Skip to main content

Old Sonoma Road

By

 


Old Sonoma Road is an approximately five-mile highway located in the Mayacamas Mountains of western Napa County.  The roadway is part of the original stage road which connected Napa Valley west to Mission San Francisco Solano as part of El Camino Real.  Much of Old Sonoma Road was bypassed by the start of the twentieth century by way of Sonoma Highway.  A portion of Old Sonoma Road over the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge (pictured as the blog cover) was adopted as part of Legislative Route Number 8 upon voter approval of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act.  The 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge served as a segment of California State Route 37 and California State Route 12 from 1934 through 1954. 




Part 1; the history of Old Sonoma Road

Old Sonoma Road has origins tied to the formation of Mission San Francisco Solano and the Spanish iteration of El Camino Real.  Mission San Francisco Solano was founded as the last and most northern Spanish Mission of Alta California on July 4, 1823.  The new Mission was plotted amid the Mexican War of Independence and would solidly be under control of the then new country by the 1830s.  The city of Sonoma would be founded at the site of Mission San Francisco Solano during 1835.  The city of Napa would be plotted in Napa Valley during 1847 during the Mexican-American War.  

Mission San Francisco Solano and Sonoma were connected to Napa Valley by a stage road over the Mayacamas Mountains which was part of El Camino Real north of San Francisco Bay.  During the period of early American statehood in California the major stage roads used the highways inherited from Mexican Alta California.  Sonoma and Napa were both assigned as the initial seats of their namesake counties in 1850.  Sonoma County and Napa County were both original counties in the state of California. 

Sonoma Road between Napa and Sonoma can be seen on the 1857 Britton & Rey's Map of California.  


Sonoma Road can be seen in greater detail connecting Napa west to Sonoma on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California.  Sonoma Road originated near downtown Napa jogging west of Jefferson Street through the Mayacamas Mountains towards Carneros Creek. 


The 1902 United States Geological Survey Map of Napa reveals Napa County had constructed Sonoma Highway which bypassed the southern hills of the Mayacamas Mountains.  Sonoma Highway is shown to originate from what is now Old Sonoma Road near downtown Napa departing south through Entre Napa.  Sonoma Highway is shown turning west through Rincon De Los Carneros and consolidating with Sonoma Road near the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge.


The 1909 First State Highway Bond Act would be approved by state voters in 1910.  The bond measure formed the basis for a large percentage of the modern State Highway System.  Legislative Route Number 8 would be defined as "Ignacio to Cordelia via Napa."  The new state highway would incorporate the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge and Sonoma Highway into Napa.  This alignment can be seen (red line) on the 1917 California State Automobile Association Map.  



Sonoma Highway would be announced as part of California State Route 37 and California State Route 12 in the August 1934 volume of California Highways & Public Works. 




California State Route 37/California State Route 12 can be seen using Sonoma Highway to bypass Old Sonoma Road towards the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Napa County.  


The November/December 1954 California Highways & Public Works announced a contract to replace the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge had been awarded the previous August.  The new Carneros Creek Bridge project included a realignment of California State Route 37 bypassing the older structure and part of Sonoma Highway.  


As part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering California State Route 37 was shifted south to Sonoma Road on San Pablo Bay.  The multiplex of California State Route 12 west of Napa to the Sonoma County line was joined with the then newly designated California State Route 121.  California State Route 12 and California State Route 121 still utilize the Carneros Creek Bridge constructed in 1954.  



Part 2; a drive on Old Sonoma Road

Pictured is a series of photos from the western city limit of Napa through Mayacamas Mountains to Old Sonoma Highway.  As noted in part one Old Sonoma Highway west over the 1896 Carneros Creek Bridge was part of the State Highway System through 1910-1954.  











The Carneros Creek Bridge features a placard which denotes it was constructed in 1896.  


Old Sonoma Road has a western terminus at modern California State Route 12 and California State Route 121.

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