Gribblenation

Pictured as the blog cover is eastbound Jefferson Avenue in the Detroit neighborhood of Delray. Jefferson Avenue in this neighborhood was once part of the eastern branch of the Dixie Highway in Michigan. The neighborhood has been called "the closest thing to a ghost town within a city" by the Detroit Metro Times. Largely missed in the road community hubbub about the construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge is the project consuming much of what was left of Delray. The neighborhood was once an incorporated town (incorporated in 1897) prior to being annexed by Detroit in 1906. The neighborhood was plotted as Belgrade in 1836 and assumed the name it has now in 1851. Delray reached a peak population of approximately 24,000 residents by 1930 and had a large Hungarian populace. The neighborhood was known for being home of numerous heavy industries which were located near the confluence of River Rouge and the Detroit River. A wastewater treatment plant built in 1940 consumed la...

Madera County Road 612 is a dirt surfaced rural highway located northeast of Raymond in the Sierra Nevada foothills.  The roadway begins at Road 415 (formerly Raymond Road) near the site the Knowles and follows a 7.6-mile winding course to Road 600 (Grub Gulch Road) near the site of the mining town of Grub Gulch.  Road 612 was historically known as the Hartman Cutoff Road prior to Madera County dropping road names in favor of the current numbering system.  The corridor was developed as shortcut as a shortcut between the communities of Knowles and Grub Gulch.   Part 1; the history of Road 612 What is now Madera County Road 612 was developed as Hartman Cutoff Road between town site of Knowles near the Raymond Granite Quarry and the mining town of Grub Gulch.  Hartman Cutoff Road provided easier access between Knowles-Grub Gulch which didn't require traffic detour back to the Yosemite Stage Road (now Road 600). Grub Gulch developed after the opening of the Gam...