Between 1877 and 1928 at least 10 people were killed and at least 42 injured (some seriously) crossing Heald’s Hill north of the northern Sonoma County town of Cloverdale.
Heald’s Hill was a steep hill separating Cloverdale from the Oat Valley. The road was treacherous with several curves to the top of the hill and down the other side. Horse-drawn wagons, stagecoaches, bicycles, and automobiles all fell victim to the hill. In fact so many people were thrown from their vehicles and dashed against the rocks the newspapers started calling the spot “Death Rock”.
In later years the hill was also known as McCray’s Hill. The hill was eventually cut down to the current grade in the early 1930s. The Hamburger Ranch now sits at the top of the grade.
The Cloverdale-to-Hopland state highway was built in 1913 and followed the route of present-day Hwy 128 to the top of the mountain at McDonald (aka Mountain House) and down the other side to Hopland and on to Ukiah. The highway was built to meet the traffic demands of the day and was just as dangerous as Heald’s Hill.
By 1920, the public began demanding the highway be moved to the much safer east side of the Russian River and brought up to modern standards. By 1929 the State Highway Commission agreed to move the highway. They also agreed to cut through Heald’s Hill to reduce the grade and remove the dangerous curves. The work began in 1932 and the new highway was opened to the public in 1934.
If you look closely at the upper left side of the image you can see the curved ridges where cars used to park at the old Drive-In movie theatre
The cut through Heald’s Hill was 65 feet deep and 200 feet wide at the top. The earth removed from the cut was used as fill beneath the new roadway all the way across the Oat Valley. In the center of the valley, the fill was only two or three feet high. But at the north side of the hill, the fill was 35 or 40 feet high.
The road is much safer now and it’s been a while since anyone was killed crossing the hill. The next time you drive across the hill roll down the windows and see if you can feel the presence of the many ghosts lurking alongside the road.
Cool. I love the old maps. That stretch of road is still very dangerous over hamburger hill especially heading north. Southbound big rigs turning left into the mill still pose a serious hazard.