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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Hidden California State Route 710 and the Pasadena Gap in the Long Beach Freeway

Infamous and the subject of much controversy the Pasadena Gap in the Long Beach Freeway has long existed as a contentious topic regarding the completion of Interstate 710 and California State Route 710. While the Pasadena Gap of the Long Beach Freeway effectively has been legislatively blocked the action only came after decades of controversy. While the Pasadena Gap of the Long Beach Freeway is fairly well known what many don't know is that a small segment was actually constructed south Interstate 210 and the Foothill Freeway. This disconnected segment of the Long Beach Freeway exists as the unsigned and largely hidden California State Route 710. On June 29, 2022 the California Transportation Commission relinquished California State Route 710 to the city of Pasadena. The blog cover above depicts a southward view on the completed Pasadena stub segment of the Long Beach Freeway which ends at California Boulevard. Part 1; the history of the Pasadena Gap of the Long Beach Freewa

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Paper Highways: Proposed US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas, Nevada

During February 1956 the State of Nevada in concurrence with the States of California and Arizona submitted a request to the American Association of State Highway Officials to establish US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas. The proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have originated from mainline US Route 66 in Kingman Arizona and followed a multiplex of US Routes 93-466 to Las Vegas, Nevada. From Las Vegas, Nevada the proposed US Route 66 Alternate would have multiplexed US Routes 91-466 back to mainline US Route 66 in Barstow, California. The request to establish US Route 66 Alternate was denied during June 1956 due to it being completely multiplexed with other US Routes. This blog will examine the timeline of the US Route 66 Alternate proposal to Las Vegas, Nevada. The history of the proposed US Route 66 Alternate to Las Vegas, Nevada On February 15, 1956, the Nevada State Highway Engineer in a letter to the American Association of State Highways Officials (AASHO) advising that six c

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