Talk:Spyrock, California

Possible topics for expansion

I recently became interested in Spyrock after reading Larry Livermore's memoir Spy Rock Memories (2013). This article is just a stub at the moment, little more than "this place exists and used to have a post office", and I was curious about things like: How'd it get its name? Is there a geologic feature known as the "spy rock"? Why'd they change the name of the area and its main road from Spy Rock (2 words) to Spyrock (1 word)?

I did some Googling and scanned around on Google Earth and came up with a few leads for topics that might be worth investigating to expand this article:

• There does appear to be a geologic formation known as "Spy Rock" from which the area derives its name. I found this thread with a photo of it and some discussion. On Google Earth or Maps it can be found at coordinates 39°51'53.88"N 123°26'15.40"W. Follow Spyrock Road until it ends at the Eel River and this rock formation is just across the river, slightly southeast on the east side of the river. Some leads I found indicate that it was named "Spy Rock" because Native Americans climbed up on it to spy on the white settlers on the other side of the river (the east side of the river in that area is part of the off-reservation trust land of the Round Valley Indian Reservation), but I haven't found a reliable source to back that up. The origin of the name, its link to the rock formation, and how/when the area was named would be good content for the article.
• There is also a petroglyph site in the area, designated CA-MEN-1912. It's alongside Spyrock Road, about 2.9 miles east of highway 101. The coordinates are 39°48'26.8"N 123°31'03.2"W. Here is a .pdf of a report by the California Department of Forestry on the petroglyph site. Googling "spy rock petroglyphs" may yield reliable results on the discovery and research related to this site.
• The Spy Rock School is just up Spy Rock Rd. from the petroglyph site and serves the area, since the community is so remote and far from the nearest main school in Laytonville. That could be worked into a section on the local demographics and makeup of the community.
• There must be some history involving the Northwestern Pacific Railroad line that ran on the west side of the Eel River. I would imagine that has something to do with how the community got started, or at least with the history of the logging industry in the area. Perusing on Google Earth, it looks like the railroad in this area has been unused for a long time, with some sections of track destroyed or covered by landslides. It was heavily damaged in the Christmas flood of 1964 and fallen into disuse. There appear to be several boxcars that derailed and fell into the riverbed at 39°52'56.4"N 123°26'56.5"W, near the end of Spy Rock Rd. They are visible in the earliest satellite imagery, from 1993. Surely the railroad ties into the history of the Spyrock area.
• A section on notable residents of the community should surely mention Larry Livermore and Tré Cool: While living at Spy Rock in the 1980s, Livermore started his Lookout! zine, his band the Lookouts, and ran Lookout! Records out of his home there for several years before moving back to the SF Bay Area. Cool, who was born and grew up at Spy Rock, was the drummer in the Lookouts and went on to international fame as a member of Green Day, one of the most successful rock bands in the world. Another notable resident is cartoonist Gabrielle Bell, Livermore's niece, who grew up with her family at Spy Rock.

Other topics that should be covered in an article on any town or community include its founding and history, its main industries or economies, and some information on its demographics: How many people live there? What do they do? What's the makeup of the community? How does it interact with/tie in to neighboring communities or the larger areas? Not merely a regurgitation of census data, but some prose that describes the community and what went/goes on there. --IllaZilla (talk) 21:33, 26 November 2017 (UTC)