Skip to main content

Former California State Route 1 in Aptos

By

The community of Aptos is located in Santa Cruz County along the shores of Monterey Bay.  When California State Route 1 was commissioned during August 1934 it followed existing Legislative Route Number 56 through Aptos on Soquel Drive.  California State Route 1 was realigned onto the present freeway grade during November 1949.  Pictured below is a view of the 1928 Aptos Creek Bridge which was part of California State Route 1 on Soquel Drive in Aptos.  Pictured below is California State Route 1 in Aptos along Soquel Drive as depicted on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Santa Cruz County.  


The history of California State Route 1 in Aptos

Modern Aptos traces its origin to Mexican Rancho Aptos.  Rancho Aptos was granted by the Mexican Government in 1833 Rafael Castro.  Rancho Aptos took its name from Aptos Creek which coursed through from the Santa Cruz Mountains to Monterey Bay.  Castro initially used Rancho Aptos to raise cattle for their hides.  Following California becoming an American State in 1850 the property ownership at Rancho Aptos was recognized and Castro began to lease his lands.  Soon a small town emerged on Rancho Aptos which included a wharf, general store and lumber mill.

During 1872 sugar magnate Charles Spreckels began purchasing large tracts of Castro's land holdings to make way for a Southern Pacific Railroad line.  Aptos came to further prominence when Loma Prieta Lumber Company opened operations and company town of the same name directly north of Aptos in 1883.  The Loma Prieta Lumber Company would actively log the Santa Cruz Mountains north of Aptos until 1923 on land which are now part of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.  Aptos can be seen along the locally maintained coastal highway in Santa Cruz County on the 1917 California State Automobile Association Map.  

During 1928 Santa Cruz County constructed a new bridge over Aptos Creek along Soquel Drive.  During 1933 Legislative Route Number 56 (LRN 56) was extended north from Carmel to Fernbridge.  The extension of LRN 56 brought it along the coast of Santa Cruz County which aligned it directly through Aptos on Soquel Drive.  The extension of LRN 56 through Aptos brought the 1928 Aptos Creek Bridge directly under Division of Highways maintenance.  

In the August 1934 California Highways and Public Works the Sign State Routes were announced.  California State Route 1 (CA 1) was applied to the entirety of LRN 56 from Las Cruces northward towards Fortuna which by proxy brought it through Aptos. 


As noted in the intro CA 1/LRN 56 can be seen aligned through Aptos along Soquel Drive on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Santa Cruz County.  

The January/February 1944 California Highways & Public Works announced the expansion of CA 1/LRN 56 to a four-lane divided highway between Santa Cruz and Aptos was added to a list of approved post World War II projects by the California Highway Commission.  


The upcoming freeway alignment of CA 1/LRN 56 between Santa Cruz and Aptos is depicted in a sketch which was featured in May/June 1947 California Highways & Public Works.  The new freeway alignment of CA 1 in Aptos is stated to include two Southern Pacific Railroad underpass structures and a new bridge over Aptos Creek.  


The new Santa Cruz-Aptos freeway alignment of CA 1/LRN 56 is cited to be nearing completion in the November/December 1948 California Highways & Public Works.  The new Santa Cruz-Aptos freeway alignment is cited to span over a project zone originating from Morrissey Avenue in Santa Cruz to Rob Roy Junction south of Aptos.  The Santa Cruz-Aptos freeway is cited to have been constructed over three contracts and was expected to be open to traffic during summer 1949.  


The completed Santa Cruz-Aptos freeway alignment of CA 1/LRN 56 is featured in the November/December 1949 California Highways & Public Works.  The feature article notes the Santa Cruz-Aptos freeway was dedicated on November 4, 1949.  A future extension of the Santa Cruz-Aptos freeway is stated to be planned to connect to the Los Gatos Highway (CA 17).  An aerial photo features the new alignment of CA 1/LRN 56 bypassing Soquel Drive in Aptos.  









Since CA 1 was relocated in Aptos in 1949 it has changed very little in the community in the intervening decades.  During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering the Legislative Route Numbers were dropped which left CA 1 as the sole designation through Aptos.  

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

By
Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...
3 comments
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paper Highways; Interstate H-4 through downtown Honolulu

By
The Hawaiian Island of O'ahu is home to four Interstate Highways; H-1, H-2, H-3 and H-201.  Had history gone slightly differently during the 1960s a fifth Interstate corridor on O'ahu could have been constructed through downtown Honolulu and the neighborhood of Waikiki.  The proposed corridor of Interstate H-4 can be seen above as it was presented by the Hawaii Department of Transportation during October 1968 .   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 The history of proposed Interstate H-4 The corridor of Interstate H-4 was conceived as largely following what is now Hawaii Route 92 on Nimitz Highway and Ala Moana Boulevard.   Prior to the Statehood the first signed highways within Hawaii Territory came into existence during World War II.    Dur...
Post a Comment
Read more