Flickr 888 Trip - Old NC 75

The photo hosting site Flickr coined Friday, August 8 as another 24 hours of flickr day. And using it as an excuse to take some photos, I headed out after work yesterday to take some pictures. I had a few ideas in mind, but I decided to check out Old NC 75 aka Old Oxford Highway which were predecessors to US 15 in the area.

I'm glad I decided on this trip, and you'll see why soon.

For the entire photo set (71 in total) , head over to flickr.

I picked up the Old Oxford Highway from Business US 501 north of Durham. Old Oxford Highway is well marked, and there's reference to Historic Stagville as well. Once you turn onto Old Oxford Highway just follow it all the way to Oxford, it changes names to Old NC 75 once entering Granville County.

Not long into the journey, I had my first photo opportunity. An old Country Store just outside of the Durham City Limits.

I have a feeling fellow Surewhynoter, C.C. Slater, will enjoy that picture. This was the photo I used for the Flickr 888 Pool. (You were only allowed to enter one photo into the pool.)

Now the big surprised happened a number of miles later, the highway crossed a small creek and I looked to my left to see an old Pony Truss Bridge. The bridge is excellent shape, it's blocked off but easily accessible, and I spent a good 15-20 minutes there taking photos.

Next was a small stop in Stem. It is possible that Old NC 75 diverted briefly into Stem along Tally Ho Road and then Church St.

That folks is Downtown Stem on Tally Ho Road. Old NC 75 is about a 1/4 mile to the left over the railroad tracks.

I've never seen North/South signs for secondary roads and street blades done like this in North Carolina until this trip.

Later in the small community of Providence were a few examples of why I roadgeek and why I like the small backroad trips the most.

You don't find backdrops like those on the Interstate.

Finally, on my way home on US 15 from Oxford to NC 50 in Creedmoor. I grabbed a quick shot of this US 15/Jefferson Davis Highway shield. It appears that the Jefferson Davis Highway signs only appear on US 15 north of its split with US 501 in Durham. Or can they be spotted elsewhere?

Overall this trip took slightly more than two hours for all of 75 miles. However, what I saw and found over the two hours is almost always more than you can find on your run of the mill Interstate during the same time period.

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...

Bob Malme said…

There were several 'Jefferson Davis Highway' signs at one time along the 15-501 bypass after the Morreene Road, NC 751 and Cornwallis Road interchanges when I first drove the road in the early 1990s. When new signs were put up along the entire route and exit numbers added in the mid-90's the highway name plates disappeared in favor of the 'To I-40' or 'To I-85' signs. The one remaining sign was northbound following the NC 751 exit where the old 15-501 assembly was not removed. While the assembly is still there, the JDH sign disappeared from underneath it about 1-2 years ago.

5:37 PM

Anonymous said…

They're probably not there anymore, but there were definitely some Jefferson Davis Highway signs on Columbia Street in Chapel Hill (which was US 15/501 Business at the time) when I was in college.

6:33 PM

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