WA 706 and Paradise Road

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm working on a blog entry for WA 706 and Paradise Road in Mount Rainier National Park.  I have the time frames operation of the Tacoma Eastern to Ashford but I'm still missing a couple things:

-  It would seem that PSH 5TR was first signed in 1937.  With that in mind when was the roadway between Elbe an the Nisqually Entrance to Mount Rainier National Park actually built?...more so when was state maintenance established?
-  I know there has been trails between Longmire and Paradise Valley even before the National Park days.  But with that in mind when was Paradise Road actually constructed?  I would have thought it would have been between 1915 and 1917 when the Paradise Inn was being constructed but I found the road on a 1914 USGS Map of Mount Rainier:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239919~5512115:Panoramic-View-of-the-Mount-Rainier?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:mount%2Brainier;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=2&trs=193

Any insight on the two questions above would be greatly appreciated.

[Max Rockatansky]

Finished what I could with the open questions:

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-road-to-paradise-mount-rainier.html

Also, what about Stevens Canyon Road?  On the 1956 State Highway Map I linked on the above blog it looked like it was under construction possibly at the time.

[kkt]

I'm working on a blog entry for WA 706 and Paradise Road in Mount Rainier National Park.  I have the time frames operation of the Tacoma Eastern to Ashford but I'm still missing a couple things:

-  It would seem that PSH 5TR was first signed in 1937.  With that in mind when was the roadway between Elbe an the Nisqually Entrance to Mount Rainier National Park actually built?...more so when was state maintenance established?
-  I know there has been trails between Longmire and Paradise Valley even before the National Park days.  But with that in mind when was Paradise Road actually constructed?  I would have thought it would have been between 1915 and 1917 when the Paradise Inn was being constructed but I found the road on a 1914 USGS Map of Mount Rainier:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239919~5512115:Panoramic-View-of-the-Mount-Rainier?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:mount%2Brainier;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=2&trs=193

Any insight on the two questions above would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.nps.gov/features/mora_cenn/fastfacts.htm

When did the first car reach Paradise?

There is a dispute regarding the first car to reach Paradise. In the summer of either 1911 or 1912 (the report says 1912, but a government fiscal year began July 1st in those days), a car with the superintendent as passenger was driven to Paradise Meadow. In the fall of 1911, President Taft was driven to Paradise. The car became stuck in several areas of the muddy road and had to be helped by a mule team.

So the road was almost done in the fall of 2011.  Which makes sense, you'd need the road to be built before planning could even start for the inn.

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm working on a blog entry for WA 706 and Paradise Road in Mount Rainier National Park.  I have the time frames operation of the Tacoma Eastern to Ashford but I'm still missing a couple things:

-  It would seem that PSH 5TR was first signed in 1937.  With that in mind when was the roadway between Elbe an the Nisqually Entrance to Mount Rainier National Park actually built?...more so when was state maintenance established?
-  I know there has been trails between Longmire and Paradise Valley even before the National Park days.  But with that in mind when was Paradise Road actually constructed?  I would have thought it would have been between 1915 and 1917 when the Paradise Inn was being constructed but I found the road on a 1914 USGS Map of Mount Rainier:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239919~5512115:Panoramic-View-of-the-Mount-Rainier?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:mount%2Brainier;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=2&trs=193

Any insight on the two questions above would be greatly appreciated.

https://www.nps.gov/features/mora_cenn/fastfacts.htm

When did the first car reach Paradise?

There is a dispute regarding the first car to reach Paradise. In the summer of either 1911 or 1912 (the report says 1912, but a government fiscal year began July 1st in those days), a car with the superintendent as passenger was driven to Paradise Meadow. In the fall of 1911, President Taft was driven to Paradise. The car became stuck in several areas of the muddy road and had to be helped by a mule team.

So the road was almost done in the fall of 2011.  Which makes sense, you'd need the road to be built before planning could even start for the inn.

Makes sense, a wagon route by then would have become quickly obsolete.  Thanks for the link, I went back and updated the blog entry.