) north of Lone Pine, at an elevation of 3697 feet. The town was abandoned in the 1960s, and all that remain now are a few traces of building foundations. There are no standing structures and no inhabitants in or anywhere near Owenyo, which remains on 21st century maps only as a reference point along the bleak, unkept and itself abandoned Owenyo-Lone Pine Road which runs about two miles east of, and running parallel with, Federal Highway 395.
Roadside Heritage is a program designed to document and publicize the history, culture, and scientific background of the Eastern Sierra Nevada and the Owens Valley in the United States. It uses schoolchildren to interview scientists, Native Americans, and others and to record the interviews. These result in "audio stories" which can be downloaded from the website for use by travelers and others interested in the area.
The Eastern Sierra is a region in California comprising the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, which includes Mono and Inyo Counties. The main thoroughfare is U.S. Route 395, which passes through Bridgeport, Lee Vining, Bishop, Big Pine, Independence, Lone Pine, and Olancha, with Bishop being the largest city in the area. It is sparsely populated but well known for its scenery; major points of interest include Mono Lake, Bodie, Mammoth Lakes, Manzanar, Mount Whitney and parts of Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park and Death Valley National Park.
