Skip to main content

Tulare/Fresno County Route J19


County Route J19 is a 25.65-mile Letter County Highway located in Tulare County and Fresno County.  County Route J19 begins at California State Route 198 in Visalia and terminates at California State Route 63 at Orange Cove.  County Route J19 currently follows Plaza Drive, Road 80, Alta Avenue through Dinuba, Manning Avenue and Hill Valley Road.  Prior to 1965 Legislative Chapter 1372, County Route J19 terminates at California State Route 180 north of Orange Cove via Hills Valley Road.  Legislative Chapter 1372 deleted California State Route 226 and extended California State Route 63 to California State Route 180.




Part 1; the history of County Route J19

County Route J19 was commissioned during early 1960s as a shortcut to connect heading towards Kings Canyon National Park from US Route 99/California State Route 198 in Visalia to California State Route 180 northeast of Orange Cove.  From California State Route 198 near Visalia northbound County Route J19 began on Plaza Drive.  From the Visalia area County Route 19 followed Road 80 and Alta Avenue to Dinuba.   North of Dinuba, County Route J19 entered Fresno County on Alta Avenue and turned eastward on Manning Avenue.  County Route J19 turned north again Hill Valley Road towards Orange Cove where it intersected the northern terminus of Legislative Route Number 132 at Park Boulevard/Sumner Avenue.  County Route J19 continued north of Orange Cove following Hill Valley Road to a terminus at California State Route 180 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  

County Route J19 can be seen as originally configured on the 1966 Gousha Map of California.  

As part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering what was Legislative Route Number 132 between Orosi and Orange Cove was renumbered as California State Route 226.  California State Route 226 was a short-lived designation as it was consolidated with California State Route 63 via 1965 Legislative Chapter 1372.  Legislative Chapter 1372 also annexed County Route J19 north of Park Boulevard/Sumner Avenue as part of California State Route 63.  

The extended definition of California State Route 63 first appears on the 1966 Division of Highways Map.  California State Route 63 is shown as a planned State Highway north of Orange Cove which indicated that existing County Route J19 north of Orange Cove was not yet up to state standards. 



Hill Valley Road north of Orange Cove is shown as part of California State Route 63 on the 1969 Division of Highways Map.  The extension of California State Route 63 truncated County Route J19 to Orange Cove.  


Beginning in the 1980s Tulare County began to deemphasize the Letter County Routes.  This culminated in all Letter County Route signage in Tulare County being removed by modern times with the lone exception being County Route J37 on Balch Park Road.  Within Fresno County signage of County Route J19 lingered on but as of the publication of this blog only two known signs remain. 



Part 2; a drive on County Route J19

County Route J19 northbound begins on Plaza Drive in Visalia of Tulare County at California State Route 198.  Dinuba is signed as being 15 miles north of California State Route 198.  






Northbound County Route J19 intersects County Route J32 at Goshen Avenue.  








Northbound County Route J19 departs Visalia on Road 80 as a four-lane expressway and intersects County Route J34 at Avenue 328.  




Northbound County Route J19 intersects County Route J36 at Avenue 368.  




Northbound County Route J19 intersects County Route J38 at Avenue 384.



Northbound County Route J19 intersects California State Route 201 at Avenue 400.



Northbound County Route J19 enters the city of Dinuba at on Alta Avenue and intersects County Route J40 at El Monte Way. 







County Route J19 northbound drops to two lanes departing Dinuba and follows Road 80 to the Fresno County line.  Upon emerging in Fresno County, County Route J19 follows Alta Avenue to Manning Avenue where it turns east.  The last two County Route J19 shields on northbound Alta Avenue can be found at Dinuba Avenue and Manning Avenue.  










County Route J19 follows Manning Avenue east to Hill Valley Road and turns north again. 




County Route J19 northbound follows Hill Valley Road where it terminates at California State Route 63 at Park Boulevard/Sumner Avenue near the eastern edge of Orange Cove.  




As noted in Part 1, County Route J19 originally followed what is now California State Route 63 north of Orange Cove to a terminus at California State Route 180.  The climb from Orange Cove to California State Route 180 is the Sierra Nevada Mountains is steep and swift. 


















Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains

US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico passes through the Guadalupe Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise the highest peaks of Texas which are largely protected as part Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The automotive highway through the Guadalupe Mountains was constructed in the late 1920s as part of Texas State Road 54.  US Route 62 was extended from Carlsbad through the Guadalupe Mountains to El Paso during 1932.  US Route 62 was joined in the Guadalupe Mountains by US Route 180 in 1943.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise a portion of the 130 mile "No Services" zone on US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso-Carlsbad. Part 1; the history of US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains lie within the states of Texas and New Mexico.  The Guadalupe Mountains essentially is a southern extension of the larger Rocky Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains is the highest range in Texas with the peak elevati

Paper Highways; unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz

This edition of Paper Highways examines the unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz. The History of Unbuilt California State Route 100 The route that became CA 100 was added to the State Inventory in 1959 as part of the Freeway & Expressway System as Legislative Route 287 .  According to CAhighways.org the initial definition of LRN 287 had it begin at LRN 5 (CA 17) and was defined over the below alignment to LRN 56 (CA 1) through downtown Santa Cruz. -  Ocean Street -  2nd Street -  Chestnut Street For context the above alignment would required tearing down a large part of the densely populated Santa Cruz.  A modern Google imagine immediately reveals how crazy an alignment following Ocean Street, 2nd Street, and Chestnut Street would have been. LRN 287 first appears on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map . In 1961 the definition of LRN 287 was generalized to; from LRN 5 via the beach area in Santa Cruz to LRN 56 west of the San Lorenzo River. 

New Mexico State Road 7 (Carlsbad Caverns Highway)

New Mexico State Road 7 is approximately a seven-mile highway in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County. New Mexico State Road 7 connects US Route 62/US Route 180 at Whites City to the visitor center of Carlsbad Caverns National Park via Walnut Canyon. The so-called Carlsbad Caverns Highway to the National Park visitor center complex was constructed following the designation of the namesake National Monument in 1923. The current iteration of New Mexico State Road 7 was designated by the New Mexico State Highway Commission during June 1929. A proposal once was once floated to connect New Mexico State Road 7 to a cavern drive which would have been blasted into Big Room. Part 1; the history of New Mexico State Road 7 What are now Carlsbad Caverns was explored in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County by local Jim White during 1898.  White explored the caverns via a homemade ladder and named several of the more notable rooms.  The name "Carlsbad Caverns" was derived from the