Incline, California
Unincorporated community in Mariposa County, California, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Incline (formerly Indian Flat) is an unincorporated community in Mariposa County, California.[1] It sits on the south bank of the Merced River in the Merced River Canyon, 4 miles (6.4 km) west-southwest of El Portal.[2] The community takes its name from the log-hauling incline built by the Yosemite Lumber Company on the canyon wall above the site.
Incline | |
|---|---|
The Yosemite Lumber Company's original south-side incline, 1923, which gave Incline its name | |
  Incline Location in California  Incline Incline (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 37°39′38″N 119°51′10″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Mariposa County |
| Founded | 1910 |
| Elevation | 1,519 ft (463 m) |
| GNIS feature ID | 1656087[1] |
History
Indigenous peoples
The Merced River canyon through which Incline lies was within the traditional territory of the Southern Sierra Miwok, who inhabited the foothills and lower mountain slopes of the western Sierra Nevada and wintered in the river canyons.[3] The former name Indian Flat reflects the Euro-American pattern of naming sites in the canyon that showed evidence of indigenous use.
Lumber incline and railroad
The Yosemite Valley Railroad (YVRR), which opened in 1907 along the Merced River canyon from Merced to El Portal, made commercial timber extraction from the canyon's upper slopes feasible. In 1910, the Yosemite Lumber Company (YLC) was formed to harvest sugar pine and white pine from a 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) tract above the canyon.[4]
YLC constructed an incline (a cable-operated log-hauling system) down the south wall of the canyon to the YVRR main line. The incline descended roughly 8,100 feet (2,500 m) at grades exceeding 70 percent in the upper section. Loaded log cars were lowered to the canyon floor and transferred to YVRR trains for the run to the company's sawmill at Merced Falls. The YVRR established a station at the bottom of the incline, named Incline, to handle this freight traffic.[5]
YLC added a second, electrically operated incline on the north side of the canyon in 1923–24.[4]
Commercial logging in the canyon ended in 1942 after the federal government purchased the largest remaining block of YLC timber rights. The Yosemite Valley Railroad ceased passenger and freight service in 1945.
Post office and community
A post office operated at Incline from May 8, 1924, to August 15, 1953, when postal service consolidated to El Portal.[2] The opening date corresponded with the construction of the second incline and a period of expanded activity at the site. The community declined after logging ended in 1942 and the railroad closed in 1945.
Ferguson Fire
The Ferguson Fire (July–August 2018), which started approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Incline near Savage's Trading Post and burned 96,901 acres (39,214 ha) of the Merced River Canyon, placed Incline and the Indian Flat area under mandatory evacuation.[6]
Current status
The Indian Flat RV Park, a private campground at the community site on State Route 140, retains the historic placename. The Sierra National Forest's Dry Gulch Campground is accessible via Incline Road, which follows a portion of the former YVRR right-of-way into the canyon.[5]
Gallery
A fuel oil tanker being hoisted up the El Portal incline, 1923
The north-side incline with log car, 1927
Log car at the top of the north-side incline, 1925
