Skip to main content

The original California State Route 26 in Orange County

By


The original run of Sign State Highways were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.  One of the initial Sign State Routes was California State Route 26 which was located in Orange County.  The original California State Route 26 followed Legislative Route Number 183 from Seal Beach to Santa Ana via Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street.  The original California State Route 26 was short lived and it would be eliminated as part of the shuffling of Sign State Route designations due to the extension of US Route 6 California.  Pictured above is the 1937 Gousha Map of California which features the original California State Route 26 on Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street. 



The history of the original California State Route 26

What became the original California State Route 26 (CA 26) entered the State Highway System as part 1933 Legislative Chapter 767 as part of Legislative Route Number 183 (LRN 183).  The definition of LRN 183 was "LRN 60 near Seal Beach to LRN 2/US Route 101 in Santa Ana."  LRN 183 was one of many new State Highways which was adopted in 1933 when the State removed the barriers preventing the Division of Highways from maintaining roadways in incorporated cities. 

LRN 183 first appears on the 1934 Division of Highways Map aligned between Seal Beach-Santa Ana on Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street. 


As noted in the introduction the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works announced the initial run of Sign State Routes.  The initial Sign State Routes were assigned to corridors of travel that were largely considered essential to state-wise transportation.  CA 26 was announced as following the entirety of LRN 183 between Seal Beach and Santa Ana.  




CA 26/LRN 183 appears in detail on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Orange County following Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street in the Seal Beach-Santa Ana corridor.


As noted in the intro CA 26 appears on LRN 183 on the 1937 Gousha Highway Map of California.  


The demise of the original CA 26 came when US Route 6 was extended into California on February 8th, 1937, by the American Association of State Highway Officials.  Given US Route 6 was duplicating the number the original CA 6 it would require the latter be renumbered.  CA 6 had been defined as being aligned on LRN 173 from Santa Monica to Fullerton in the original run of Sign State Routes announced during August 1934.  To accommodate US Route 6 the original CA 26 and CA 6 were eliminated from their initial corridors.  LRN 173, LRN 166 and LRN 171 received the second designation of CA 26 whereas LRN 183 was left without a Sign State Route.  



Thusly the second CA 26 appears on the corridor of LRN 173 whereas LRN 183 is shown to not have a Sign State Route on the 1937-1938 Division of Highways Map.  


Harbor Boulevard facing north towards LRN 183/Bolsa Avenue appears in the November-December 1947 California Highways & Public Works.  


The original iteration of LRN 183 would never have another Sign State Route applied to it.  The original LRN 183 was eliminated from the State Highway System as part of 1951 Legislative Chapter 1562.  LRN 183 thusly does not appear on the 1952 Division of Highways Map.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l
3 comments
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Mannfield, FL and the stairway to Hell

By
Back in 2015 I went searching the Lecanto Sand Hills for the original Citrus County Seat known as Mannfield.  Unlike Centrailia in Hernando County and Fivay in Pasco County I did find something worth seeing. Mannfield is located in the Lecanto Sand Hill section of Withlacoochee State Forest somewhat east of the intersection of Citrus County Route 491 and Mansfield Road. Mannfield was named after Austin Mann and founded in Hernando County in 1884 before Citrus County Split away.  In 1887 Citrus County was split from northern Hernando County while Pasco County was spun off to the south.  Mannfield was selected as the new Citrus County seat due to it being near the county geographic center.  Reportedly Mannfield had as many as 250 people when it was the County Seat.  The town included various businesses one might include at the time, even a sawmill which was common for the area.  In 1891 Citrus County voted to move it's seat to Inverness which set the stage for the decline of M
6 comments
Read more

The National Road - Pennsylvania - Great Crossings Bridge and Somerfield

By
West of Addison, US 40 crosses the Youghiogheny River at what once was the town of Somerfield.  When crossing the current modern two lane bridge, you many not realize that it is actually the third to cross the Yough at this site.  The first - a stone arch bridge - was known as the Great Crossings Bridge.  Built in 1818, this three arch bridge was part of the original National Road.  The name Great Crossings comes from the men who forded the Youghiogheny here - George Washington and George Braddock. (1)  If you cross the bridge at the right time, this historic bridge and what was once the town of Somerfield will appear out from underneath this massive man-made lake. Historical Postcard showing the 'Big Crossings' bridge and Somerfield.  Image submitted by Vince Ferrari. The Great Crossings Bridge was located in the town of Somerfield.  Somerfield, originally named Smythfield until 1827, would develop as a result of the National Road. (1)  Somerfield would go through va
Post a Comment
Read more