Blue Canyon (also, Blue Cañon) is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
in
Placer County
Placer County ( ; ''Placer'', Spanish language, Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
Blue Canyon is located southwest of
Emigrant Gap
Emigrant Gap is a gap in a ridge on the California Trail as it crosses the Sierra Nevada, to the west of what is now known as Donner Pass. Here the cliffs are so steep that, back in the 1840s, the pioneers on their way to California had to lower ...
.
It lies at an elevation of 4695 feet (1431 m).
Blue Canyon was possibly named for the blue smoke of the camps when extensive lumbering occurred there in the 1850s. It might otherwise have been named after a miner from that same period named "Old Jim Blue".
The Blue Canyon post office operated from 1867 to 1927. The Blue Cañon post office operated from 1936 to 1942 and from 1948 to 1964.
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]
History
Following the California Gold Rush of 1849, a miner named Jim Blue prospected for gold in the Canyon and established a small mining camp.
In 1859, the Towle Brothers built and operated a lumber mill in Blue Canyon. In 1866, tracks from the first Transcontinental railroad reached Blue Canyon from Sacramento, followed by daily scheduled train service. The post office was established the following year. Railroad support services were established including a train station, hotel, worker housing, lunch counter, cookhouse, turntable, water and fueling facilities.
By the 1870s, water from a natural spring in Blue Canyon was being shipped to hotels in Sacramento. A fire train was permanently assigned and kept under constant steam.
In 1882, the population was 162. There were two hotels and a one room school with 22 students in attendance.
In 1907, Blue Canyon became a railroad crew change location resulting in a population increase as train crews were assigned there.
During prohibition, Blue Canyon became a location for bootleggers, resulting in increased tourism.
In 1926, double tracking of the railroad was completed, eliminating Blue Canyon as a crew change location. The population decreased significantly as workers were transferred.
By 1936, the last active mine in the area had closed.
In the 1950s, diesel locomotives replaced steam engines. In 1964, railroad support services were shut down as they were no longer needed. The population decreased to a near ghost town and the post office closed permanently.[Signor, John R. (1985). ''Donner Pass, Southern Pacific's Sierra Crossing''. Golden West Books, San Marino CA. Pages 34-36, 48, 61-67, 100. ]
Climate
Blue Canyon has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(Csb) according to the Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
system. Summers are generally warm with cool nights, while winters are moderately cold and extremely snowy, despite no month having an average low temperature below freezing.
See also
* Blue Canyon – Nyack Airport
*Extremes on Earth
This article lists extreme locations on Earth that hold geographical records or are otherwise known for their geophysical or meteorological superlatives. All of these locations are Earth-wide extremes; extremes of individual continents or count ...
*List of weather records
The list of weather records includes the most extreme occurrences of weather phenomena for various categories. Many weather records are measured under specific conditions—such as surface temperature and wind speed—to keep consistency amon ...
References
Unincorporated communities in California
Unincorporated communities in Placer County, California
{{PlacerCountyCA-geo-stub