Brown Material Road

Crappy times got you down? Feel like the news is full of nothing but brown material? Tired of having a giant turd bomb of bad news dropping onto your social media feed? If so, why take a detour onto San Joaquin Valley's infamous Brown Material Road.

Brown Material Road is a small 5 mile rural road that connects California State Route 46 southwest to California State Route 33. If you're worried about a constant stream of fecal oriented puns through this blog fear not, they stop here. In fact I would imagine that D.B. Kitchen, W. Dick, and Sam Woodcock of Clallam County, Washington would be proud that crude jokes go no further.

So how did Brown Material Road get it's unfortunate name? The answer is surprisingly mundane and was elaborated up by Bakersfield.com (the city that brought us the intersection of Inyo/Butte ironically) back in 2015. The name "Brown Material" was taken from oilfield supply business known as Brown Material Supply Company which used to be located at the intersection of Brown Material Road and US Route 466 (currently CA 46). Brown Material Road has been around for a long time as it can be seen on the 1935 California Division of Highways Map of Kern County.

Brown Material Road is surprisingly well signed as it's full name can be observed from CA 46 eastbound.

Brown Material Road even has a guide sign on CA 33 northbound.

Interestingly Brown Material Road does have street blades but they tend to be abbreviated to "Brown Mat." Brown Mat sounds something like something you'd see in an early 1980s residential bathroom.

Comments

Hawaii Route 8930

Hawaii Route 8930 is a 2.5-mile State Highway on the Island of O'hau. Hawaii Route 8930 is aligned over Kualakai Parkway over the course of its entire alignment south from Interstate H-1 to Kapolei Parkway. Hawaii Route 8930 is one of the newest Hawaii Routes only having been completed during 2010. This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page. All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 8930 The history of Hawaii Route 8930 is brief given it is a modern facility. Hawaii Route 8930 and what was known as "North-South Road" were built to facilitate the developing areas of Kapolei on western O'ahu. According to hawaiihighways.com the first stage of Hawaii Route 8930 was completed from Kapolei Parkway north to Farrington Highway as a four-lane highway during November...

Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road

Madera County Road 607 is an approximately seven-mile rural unsurfaced highway which spans from Road 600 near Raymond west to Road 29. Road 607 west from Raymond Road Cemetery (established in 1905) is part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road corridor surveyed in 1853. The corridor lies in the gap between Fresno Crossing at the Fresno River west to Newton's Crossing at the Chowchilla River. The Buchanan Copper Mine would be along what is now Road 607 in the namesake Buchanan Hollow during July 1863. The Buchanan Mine is thought to have once had a population of between 1,000-1,500 residents by the early 1870s. Copper prices would decline in the decade after the Civil War and much of the activity at Buchanan shifted towards cattle ranching. The last businesses in the community would shutter during World War II and it is now a true ghost town. Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road What is now Road 607 was a component of the larger Sto...

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California. Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada. The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926. Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938. A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947. Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association. Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe. Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the September 1950 California Highways & Public Works during its Centennial Edition. The or...