Spyrock (formerly, Spy Rock) is an unincorporated community of ranches in Mendocino County, California.[1][2] It is located around Spyrock Road, which runs east of Highway 101 to the Eel River and Northwestern Pacific Railroad.[3][2]

Spyrock
Spyrock is located in California
Spyrock
Spyrock
Location in California
Spyrock is located in the United States
Spyrock
Spyrock
Spyrock (the United States)
Coordinates: 39°52′36″N 123°26′38″W / 39.87667°N 123.44389°W / 39.87667; -123.44389
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyMendocino County
Elevation850 ft (259 m)

It is named after Spy Rock, a 540 ft landmark hill on the east side of the river, and The Wildlands Conservancy operates the 5,832 acres Spyrock reserve in the area.[4][5][6]

A post office operated at Spyrock from 1910 to 1911, and from 1915 to 1967.[7] Spy Rock Elementary School located on Spy Rock Road is in Laytonville Unified school district,[8] although Spy Rock previously had its own school district.[9]

There was a station on the railroad named Spy Rock which until 1914 was named Redwine.[10]

In 1982 a Petroglyph site was discovered beside Spy Rock Road which provided the first evidence of complex rock art boulders in the western United States.[11][12]

The Spy Rock Road album by The Lookouts was named after the road by Larry Livermore who lived in Spy Rock in the 1980s.[2]

Spy Rock features prominently in the 2021 Hulu docuseries Sasquatch.

References

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  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Spyrock, California
  2. ^ a b c Larry Livermore (June 4, 2013). Spy Rock Memories. ISBN 9780989196307.
  3. ^ DeLorme California Atlas & Gazetteer (2008) Yarmouth, Maine p.47 ISBN 0-89933-383-4
  4. ^ "Spyrock Reserve » The Wildlands Conservancy". The Wildlands Conservancy. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Let's Get Antiquated". The Press Democrat. September 19, 1971. p. 55. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Spy Rock", Santa Ana Register, p. 6, August 29, 1976, Leisure supplement, retrieved April 22, 2021
  7. ^ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 149. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  8. ^ "Spy Rock Elementary - School Directory Details (CA Dept of Education)". www.cde.ca.gov. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  9. ^ "Spyrock School District". Ukiah Dispatch Democrat. April 13, 1900. p. 5. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  10. ^ "Redwine to be Renamed Spy Rock". Ukiah Daily Journal. August 21, 1914. p. 7. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  11. ^ Mark Gary; Dan Foster (1990), "Mendocino County and Rock Art Conservation" (PDF), Society for California Archaeology Newsletter, vol. 24, no. 3, Society for California Archaeology
  12. ^ Dainel G. Foster, "A Note on CA-MEN-1912 The Spyrock Road Site, Mendocino County, California.pdf", San Diego Museum of Man Rock Art Papers, San Diego Museum: 51–56