The Mysterious Circle of Evelyn, California
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- East of Death Valley, near the Nevada border, there is a spot on the map called Evelyn, California. While the history of Evelyn dates back to 1907, with the coming of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, nothing is left of the place, aside from a large circle just off California State Route 127.
So why is there a large, paved circle miles from any town in the middle of nowhere? That's what I wanted to find out. Information on Evelyn was hard to come by, so I figured the best bet was just to drive out to Evelyn, and check out the circle for myself.
Starting out in Baker, California, home of the World's Tallest Thermometer, because of a road closure along Highway 127 we had to take the long way to get to Evelyn. After about three hours we were there, only to find more questions than answers at Evelyn.
What was the purpose of the circle? Was it built by the railroad, built for a nearby mine, or maybe even the site of a secret government experiment to see who will waste several gallons of gas to drive out there? Join us and see if you can solve the mystery of the Evelyn Circle.
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I grew up in Shoshone and now 87 years old. We used yo drive around this circle as a teenager and see how fast we could go. The circle was used to mix cold mix asphalt with a road grader to patch holes in hwy 127. They used the circle material to make the asphault. The reason for the circle was to avoid turning the grader around during the mixing. It required many circuites to get it mixed properly. The stripes were just practice for the striping crew. I hope this helps. Jim 11:25
Mystery solved. Thanks, Jim!
Wow this is awesome! Thanks!
@@opalsongsyou are
Damn that's so mundane. I was hoping for something like toll-plaza for the red light district.
Jim...how fast did you go?
I found this is brief history of the town.
“All that remains is a paved loop of road next to the old railroad grade. The California Department of Transportation uses this area to store paving materials and test equipment for work on California State Route 127 and other area roads.”
It looked like the railroad grade was on the other side of the highway. I was hoping to see some railroad ties to confirm but I flew the drone over and didn't see any. But in the drone shots you can see the raised area a couple hundred feet from the highway.
@@SidetrackAdventures Yeah it’s a odd one even after reading what I did 🤔
Before reading this, I was thinking maybe it was a turn-around for semi-trucks to use. But the yellow lines is a bit of a puzzle especially since it looks like some are not even laid in a useful pattern...maybe the paint-striper they used was testing there? Very interesting!
This comment suggests to me that it might be used for testing road monitoring equipment, such as traffic monitors, or speed monitors. Test vehicles could drive around the track for monitoring equipment to record the speed and/or weight or other factors of interest to the DOT.
We checked this out on the way to DV. I’d guess caltrans maintenance area/pavement test area. There was a small pile of gravel on the edge of the circle back in July
The metal pillar is a well. Environmental use these to test the water sources on a regular basis. They have many of the same thing on military bases. Steam engine trains needed water, so water tanks were probably located here at one time. Nice explore!
Are you talking about the one towards the beginning or the older one off in the brush towards the end?
That was my guess thanks for clarifying!
The 'scientiffic device' at the beginning looks like a groundwater monitoring well for an environmental investigation. It looks relatively modern and very well maintained. These are called 'stovepipe' wellheads. The round one later in the video looks like a much older stovepipe well. Perhaps these were for environmental assessment of the ashpalt plant someone else mentioned in their comment. Loved the visit to Evelyn! Thanks for sharing.
The metal box is a sensor. The company i just left owns 12,000÷ of these all over the planet.
@@timothyripp3211 I agree! And I used to install em too..
The circles exist in Montana in about every highway department district as a place to mix asphalt and gravel to make patching for highway repairs. They lay a stripe of gravel around the circle then a grader berms it up into circular strip. A hot oil tanker sprays asphalt on the gravel and then the grader rolls the berm over to mix it, several times.
That’s what CHiPs told me when I was looking for it
That could be true or complete bs, I dunno which.
Yes, that is a service road and right-of-way access for an asphalt batch plant. My father was a highway engineer for NYDOT They'd install mobile plants if the local existing plants were too far or inadequate. Stagger your trucks for the next batch in the ring. When the batch is ready, load and go til gone.
I live in Tecopa California. There is another "circle" worth looking at - off Excelsior Mine Road East of the Kingstons North of Hwy 15 called Valley Wells Smelter - There is a "glass dance floor" it's where they smelted copper for years and dumped the slag on the ground. There are remnants of the town too.
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: A single vast Circle of asphalt and stone
Clings to the desert. Near this, upon the sand,
Half sunk, no shattered signage pronounces this town,
Just half eroded lines painted by hand,
The direction of travel informs without being said
Which yet survive, stamped on this lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fled:
And I wished for a pedestal and some words to appear:
"My name is Evelyn an asphalt loopy thing:
Look on my start and find the end!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal flat disc, an infinate bend
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
I like your poem. That was quite creative. Thank you for sharing that. 😎
Shelley is smiling somewhere
I certainly did not expect *that* reference in a TH-cam comment section.
Mr or Mrs or Ms Tortuga. Such an unexpected pleasure. You truly are a poet and you know it. 😅
Awesome.
If you return to Baker in the future, I would imagine you'd have a grand time exploring the history of Otto's cave... the mountain just aside Mad Greek I believe is now called "Otto's Mountain." I've only been up there once, and it was boarded up with some metal to prevent people from going into the cave, but Otto lived there many decades ago, mining his own rock by hand and living in the cave. He was also a "gem" of a guy and my wife's family knew him growing up. Every year they'd get a package of sweets from Otto and she still has some stones he gave the family. Anyway, that's the start of it but I am sure you could interview locals and do quite the video. Careful up on the mountain, lots of glass and some sketchy folks go up to party. Go in daylight with someone. Have fun!
For what it's worth, the "Kiddle Encyclopedia" website claims, "The California Department of Transportation uses this area to store paving materials and test equipment for work on California State Route 127 and other area roads."
i thought sand piles for when the roads get icy 😎
Steve, you make everything interesting. Even just a circle in the desert! I think you need to do more Google Map searches, it would be fun.
Yes, I like it too very much! So cool what Steve discovers for us. Thank you 👍
As I have previously mentioned, I really like Steve’s presentations.
His voice and delivery is excellent.
I don’t have to try and filter through a heavy accent or rapid speech. 🤠
He's such a peaceful, calm man. I wish everyone acted like he does.@@wmjohns881
Yeah my thoughts as well
Steve, I think you were supposed to drive around it 3 times and make a wish!
I would have but I was worried about it summoning a monster or something. haha
@@SidetrackAdventures just make sure to drive deisel not widdershins :P
but doing it in reverse increases your chances of them happening 😎
You can tell he's not a Southern boy because he went the wrong way!
But never go anti-clockwise or something bad might happen.
Those metal strips were used on top of wooden strips that were used as tracks for mining ore carts during WW II and the original metal tracks were repurposed for the war effort. The metal contraption appears to be a ventilator or possibly an exhaust pipe for a motorized air compressor to pump air into the mining shaft. If you were to venture further up the draw, you would probably locate a few enclosed mining entrances. I'm old enough to remember wooden strips with metal straps were still in use into the mid 70's, it was cheaper than using metal tracks. The circled ring, my guess is a turn around (round about) for unloading ore carts using the gravity delivery system and using an engine for the return up that compacted path shown in the drone video. Just ole timers observation. TY and take care y'all.
Good Observations!
I just recently discovered your channel and started watching your videos. Your visit to the mysterious Evelyn Circle is a prime example of what I love about this channel. Taking several hours of your day to drive out to that location, for ten minutes of, "What the heck is this place?" so that I don't have to. Love your commentaries, too!
DITTO!!!!!!
For me the Evelyn T&T Station is much more interesting than the much more modern paved circle. My dad and his parents lived there for a time in the 1930s. My grandfather worked for the T&T and was the Bridge and construction foreman.
Wish I had more info on the station. Someone mentioned one of the old T&T buildings from Evelyn might be in Shoshone as a house now.
If we are guessing, that metal box sorta looks a camera stand…..I seen them where large cameras would be place in the desert to capture photos of the night sky in area with no light pollution
I think the yellow lines are probably just remnants of the road crews practicing with their painting equipment. Thanks for all the great videos.
I think you are right there, because when I started walking, there was just the center lane, but once I got past the dirt road there were lines everywhere.
Steve, you might think this is the middle of nowhere, but from a guy in the Midwest that follows your adventures, the scenery, to me, is spectacular! And thanks to the comments that explain what the circle represents!
The box mounted in the concrete pad. Is a ground water monitoring station. It's used to take water samples for contamination testing. You can also see booms and silt socks "tubuler socks" along the inner edge of the traffic circle. They keep rain runoff from eroding the dirt and washing it away.
Also could just be used for water level monitoring to determine groundwater water flow direction
It actually rains there ?
Wouldn’t want anything washing away 😂😂😂
Thanks for showing places I explored in my youth, The desert is a big place full of amazing things, you will never run out of interesting content.
No matter how long or short your videos, they are all appreciated!! Thank you… go Pads
Thanks Steve, loved the desert landscape driving footage, also appreciate how you value less known relics of the past. I really enjoyed this one. Look forward to watching next week.
Thank you, I really appreciate it.
I'm purposely *not* reading other comments before I offer this one, Steve, because you've blown me away again. From your down-to-earth narration to your choice of music to your editing, your videos are fascinating and contemplative in a way I see nowhere else. So amazing! Thank you - and now I'll read those comments from other fans of Sidetrack Adventures!
I agree
Gave a thumbs-up, from New Zealand.
But it misses the whole point - it doesn't answer the question!
nice
Thank you for the history of the giant thermometer! I’ve had my pictures taken a few times throughout the years but not knowing the history behind it!🙏🙏🙏! Keep informing!
Definitely one of my favorite episodes of this show, your show reminds me of California's Gold with the late great Huell Howser
Thank you for taking the time to drive all the way around to check this place out.
Fascinating video, Steve. You certainly find some interesting and quirky places to visit. Very enjoyable and much appreciated.
Steve, You're not crazy, you're curious. And we appreciate it! 👍
Hey, thanks for this adventure, Steve! Gotta love the Mojave Desert. I'm very familiar with Baker and the famous thermometer there. Boy does it get hot there in the summer! I enjoyed learning about Evelyn and I thank the viewers who had some knowledge of the circle road there. Thanks again Steve for taking us along!
Good trip. Steve. Thanks for taking us along.
Loved it! These videos are a rabbit hole of things to go look up and marvel at!
I'm told if you drive the circle counterclockwise 3x at *precisely* 88 mph you'll go back to the future! 🤪😉
i was told to do it in reverse to make sure it works 👍🏼
Anyone with a c.b. radio could contact BunBoy and place an order , mainly truckers . They always had strawberry pie ! 👍👍👍👍👍
One of your best videos Steve! Keep up the great work.
Occasionally, the algorithm treats me well. Instant sub, my man, and I'm gonna start tearing through your other videos. I'm leaving on a motorcycle trip in a week, headed south on the NV BDR to AZ/CA/UT for a few weeks, and I'm looking for exactly these sort of relics. It's clear your videos resonate with a wide variety of folks, and the stories of those who get nostalgia or have emotional ties to these places are incredible. You're doing something truly special here!
I like that you just took a chance on this adventure. Thanks for checking it out. Glad "Shoshone Jim" could solve the mystery for us. I do wonder if the restaurant owner really thought he'd break even after spending $700,000 on that big thermometer. I suspect he just wanted to build it, like so many other desert people who get an idea and want to 'GO BIG'.
Steve, here's an idea for you that doesn't require you drive hundreds of miles: Mt. Calavera is an ancient volcano located in Carlsbad (CA, not N.M.!) nr. Cannon Road. I saw a local geologist's TH-cam video on this a year or two ago, and if you can find that he makes interesting explanations of the different rock formations there. If nothing else it makes for a decent hike. Keep up the good work sir!
It's a very popular hiking destination Been to the top of it many times.
This video is so good. Great choice of music & just the perfect amount if silent rolling & observing 🤗
I really enjoy your channel! Always something interesting and memorable. Thank you for this video! Pretty cool even though it’s simple. Found it so interesting regardless.
Video thank you Steve for the video was very informative and fun
Glad you enjoyed it
The desert always seems to be a strange but quirky place with weird places like this. Sometimes cool, sometimes unusual or unnerving, but all interesting.
Couldn't agree more!
There is no shortage of weird places in the desert for sure.
@@SidetrackAdventures And not just places, but interesting and quirky people as well!
The desert 🌵 is just like meditation 🧘♀️
One has to look closely to see it’s beauty. . . . . . .
Thanks, Steve. Always enjoy your presentations. You have a gift.
Thank you very much, I really appreciate this.
This is awesome. I just booked a 7 day, 6 night vacation to Evelyn, CA, to see all the sights. 🤨
It's interesting to see the remains of places and try to establish a history around them. I see this a lot here on the East coast.
Not sure a week is enough time to take in all Evelyn has to offer.
🤣🤣🤣
I spent a week there, one night!
That circle was used by the horse-drawn wagon teamsters to practice drifting, back in the day. After it was paved, the steel wagon wheel tires got worn out too quickly, so the sport died out.
Thanks Steve, for another great side trip!
Your curiosity really got the best of you,thanks for going the extra "mile"🤗😎🤗😎
Thank you for if nothing else your highlighting the history of the Baker thermometer. Iconic is the only word I can use to describe it.
Thanks for adventuring Steve! Even if it was to nowhereland 😂
We stopped and ate at Bun Boy for years onour way to Vegas. Good memories.
Another banger video, Steve
Thank you.
Love your adventures an this one is right up my alley. i love it when people find anomalies that are seemingly unexplainable. Hell I dont know what it is, dont care. But it makes it fun to see and imagine all the possibilities and theories. I been watching videos for awhile. TODAY I subscribed and liked. Good work.
Another great adventure! Sometimes you just have to pleased wit a mystery. Thanks for the video.
You could check with county records or ask the county Professional Land Surveyor.
That eliminates half the fun!
@@SidetrackAdventures 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 true
Fascinating. There is an awful lot of "nothing" out there, and it's important acreage even so. Thanks for going out of your way! Now I don't have to go there. :)
Great video! Thanks for filming this.
Great video, as always. Thank you.
Interesting video Steve. I have a theory about that circle ⭕️ I think the California Department of Transportation used or uses it to test and adjust the “striper” (the vehicles use to paint the highway lane lines). They might have designed the circle adjacent to the highway to use it as a test area where they can adjust or regulate the painting machinery in the striper. That’s the reason of the lines painted on the circle they’re just tests done by the striper to make sure it is well adjusted and working properly before they start painting the lines of the highways.
It’s pretty simple to surmise what it is…
It’s The Circle of Life!
Or The Circle of Death….Valley?
Now I’m not sure! 😅
Hakuna matata!
Dear Steve, i love all your video's and especially the rail related ones. It's also just nice to see all that amazing desert scenery. very best regards from South Australia.
Glad you like them!
Your vids are always fun and I look forward to seeing them every Wednesday
This awesome vid comes under the category of, it’s not the destination that counts as much as the journey getting there! Kind of like life itself.
Looking at Google Earth there is another area on the same side of the highway about a mile south where you can see two perfect half circles on top of the hill and evidence that the area was bulldozed, the mystery deepens.
I can’t find additional circles a mile South. More info?
@@lovebaja Paste this into Google maps: 5J2J+QXR Evelyn, California…just a wild guess, but the other 2 circles resemble perhaps old, dead volcanoes.
You find the craziest spots to visit Steve. Thanks!
Surprising and interesting as usual. Thank you!!
I think the circle may have been a training spot for the highway boys to practice laying down lane paint, or for testing different types of paint to find the best one to use in the area. That would explain all the random lines painted all over it. I'm sure there was more paint in the past, but it's eroded since then.
This was my thought as well
I thought about that too, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was it, but why build this so far from anything else? You'd think they'd want to do their training closer to where they keep their equipment.
@@SidetrackAdventures Just a thought-- around 9:43 in the video, left side of the screen and west side of the circle, that sandy clearing looks to me like there might have been a small building there at one point. Perhaps the DOT had a small garage/building/outpost there?
the highway dept. probably wanted a out of the way location so local nitwits would not vandalize the experimental materials and ruin the tests
thank you Steve . oh how i wish i was in that neighbor. i love that warm California sunshine 😎. and how cool to take us up to the “ high ground “ man .., what a view 😎 thanks again. your doing good 👍🏼
I enjoy your videos thank you
The DEFINITION of a Side Track Adventure. Great job! Still a fun video and it looks to have been a cool adventure for ya'll!
Thanks for showing else the circle and as usual one of your subscribers new the history. So kool. I road by this on my motorcycle and wondered what the heck it was.
Pipe is probably a water well, circle is where the water storage tank once sat on elevated ground. Would be my only guess.
My first thought was an old gravel pile used in construction and maintenance of 127. I considered the possibility of a railroad turn table for turning locomotives around, but the lack of historical artifacts (aka junk) suppressed that idea. Then I read the comments. I remembered when I was in my Single Digit Years, the local city street department used the street beside the back of the Elementary School I attended to mix their asphalt for street repairs. They would close the street for a day or two every month and lay down gravel, oil it and mix with a grader. I think several of the comments here are dead on. Good report.
We love it that you really take us places, Steve. 😅😂😂😂. And a spin all around Evelyn too!?!? Sweet!😂😂😂😂❤
Glad you enjoyed it
Steve thank you for this story. I have been by that place many times and never knew it was there. As about 99% of the interesting things out there. Always enjoy your adventures.
It's a CalTrans testing area. They picked it because it's not going to be disturbed, and because of the wide temperature swings in summer and winter. Materials and paint are put down then periodically checked for deterioration.
I love your videos. And I hope you take them to the next level by looking beyond Google as a source, such as interviewing locals, local history books in libraries etc. You could start with people in diners, post offices etc. Thanks for your work! ❤
Greetings. Another excellent side track adventure. From the comments we learned something about a spot we have passed by so many times. Just to add a little side track, there is a train crash site about three miles south of Evelyn siding and a couple miles north of Shoshone on the eastside. There is a short dirt road and a horizontal cut in the low foothills to the east as the only markers. August 9, 1908 a Tonopah & Tidewater steam engine #13 crashed, killing three, during heavy rain and flooding. We found metal pieces, boiler bolts, and old glass from the engine. When you look to the west you can match the foothills in the picture. We wondered if they topped off with water at Evelyn. Found in (maybe at the museum as well) Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California, pp. 570-71, by DF Myrick. There's also camel and Mammoth tracks in the town of Shoshone. China Ranch is nearby and a really nice spot especially if you love dates. Keep up the good work and interesting videos.
You had me at "maybe even the site of a secret government experiment to see who will waste several gallons of gas to drive out there?" My son texted me this morning to say he's a subscriber of yours and I should check you out. Since my name is Evelyn, he suggested I start here 😁. I'm 76, and I've spent a lifetime exploring, mostly in the Gold Rush country of northern CA when I lived there, and now Oregon, still going strong. I'm impressed, youngun', and I look forward to binge-watching your channel. Be careful out there!
Tell your son thanks for spreading the word and welcome.
Evelyn California, site of the first traffic circle in the western hemisphere!
Truly a historic site!
Very strange but interesting
Thank you. Love your programs
Wonderhussy Adventures added to this story.
Pretty cool. I watched her video a few minutes ago. It's funny to think how this place was largely forgotten for years and is now getting all of this attention.
Is it a semi truck turn around? Yeah, so the trucks can turn around without driving to the next town. Another of the mining trucks run two trailers. Anywhere else to turn around? Or a place they would be going currently?
I doubt it. It has a dirt patch before it gets to the circle
Its possible but I'm not sure there would be enough trucks turning around out there to need something so big.
As always Steve you Rock thanks for all you do it's great to see you again
Great video, Steve! I never knew about this Circle despite having driven up and down Highway 127 so many times. Thanks for pointing it out. Nice job reviewing the big thermometer, too. Definitely a landmark. Never knew it had blown over. I didn’t know Highway 127 was still closed at this late date. Just the other day they finally opened Death Valley Road at the north end of the park just east of Big Pine off Highway 168. It had been closed since August!
I actually cut through Death Valley the next day, and hadn't been in a few years. You could really tell they've had to do some pretty major work on some of the roads through there.
I enjoyed this video and people's comments about their memories and theories. Very mysterious indeed. All the best to everyone.
It looks like theres some pretty extensive earth works both in the center and in a larger circle around the paved circle. Possibly for drainage? I wonder if this was some kind of railroad infrastructure at one point that got repurposed as a truck turnaround. Maybe there was small trains or vehicles with multiple trailers that needed a turnaround and offloading location
I wondered if maybe mine equipment was off loaded there.
It could be a grift? Re-establish a town on paper to gain state funding for road maintenance. Pave a circle, paint a few lines and pocket the rest.
This is also a likely guess. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some extra road money left over and instead of giving it back they made this circle.
Blessings Jim, I'm 80, so just a kid compared to you😂. Very grateful for your information.
Love your videos! interesting feature in the middle of nowhere
i didn't realize the SOUTH road to Death Valley was still closed- I thought it was going to be the north west and east roads that would be hardest to fix. I guess its because its the lowest flattest route, it got more washouts
I cut through Death Valley the next day to get to Highway 395 and can confirm the other roads were open.
Wondering if this circle started out as a navigation marker for the Air Force, like those giant arrows in the AZ desert? Maybe later, it was paved and used by CalTrans to park highway maintenance vehicles during works in this far-flung corner of CA.
Those arrows were not for the Air Force. They were for postal aircraft.
Cool trip, thanks for the video!!!!
Thanks for sharing. I appreciate you curiosity very much. Best wishes.... Ax
Maybe you should've stopped by Shoshone and asked some of the locals if they know anything.
My dad used to haul asphalt and aggregates out of in San Bernardino county. He said that circle was so the trucks could bottom dump their loads and save it in large quantities so that when road construction occurred they would lessen their time on lane closures, since they didn't have to wait for the trucks to bring it from far away. He thinks it was made in a circle because a parallel strip of road, which is more common for such activities, would of been at greater risk of washout and damage whereas the circle was on a more secure bit of land and water could be diverted around it easier.
Great video. Beautiful scenery
I enjoy your videos because you're honest lol. You do cool and amazing things but you're honest about what you do know and don't know. I appreciate honest, fascinating videos!!! 😎
I'm thinking it was a roundhouse for the railroad to turn locomotives around. Who knows??
Need to take a metal detector next time. Bet there is treasure.
Fun one! We are heading that direction next week! Thanks!
Your trip was not a waste of time. I'm pretty sure I'll never visit this place and I'm glad you did so that I can cross it off my virtual visit list.😅
Old Race track???? 🎸
Hey, Steve, a question for you (that I'll bet you've already been asked, and have answered before):
What drone do you use? I'm always impressed with the quality of the footage you post using it. Thanks!
I'm using a DJI Mini 3 Pro.
Always extremely interesting.. no matter where you guys wind up at..😊
WOW! as someone who goes up and down 127 regularly, awesome to hear about this one... i look at sat maps all the time/ had no idea this was there thanks for giving us a look and thanks for giving the thermo some press, they rely on the gift shop for funding. i agree the post is likely a monitor of some sort. looks like a well cap but seems unlikely that's what it is. probably is more modern and not really related to the circle very interesting place. comments below seem to explain it pretty well and as plain as it is, still fascinating...
CIA, aliens and Bigfoot, yeah, I think you got it spot on there. Great video Steve.👍
Its the most likely explanation.