Spreckels, California

Alongside Spreckels Avenue about a mile south of California State Route 68 is one of the oldest Company Towns that has been continual operation; Spreckels.

Spreckels was built on the bank of the Salinas River by the Spreckels Sugar Company in 1898. When Spreckels was opened it had the largest sugar beet factory in the world. Freight service in Spreckels moved via the Spreckels Branch Railroad which opened alongside the company town. Spreckels Sugar operated in Spreckels until the 1980s and it was eventually replaced by two agriculture companies that still operate in town today.

Spreckels essentially consists of nothing but company homes and commercial buildings built in the late 19th/early 20th century. Alongside Spreckels Avenue there is a small strip of buildings that clearly were meant to serve as a Main Street. Above the building on the left is a closed two-story commercial building, a US Post Office, and Volunteer Fire Department building.

The Spreckels Fire Department building shows a establishment date of 1898.

The Spreckels Branch Railroad apparently was razed in the late 1990s or early 2000s. Abandoned Rails shows a map detailing where the line was, largely the alignment was next to Railroad Avenue.

Abandoned Rails on the Spreckels Branch

Comments

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

Gribblenation

Search This Blog