Gribblenation

Yesterday I visited the 1897 Hanford Station along the BNSF Rails on 7th Street in downtown Hanford. Hanford Station is one of the three remaining stations built by San Francisco and San Joaquin Railroad.  Hanford Station was constructed a year prior to the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad opening between Fresno and Bakersfield.  Unlike Conejo and the other rail sidings I've mentioned in previous blogs Hanford was already an established town by the time the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad tracks were built.  Hanford had already been present since 1877 when it was founded as a rail siding town of the Southern Pacific Railroad which still bisects downtown between 7th and 6th streets today.  Hanford Station would switch hands to the ATSF which later would become the BNSF as it is known today.  Hanford Station underwent restoration in 1991 and apparently had an open waiting room prior to the remodel.  Hanford Station currentl...

Continuing eastward from Hackberry last week on the Arizona State Route 66 portion of US 66 the road goes through the communities of Valentine and Truxton. Valentine much like Hackberry was a rail siding of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.  Interestingly Valentine appears to have the name of Truxton originally before switching to Valentine sometime around 1910.   Valentine can be seen on this 1882 map of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad under its original name of Truxton. 1882 A&P Operating Map The switch from Truxton to Valentine is cited on theroute-66.com. theroute-66.com on Valentine The community of Valentine was centered around the Truxton Canyon Training School which was constructed from 1898 to 1903.  The purpose of the Truxton Canyon Training School was to forcibly assimilate children from the Hualapai Tribe from the nearby tribal lands northeast of Peach Springs.  Apparently, the Truxton Canyon Training School was in operation until...

Back in 1962 the construction of the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island of Brevard County, Florida required annexation of former public lands to complete the facility.  This led to several town sites on Merritt Islands and areas surrounding the Kennedy Space Station being razed.  Back in 2014 I took a day trip to the area to what I could find of the towns of; Wilson, Allenhurst, and Shiloh. On the 1956 State Highway of Florida shows a substantial difference in the area surrounding the Kennedy Space Center. 1956 Florida State Highway Map -  Florida State Road 3 is shown leaving US 1 from Oak Hill and traversing south through Shiloh, and Allenhurst before meeting FL 402 in Wilson.   FL 3 continues south through Orsino to FL 520. -  A proposed extension of FL A1A is shown south of New Smyrna Beach to FL 402 at Playlinda Beach.  As I mentioned last week when I discussed Canaveral National Seashore this part of the coast is completely und...

Located just outside of picturesque Salem, New York, the Rexleigh Covered Bridge is one of four covered bridges that are still standing in Washington County, and one of thee covered bridges that cross the Batten Kill while in New York. There are more covered bridges that cross the Batten Kill in neighboring Vermont. The Rexleigh Covered Bridge is also the location for a popular swimming hole. The 107 foot long bridge was originally built by Reuben Comins and George Wadsworth in 1874 and is one of only three Howe truss bridges remaining in New York State. The bridge was supposedly prefabricated in Troy, New York and transported by rail to Rexleigh where it was reassembled in place. One unique feature of the Rexleigh Covered Bridge are the cast iron shoes, which were used to fit the bridge timbers into joints with iron rods. This feature has been incorporated into no other known covered bridge in the United States of America. The Rexleigh Covered Bridge has had its shar...

There are a number of bridges that cross the Champlain Canal in Washington County, New York, along with some bridges that are gone, but not forgotten. One of the bridges that fits into the gone, but not forgotten category was the Deweys Bridge, which crossed the canal about halfway between the historic villages of Fort Ann and Whitehall. Constructed in 1911 by the American Bridge Company of New York, this steel thru truss bridge was a conduit between US 4, NY 22 and the country roads that make up this area of New York State. Unfortunately, the bridge was demolished in 2013 and not replaced since there were other bridges nearby that perform a similar capacity. I took photos during a visit to the area in September 2005. Sources and Links: Bridgehunter - Dewey's Bridge Road Bridge

The final part of the 2012 was the Overseas Highway segment of US 1. The endpoint of the 2012 Florida Trip was my drive on US 1 on the Overseas Highway.  Less than a year later I would find myself ironically being offered work in the Lower Florida Keys.  To that end I was looking greatly forward to driving the Overseas Highway but didn't know anything approaching what I do now about it's back story.  For an infinitely more complete version of US 1 on the Overseas Highway and the precursor Florida State 4a I would suggest reading my recent blog on those topics from 2017: 2017 Southeast Road Trip Part 13; US 1 the Overseas Highway and the Legacy of Florida State Road 4a I started the morning out somewhat early to make it down from downtown Miami to the 18 Mile Stretch of the Overseas Highway.  Relatively quickly I found myself crossing Jewfish Creek onto Key Largo. At the time I wasn't exactly familiar with US 1 on the Overseas Highway so I t...