Usal Creek
Encyclopedia
Usal Creek is the southernmost drainage basin
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 unbridged by California State Route 1
California State Route 1
State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...

 on California's Lost Coast
Lost Coast
The Lost Coast is a mostly undeveloped section of the California North Coast in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties, which includes the King Range. It was named the "Lost Coast" after the area experienced depopulation in the 1930s...

. The unpaved county road following the westernmost ridge line south from the King Range crosses Usal Creek near the Pacific coast, but the bridge may be removed during winter months. Usal Creek, 9.7 miles (15.6 km) long, drains about 28 square miles (72.5 km²) on the Mendocino Coast and empties into the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 near the former company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...

 of Usal.

Usal Creek drains a valley between two ridges of the California Coast Ranges. The longer North Fork drains southeasterly from springs once providing a water supply for the empty town site of Kenny
Kenny, California
Kenny is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California, at the headwaters of Usal Creek. It is located southwest of Piercy, at an elevation of 1601 feet .A post office operated at Kenny from 1888 to 1903 and from 1907 to 1924....

, while the shorter South Fork drains first southwesterly and then northwesterly. The main creek flows southwesterly from the confluence through a gap in the coastal ridge. Tributaries flowing southwesterly off the interior ridge include Julias Creek into the South Fork, and Soldier Creek, Little Bear Creek, Bear Creek, and Chimney Rock Creek into the North Fork. The crest of the interior ridge parallels the Pacific coast approximately 4 miles (6 km) inland; and the tributaries originate at an elevation of approximately 1600 feet (487.7 m).

History

Usal Redwood Company built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

 at the mouth of Usal Creek in 1889 with a 1600 feet (487.7 m) wharf for loading lumber onto coastal schooners, and a 3 miles (5 km) railroad up Usal Creek to bring logs to the mill. Robert Dollar
Robert Dollar
Captain Robert Dollar was born in Falkirk, Scotland. The title "Captain" was honorary and he was called the “Grand Old Man of the Pacific". Both were bestowed after his entry into the shipping industry. Dollar became a lumber baron, shipping magnate, philanthropist; he was also a Freemason...

 purchased Usal Redwood Company in 1894. Dollar Lumber Company was running out of timber for their Guerneville
Guerneville, California
Guerneville is a town in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County, California, USA. A popular vacation destination for couples and families as well as corporate retreats and family and friend reunions, Guerneville is well-known for its natural beauty, laid-back attitude, friendly population, good...

 mill at the time. In 1896, Dollar purchased the steamship Newsboy to transport lumber from Usal to San Francisco. A fire in 1902 destroyed the sawmill, a warehouse, a school house, and the county bridge over Usal Creek. The railroad was dismantled, and the rails were used by the sawmill at the mouth of Big River
Big River (California)
The Big River is a river in Mendocino County, California, draining an area of about . The Big River watershed borders the watersheds of the Noyo River to the north, the Eel River and Russian River to the east, and the Little River, Albion River, and Navarro River to the south.The river's...

. Several buildings including a hotel survived until destroyed by fire in 1969. The former hotel site near the mouth of Hotel Gulch is now a campground for Sinkyone Wilderness State Park
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is a state park in Mendocino County, California. The wilderness area borders the Pacific Ocean to the west and the King Range National Conservation Area to the north. The nearest settlement is the unincorporated town of Leggett...

. Ninety-eight percent of the watershed
Drainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 is in private ownership growing forest products. Redwood coniferous forest covers approximately 70 percent of the watershed and montane or riparian hardwood forest covers approximately 20 percent. Only two residences remain in the watershed.

Usal Redwood Company locomotives

Number Builder Type Date Works number Notes
1 Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...

3-cylinder Shay geared
Shay locomotive
The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive...

9 September 1889 247 purchased new with a double-winch "gypsy" power takeoff mounted in front of the boiler, named Myra R. Wonderly; shipped to Glenblair, California
Glenblair, California
Glenblair is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located north-northwest of Comptche, at an elevation of 207 feet ....

 as Glen Blair Redwood Company #1 in 1903
498 Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works
Lima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...

Shay geared
Shay locomotive
The Shay locomotive was the most widely used geared steam locomotive. The locomotives were built to the patents of Ephraim Shay, who has been credited with the popularization of the concept of a geared steam locomotive...

23 January 1896 498 purchased new; ran briefly as first locomotive on Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods Railway as #498 prior to arrival of regularly numbered locomotives before shipment to Usal; shipped to Washington for Terno Lumber Company in 1904
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