Ghost Town Tuesday; Santa Claus, AZ (Santa literally for sale)

I figured that I would start this series off with something festively Christmas themed given it is December; the ruins of Santa Claus, AZ.

Circa 2011-2012 I often found myself traveling to Clark County Nevada for work and would often utilize US Route 93 to do so. About 14 miles south of Kingman I often noticed a weird accumulation of festively themed buildings on the south side of US 93. After looking into a map of Mohave County, Arizona on Ghosttowns.com I learned what I was looking was once an inhabited place called Santa Claus.

With the completion of the Hoover Dam in 1936 travel directly between Kingman and Las Vegas had become possible first with US 466 followed by US 93 likely in 1938. Santa Claus traces it's roots back to 1937 when Santa Claus was opened by Nina Talbot. The original vision for Santa Claus was a resort-like community surroundings the Christmas shop which was to act as a centerpiece so to speak. Santa Claus essentially was a company town which was populated by workers of the Christmas shop. Apparently the size of Santa Claus (more likely the notable name) actually warranted post office service.

After decades of decline the Santa Claus Christmas shop shut down and the site largely has been for sale ever since off the side of US 93. Apparently there was still roughly 10 people living in Santa Claus as of 2000 but they were all apparently gone by 2006. My understanding is that postal service continued to 2005. Back in 2012 the Christmas shop was still standing off the western side of US 93, it is still standing on the 2016 Google Car Image. I found the town sufficiently weird and kind of creepy to warrant my attention on the way back from Las Vegas on the way home from a work trip.

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Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 on the Foothill Freeway

This past December I was passing through the Los Angeles Area on a weekend I took a detour onto Interstate 210 eastbound on the Foothill Freeway to California State Route 2. I-210 and CA 210 on the Foothill Freeway essentially serve as the closest thing to a Los Angeles bypass that the L.A. Metro Area has.

I-210/CA 210 on the Foothill Freeway is an approximately 85.31 mile highway which begins at I-5 in the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to I-10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County. I-210 exists as the 44.9 mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between I-5 and CA 57 whereas CA 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles east to I-10. I-210 originally utilized CA 57 from Glendora south on the Orange Freeway to I-10. CA 57 south to I-10 is still FHWA recognized as part of I-210 which likely won't change until California seeks approval to add CA 210 to the Interstate System.

Part 1; the history of I-210 and CA 210

I-210 was approved as a chargeable Interstate during …

California State Route 1; the Cabrillo Highway through Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula

This past January the winter weather was mild and conditions out in the Big Sur region were especially nice. That being the case I decided on a weekend cruise northbound on California State Route 1 via the Cabrillo Highway from CA 46 near Harmony northward through Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula to CA 156 in Castroville.

CA 1 through the Big Sur region isn't uncharted territory for Gribblenation. Back in 2017 when the Mud Creek Slide, Paul's Slide and the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge collapse occurred the topic of CA 1 in Big Sur was common on this blog site. That being the case even though the topic of CA 1 through Big Sur has been covered extensively I never really examined much of the history of the highway in the Monterey Peninsula. Aside from the fact that I wanted to feature CA 1 through the Monterey Peninusla I'm always game for a top level scenic highway. To that end the photos that I took on this most recent trip to CA 1 far exceed what I was taking in 2017 and …

Locans, California ghost town site

This February I stopped at the site of the abandoned railroad siding known as Locans in eastern Fresno County.

Locans was a railroad sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad spur line known as the Stockton & Tulare Railroad. Locans was located on what is now Temperance Avenue just south of Bulter Avenue. The Stockton & Tulare Railroad was completed in 1887 but it doesn't appear that Locans was one of the original sidings. Locans doesn't appear on the 1889 George F. Cram Railroad map of California but nearby Butler does.

The first reference to Locans I can find is on the 1891 Thompson Atlas of Fresno County. A large parcel of land next to the Stockton & Tulare Railroad can be seen east of of Butler owned by F. Locan. Locan's land holdings surround a small siding known as Minneola which was about a half mile east of where the site of Locans would eventually be plotted.

Locan's property appears again on the Stockton & Tulare Railroad between Butler an…

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