Norwegian Grade

Norwegian Grade (HM2B1I)

Location: Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 Ventura County
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Country: United States of America
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N 34° 14.05', W 118° 51.904'

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Historical Monument

Historic Norwegian Grade was built by hand between 1900 and 1911 using picks, shovels, farm equipment, and $60 worth of dynamite given by the County of Ventura.

The grade was constructed by members of the Norwegian Colony and their hired help to provide a safe way to move bales of hay and sacks of wheat and barley to farmers on the Oxnard Plain and to the Hueneme Wharf.

The route for the grade was selected because it provided a gradual descent with no hairpin turns and would be safer than existing routes to the Oxnard Plain and Moorpark.

In the early 1900's, there were no bulldozers, earth moving equipment, etc. Work was done by hand using a star drill and a sledge hammer to pound holes into the very hard volcanic rock; dynamite was inserted into the holes, fuses lit, everyone ran for cover, and it blew. The resulting rocks and debris were moved by hand and a horse-drawn Fresno Scraper to build the narrow, one-lane roadway.

Construction was done in the winter and early spring months because baling and harvesting took precedence during the summer and fall. The grade was later widened to two lanes.

Original members of the Norwegian Colony were Ole Anderson, George and Lina Hanson, Ole and Elizabeth Nelson, Nils and Ellen Olsen, and Lars and Karen Pederson.

Details

HM Number	HM2B1I
Tags	Early Settlers, Roads and Vehicles
Year Placed	2011
Placed By	California Lutheran University; Olsen and Pederson Families; Scandinavian American Cultural and Historical Foundation; Sons of Norway; and City of Thousand Oaks
Marker Condition	No reports yet
Date Added	Sunday, September 2nd, 2018 at 11:02am PDT -07:00

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Locationbig map

UTM (WGS84 Datum)	11S E 328227 N 3789693
Decimal Degrees	34.23416667, -118.86506667
Degrees and Decimal Minutes	N 34° 14.05', W 118° 51.904'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds	34° 14' 3" N, 118° 51' 54.24" W
Driving Directions	Google Maps
Area Code(s)	805
Which side of the road?	Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal Address	At or near 4800-4802 N Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks CA 91360, US
Alternative Maps	Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap