Cannery Row Monterey

On my way back from CA 68 and Asilomar Beach I made my way to Cannery Row for old times sake. Cannery Row was part of what was one of biggest trips my family took in all the way back in 1993 when we were residing in Connecticut. The 1993 trip started in San Francisco and ended in San Diego, most of it was taken along California State Route 1. Cannery Row in Monterey was part of the 1993 vacation due to it being a name tourist destination and location of the Monterey Bay Aquarium which had opened in 1984. I thought it would be interesting to take some comparison pictures which honestly really didn't look much different despite the passage of time.

Cannery Row was part of the original alignment of 17 Mile Drive back in 1901. I'm not all that familiar with the backstory of the Cannery but it appears to have been split off at least by the early 1920s since the sardine canning industry appears to have begun as early as 1902. Cannery Row actually has a website and has some good historical references that go into much more detail than I can:

Cannery Row History

The canning industry appears to have gone defunct by 1973 and Cannery Row became more of a tourist destination. Pretty much Cannery Row has kept the historic motif which really has been helped by the Monterey Bay Aquarium drawing tourist interest.

As for that family trip, after Monterey we made our way south on CA 1 through Big Sur. I really wish that I had more photos from that trip of Big Sur but it was the age of having to take your film to the photo booth or using a Polaroid which didn't really lend to having anything in volume. Really it was my first experience on the West Coast and sure was an eye opener having lived only in Michigan and Connecticut up to that point. I pretty much knew even then as a kid that I wanted to be on the West Coast and made good on it back in the early 2000s moving across the country the week after I graduate high school. Weird to see that Cannery Row looks exactly as how I remembered it even after a quarter century, even stranger that I never thought to go revisit despite being in Monterey as often as I am.

Comments

The 1915-era Teilman Bridge (the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge in California)

The Teilman Bridge is a semi-abandoned structure over Fresno Slough west of Burrell siding near the intersection of Elkhorn Avenue and Elkhorn Grade. This structure is the only known Concrete Pony Truss Bridge constructed in California and was designed by Ingvart Teilman. Teilman's Bridge would open in late 1915 when the Elkhorn Grade was the primary road between Fresno and Coalinga. The structure would be replaced in 1991 but was left standing as it carries pipelines over Fresno Slough. Part 1; the history of the Teilman Bridge In the early Twentieth Century the most direct highway between Fresno and Coalinga followed the Elkhorn Grade. The Elkhorn Grade began at Fresno Slough a short distance west of Burrell siding. From Fresno Slough the Elkhorn Grade followed a generally southwestern course through San Joaquin Valley into the Kettleman Hills towards Coalinga. The Elkhorn Grade can be seen on the 1914 C.F. Weber map of Fresno Coun...

The Dummy Lights of New York

A relic of the early days of motoring, dummy lights were traffic lights that were placed in the middle of a street intersection. In those early days, traffic shuffled through busy intersections with the help of a police officer who stood on top of a pedestal. As technology improved and electric traffic signals became commonplace, they were also originally positioned on a platform at the center of the intersection. Those traffic signals became known as " dummy lights " and were common until traffic lights were moved onto wires and poles that crossed above the intersection. In New York State, only a handful of these dummy lights exist. The dummy lights are found in the Hudson Valley towns of Beacon and Croton-on-Hudson, plus there is an ongoing tug of war in Canajoharie in the Mohawk Valley, where their dummy light has been knocked down and replaced a few times. The dummy light in Canajoharie is currently...

Prunedale Road (Monterey County)

Prunedale Road is a short 2.6-mile-long frontage corridor of US Route 101 in the namesake Monterey County community of Prunedale. Prior to 1932 US Route 101 bypassed Prunedale in favor of the San Juan Grade to the east. Prunedale Road along with nearby Moro Road served as an alternative connecting highway between Salinas and San Juan Bautista. Following the realignment of US Route 101 onto the Prunedale Cutoff the former through route along Prunedale Road would be rendered as a western frontage. Part 1; the history of Prunedale Road Prunedale Road is located in and is named after the Monterey County community of Prunedale. Said community was founded near the junction of San Migeul Canyon, Langley Canyon and Echo Valley. Watsonville settler Charles Langley (namesake of Langley Canyon) was one of the prominent early community settlers. The Prunedale Post Office would open for the first time in 1894 but would close by 1908. Early agricu...