When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934.  The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park.  By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove.  

In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park.  The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed.  Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno.  

The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard.  Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaining Ventura Avenue and California Avenue (from Peach Avenue west to Marks Avenue).  The designation was controversial, and a lawsuit was brought forth to block the name change.  Courts would rule in favor of the Fresno City Council in early 2025 which saw the corridor of Kings Canyon Road permanently truncated to Peach Avenue. 

Pictured as the blog cover is the then new Kings Canyon Road in the Sierra Nevada above Dunlap as seen in the November 1941 California Highways & Public Works.  Said volume is the first documented appearance of the Kings Canyon Road name. 

The history of the Kings Canyon Road designation

The major east/west downtown streets in the city of Fresno originally had names derived from those of the counties in California.  The major roadway east from the downtown area towards Centerville, Sanger and the logging community of Millwood followed Ventura Avenue.  

Ventura Avenue can be seen branching east of downtown Fresno on the 1891 Thompson Atlas of Fresno County.  

During 1905 Legislative Chapter 598 would authorize a survey to locate a route for a highway to be constructed from Grant Grove of General Grant National Park into the Kings River Canyon.  This corridor would be formally added as a planned state highway by way of 1909 Legislative Chapter 223 as Legislative Route Number 41.  

Planned Legislative Route Number 41 appears on the 1918 California Highway Commission map as a special appropriations road.  

The 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act would provide funding for construction of the Kings River Canyon Road.  In 1933 Legislative Route Number 41 would be extended to Tracy via Fresno.  The state highway west of Grant Grove followed Dunlap Road through Dunlap to Centerville.  From Centerville the highway followed Ventura Avenue through Centerville and followed it into Fresno.  The state highway corridor followed Ventura Avenue into downtown where it intersected US Route 99 (Legislative Route Number 4) at Broadway.  

Dunlap Road can be seen as the named road corridor between Dunlap and Centerville on the 1924 United States Geological Map of Dinuba.  Old Dunlap Road is displayed as following what is now Ruth Hill Road.  

The 1923 United States Geological Survey map of Sanger displays the designation of Ventura Avenue originating in Centerville at Smith Avenue. 

Legislative Route Number 41 east of Fresno would be assigned as California State Route 180 when the initial Sign State Routes were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.

The initial alignment of California State Route 180 east of Fresno can be seen on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Fresno County (unbroken red line).  The state highway corridor is shown following Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to General Grant National Park where there was a gap in state maintenance.  The state highway is shown continuing east of Hume Lake into the Kings River Canyon.  

The July 1938 California Highways & Public Works details the almost complete routing of California State Route 180 in the Kings River Canyon.  The highway is shown completed to the vicinity of Boyden Caverns where the South Fork Kings River Bridge is seen under construction.   

The October 1939 California Highways & Public Works displays the completed California State Route 180 at Horseshoe Bend in the Kings River Canyon. 

The November 1939 California Highways & Public Works detailed the opening of California State Route 180 along the "Kings River Canyon Highway" to Cedar Grove.  The state-maintained portion is cited to terminate at Deer Cove with a Forest Service owned continuation to Cedar Grove.  The article notes the Forest Service was planning to construct an extension from Cedar Grove over the Sierra Nevada to Independence via Kearsarge Pass. 

On March 4, 1940, General Grant National Park was expanded into what is now Kings Canyon National Park.  The new boundary of Kings Canyon National Park annexed a great deal of National Forest lands north from the boundary of Sequoia National Park towards the planned route of the Piute Pass Highway (planned California State Route 168).  It seems that the National Park Service didn't have an interest in buildings a Trans-Sierra Highway via the Kings River Watershed (California State Route 180) or allowing the Piute Pass Highway as both routes more or less faded into obscurity.  The newly expanded Kings Canyon National Park can be seen for the first time on the 1940 Division of Highways State Map.

The construction of new alignment of California State Route east of Squaw Valley (now Yokuts Valley) and Dunlap is described in the June 1940 California Highways & Public Works.  The new alignment is displayed as bisecting existing Millwood Road.

The November 1941 California Highways & Public Works details the opening of the new alignment of California State Route 180 east of Squaw Valley and Dunlap.  The then new highway is referenced in the article as "Kings Canyon Road" and is noted to have been completed on August 28, 1941.  This is the first known instance of Kings Canyon Road nomenclature being used.  The designation of Kings Canyon Road appears to have been immediately applied to California State Route 180 as a replacement for Dunlap Road and Ventura Avenue to the Fresno city limit.  The Kings Canyon name would be eventually extended west into Fresno to 1st Street.  

Much of California State Route 180 would be relocated off of Kings Canyon Road in eastern Fresno onto the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Freeway through the 1990s and early 2000s.  The completed freeway corridor bisected Kings Canyon Road just east of Temperance Avenue.  The Kings Canyon Expressway would later bypass Centerville in 2000 and tie into Kings Canyon Road near Minkler.

On March 9, 2023, the Fresno City Council elected to designate Cesar Chavez Boulevard over a ten-mile corridor through the city.  The selected corridor was to consume existing Kings Canyon Road, Ventura Avenue and California Avenue from Peach Avenue from near the boundary of unincorporated Sunnyside to the western city limit at Marks Avenue.  

The decision to designate Cesar Chavez Boulevard was considered controversial.  A lawsuit would be brought forth during June 2023 to block the street name changes by a collation of residents and business owners.  The lawsuit alleged the city attempted to hide the name change from the public and was essentially made unilaterally by the Fresno City Council.  Most of the complaints by business owners originated from the corridor of Kings Canyon Road which co-opted the name.  The lawsuit would ultimately be ruled in favor of the city of Fresno during February 2025.  

Kings Canyon Road now begins east of Peach Avenue.  Signage along Peach Avenue has been installed denoting where the corridors of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Kings Canyon Road both now begin.