LOCAL HISTORY PROJECT

Old Tollhouse Grade. This will give you some idea of how steep the old grade was. The picture has been tipped to the left to over accentuate the steepness but the pitch still is very steep. The steepness led to the old grade being replaced in the 1930's by the county maintained grade of today. The ladies are unidentified but better have a good emergency brake.

circa: 1915

Old Tollhouse Grade. This picture shows the true steepness of this portion of the grade. Often passengers had to get out and walk because the cars couldn't get enough power to pull the hill. Note the rock holding the car on the hill.

circa: 1922

This is the building of the "new" Tollhouse grade. The roadbed has been cut but still is dirt. The switch backs were put in to cut down the steepness. Visible in the background are the rock bluffs where the four lane highway 168 is today. Also the flume crossed the bluffs 1880-1920.

circa: 1933

Aerial view of the "new" Tollhouse grade. The top of Sarvers Peak or Tollhouse Peak is visible lower right. Top right is the town of Tollhouse. The two main switch backs are clearly visible. Traces of the old grade cut across this picture from the right middle to the bottom left and are barely visible.

circa: 1935

The old Tollhouse Store on the right. Note how the foundation of the store is built up over the creek bed in back. In the old days of building, structures were built up to make levels instead of tractoring level dirt pads. The house built on the store's foundation has the same foundation today. The two story Yancey house, painted white, is visible in the center of the picture and the older original Yancey house is on the left. The flume is barely visible on the rock bluffs, top left.

circa: 1900

The two story Yancey house in the snow. The story goes that Max Yancey promised his mother a new house so this house was built, supposedly the finest in Tollhouse and surrounding areas. No matter how true that is, the house had a very nice curved wood staircase and bannister and was a good house for it's time. The house survives today but is abandoned and leaning badly to the right.

circa: 1900

A shot of the Yancey house in Tollhouse in present times. The house after it was abandoned was home to swarms of honeybees in it's walls and those guys kept the photographers a distance away on this day. The peak in the background.

circa: 1994

The Yancey house in Tollhouse in winter. It is more visible when the trees and vines are dormant. The foundation has rotted and it leans to the right. The wood has weathered to a very pretty brown. The house has been broken into and vandalized and it virtually unsalvageable at this date.

circa: 1996

The Yancey House in Tollhouse through the apple orchard. Like the house the once immaculate orchard has been abandoned.

circa: 1994

A shot of the Yancey house in Tollhouse taken from a snapshot. The picture is weak but shows the house in its prime. There are structures built onto the house that have been torn out today. They probably are bedrooms and washrooms as 8 children were raised in this house by Max and Ione Yancey.

circa: 1915