Beale's Cut, alternately known as Fremont
Pass and Newhall Pass, is the 90-foot-deep,
hand-cut gash through the mountain southeast of
Sierra Highway and San Fernando Road in Newhall.
Truth is, though, Fremont came through the are about a quarter-mile east
of Beale's Cut, seen here.
General Phineas Banning drove the first stage through the pass in 1854 when it was only 30 feet deep.
Troops under the command of General Edward F.
Beale, a veteran of the Mexican-American War,
deepened it in 1863 to ease travel between
Newhall and the pueblo of Los Angeles. In 1910
the roadway was replaced by the nearby Newhall
Tunnel, which gave way to modern-day Sierra
Highway in 1938.
This photograph was taken in 1909 as a picture postcard. For more on this subject, read Movie Trivia from Beale's Cut.
