Pieta, California Explained

Pieta
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:California#USA
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in California
Pushpin Image:California Locator Map with US.PNG
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:California
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Mendocino County
Coordinates:38.9267°N -123.0553°W
Elevation M:145
Elevation Ft:476

Pieta is an archaic placename, former crossroads, and former railroad depot in Mendocino County, California. It is located near the mouth of Pieta Creek 5miles southeast of Hopland, at an elevation of 476 feet (145 m).

A post office, located on the east side of the San Francisco and North Pacific railroad tracks,[1] operated at Pieta from 1891 to 1897. The name allegedly honors a local Native American chief. In 1891 a toll road was built at Pieta that led to Lake County.[2] In 1896 the California Camera Club planned an outing to Pieta to photograph the "picturesque" scenery.[3] In the 1900s, Hopland and Pieta were rivals for the traffic that came with mail delivery and stage service.[4] Pieta was the rail stop for travelers to Bartlett Springs spa, which offered "medicinal soda magnesia baths".[5] Stages connected from Pieta to Bartlett Springs, Highland Springs, Kelseyville, Soda Bay, and Lakeport.[6] At least one proposed-but-never-built railroad through Lake County intended to use the Pieta stage stop as a terminus and then follow the old stage route along Pieta Creek.[7]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Record Group 28: Records of the Post Office DepartmentSeries: Reports of Site Locations California: Mendocino - Modoc NAID: 68230398 .
  2. Web site: History of Mendocino and Lake counties, California, with biographical sketches of the leading, men and women of the counties who have been identified with ... c.1. . 2023-10-24 . HathiTrust . 90–91 . en.
  3. News: 1896-08-09 . Camera Club Outing . 26 . San Francisco Chronicle . 2023-10-24.
  4. News: 1907-08-02 . Pieta Is Again Formidable Rival . 1 . Ukiah Dispatch Democrat . 2023-10-25.
  5. News: 1910-06-14 . Bartlett Springs . 10 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-10-25.
  6. Web site: The Oakland Times 28 Apr 1893, page 6 . 2023-10-25 . Newspapers.com . en.
  7. News: 1995-11-05 . Lake County's Little Engines That Couldn't . 2 . The Press Democrat . 2023-10-25.