Widow Smith's Station
Overland Mail stagecoach stop in California
Widow Smith's Station, also known as Major Gordon's Station and Clayton's Station, was a stagecoach station of the Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division from 1858 to 1861 in southern California.[1][2]
Geography
The station was on the Stockton - Los Angeles Road in upper San Francisquito Canyon of the Sierra Pelona Mountains, 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Elizabeth Lake. It was located near San Francisquito Pass, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of present-day Green Valley, at 38839 San Francisquito Canyon Road in northern Los Angeles County.[3]
History
A building may have existed here in the summer of 1856, when Harris Newmark said he stayed at Gordon's Station overnight when returning to Los Angeles from a business meeting at Fort Tejon.[4] The final adobe station building was erected around 1859 by Aneas Gordon.[1]
In October 1860, a correspondent of the Daily Alta California wrote an account of his travel by stage to Los Angeles from San Francisco. He mentions that the Butterfield Overland Mail (1857-1861) had a Clayton's Station operating at the former location of Widow Smith's Station.[5]
King's Station was located 10 miles (16 km) south in lower San Francisquito Canyon. Mud Spring Station was 13 miles (21 km) north, in the western Antelope Valley.
After 1861 the station was used by other long haul stagecoach lines until the advent of the railroad ended them.
Documentation
In 1929, a photograph and reference to the station were included in an article titled "In Pursuit of Vanished Days" by Marion Parks, published by the Historical Society of Southern California.
Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)
In 1936 and 1937, identified as Major Gordon's Station, it was photographed and surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).[1] It was unoccupied, neglected, and being used for storage of grain and farm products at that time. Detailed drawings of the site, floor plan, and north, south, east, and west building elevation drawings were made.[1]
Construction of the building dating from 1859, is described in the floor plan:[6]
- "Foundations are of field stone laid in adobe mortar. Walls are adobe with some field stone mixed in. Walls plastered inside and out with a plastic adobe mixed with sand. Front or south gable wall over porch, lime plastered. All other outside walls heavily whitewashed.
Walls of rooms No. 1-3-4 whitewashed, walls of Room 2 papered. Ceilings and roof projections whitewashed. Doors sash and trim painted slate gray. Floors, including porch, are 1"x 6" matched pine flooring laid on 2"x4"s flat on ground.
Roof framing has not the appearance of being original material. Roofing is of redwood shakes recovered in 1933." [7]
- "Foundations are of field stone laid in adobe mortar. Walls are adobe with some field stone mixed in. Walls plastered inside and out with a plastic adobe mixed with sand. Front or south gable wall over porch, lime plastered. All other outside walls heavily whitewashed.
Destruction
The adobe station building remained into the 1960s. It was destroyed and torn down by 1966.[8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Santa Clara Valley History Association: "Major Gordon's Station" (Widow Smith's Station) history
- ^ List of Butterfield Overland Mail Stations, from New York Times, October 14 1858, "Itinerary of the Route"
- ^ Mildred Brooke Hoover, Hero Eugene Rensch, Ethel Grace Rensch, 3rd Edition revised by William N. Abeloe, Historic Spots in California, 3rd Ed., Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1966, p.168
- ^ Harris Newmark, "Sixty Years in Southern California, 1853-1913", The Knickerbocker Press, New York, 1916, p. 195
- ^ Notes of a Trip to Los Angeles No. 1, Daily Alta California, Volume 12, Number 3888, 5 October 1860 — Page 1
- ^ SCVH: HABS Major Gordon's Station description page
- ^ Major Gordon's Station, San Francisquito Canyon; 1936 Photos and HABS Renderings, from www.scvhistory.com
- ^ Mildred Brooke Hoover, Hero Eugene Rensch, Ethel Grace Rensch, 3rd Edition revised by William N. Abeloe, Historic Spots in California, 3rd Ed., Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1966, p.168
External links
- SCV History.com: Major Gordon's Station (Widow Smith's Station) — HABS 1936 photographs, plans, and drawings.
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Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division Stations
- San Francisco – Western terminus and 1st Division headquarters, located in downtown San Francisco.
- Clarks's Station – Located 12 miles south of San Francisco in what is now San Bruno.
- Sun Water Station – Located 9 miles south of Clarks Station in what is now San Mateo.
- Redwood City – Located 9 miles south of Sun Water Station.
- Mountain View Station – Located 12 miles south of Redwood City.
- San Jose Station – Located 11 miles south of Mountain View Station in the city of San Jose.
- Seventeen Mile House – Located 17 miles south of San Jose.
- Gilroy Station – Located 13 miles south of Seventeen Mile House in what is now Gilroy, California.
- Pacheco Pass Station – Located 18 miles east of Gilroy near the top of Pacheco Pass.
- St. Louis Ranch – Located 17 miles east of Pacheco Pass.
- Lone Willow Station – Located 18 miles east of St. Louis Ranch near Los Banos.
- Temple's Ranch – Located 13 miles southeast of Lone Willow Station near Dos Palos.
- Firebaugh's Ferry – Located 15 miles southeast of Temples Ranch, on the San Joaquin River.
- Fresno City – Located 19 miles southeast of Firebaugh's Ferry.
- Elkhorn Spring Station – Located 22 miles east of Fresno City near present-day Riverdale.
- Whitmore's Ferry – Located 17 miles southeast of Elkhorn Spring Station on the Kings River.
- Head of Cross Creek Station – Located 15 miles southeast of Whitmore's Ferry.
- Visalia – Located 12 miles southeast of Cross Creek Station.
- Packwood Station – Located 12 miles east of Visalia.
- Tule River Station – Located 14 miles south of Packwood Station.
- Fountain Spring Station – Located 14 miles southeast of Tule River Station.
- Mountain House – Located 12 miles south of Fountain Spring Station.
- Posey Creek Station – Located 15 miles southwest of Mountain House, on Posey (Poso) Creek.
- Gordon's Ferry (Kern River Station) – Located 10 miles south of Posey Creek Station on the Kern River just above present-day Bakersfield.
- Kern River Slough Station – Located 12 miles south of Gordons Ferry.
- Sink of Tejon Station – Located 14 miles southwest of Kern River Slough Station.
- Fort Tejon – Located 15 miles southwest of Sink of Tejon Station, north of and below the summit of Tejon Pass.
- Reed's Station – Located 8 miles southeast of Fort Tejon, near, to the south of the summit of the Tejon Pass.
- French John's Station – Located 14 miles east southeast of Reeds Station, in the vicinity of the mouth of Cow Springs Creek Canyon.
- Mud Spring, a later station operating in 1860, 14 miles east from French Johns and 13 miles north from Clayton's Station (formerly Widow Smith's Station). [1]
- Widow Smith's Station (Clayton's Station, Major Gordon's Station) – Located 24 miles from French John's Station, in upper San Francisquito Canyon near Green Valley.
- King's Station – Located 10 miles south of Widow Smith's Station in lower San Francisquito Canyon.
- Hart's Station or Lyons Station – Located 12 miles south of King's Station, in Santa Clarita.
- Lopez Station – Located 81⁄2 miles southeast of Hart's Station, in the San Fernando Valley north of Mission San Fernando Rey de España.
- Cahuenga Station – Located 12 miles southeast of Mission San Fernando, in Cahuenga Pass, of the Santa Monica Mountains. The first station of the 1st Division, it was located 12 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
Source: "List of Butterfield Overland Mail Stations "Itinerary of the Route"" (PDF). New York Times. October 14, 1858.
- [1] Notes of a Trip to Los Angeles No. 1, Daily Alta California, Volume 12, Number 3888, 5 October 1860 — Page 1
34°36′51″N 118°25′39″W / 34.6143°N 118.4274°W / 34.6143; -118.4274
