This real photo postcard documents Waterman Canyon in San Bernardino, California during the 1910s, when mountain roads were being carved into the San Bernardino range to connect inland valleys with higher elevation routes.
Waterman Canyon formed part of the early highway system serving Southern California’s growing interior communities, providing access through steep terrain by means of graded switchbacks and narrow mountain passes. Roads like this represented a transition from rail-dominated travel to automobile tourism, linking desert basins, citrus towns, and mountain resorts through newly engineered corridors.
The image shows a winding dirt road climbing through a narrow canyon, with multiple switchbacks visible as it follows the slope of densely covered hillsides. The view looks down the canyon toward distant ridgelines, emphasizing the road’s sharp curves and the depth of the valley below. The caption printed in the image reads “Switchbacks, Waterman Canyon, 101 Mile Drive, So. Calif.”
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