Gribblenation Turns 20

On January 17, 2021, Gribblenation is proud to celebrate its 20th anniversary, starting with its humble beginnings as gribblenation.com as a joint venture between Adam Prince, Brian LeBlanc and Doug Kerr We've been expanding on the experiences ever since, because after all, every road tells a story. From the sign galleries and state highway end scavenger hunts of yore, to state feature pages, Flickr, the Sure Why Not blog (which expanded to the gribblenation.org of today) and now Facebook, Instagram and the Gribblenation Roadcast podcast on Anchor.fm. While some of the Gribblenation contributors have changed over the years, it's always been fun sharing the stories of the roads in which we travel. With Tom and Dan contributing articles to Gribblenation these days along with Adam and Doug, we get to tell stories and show off what we've seen from coast to coast.

Adam and Doug recently looked back on the past 20 years with an episode on the podcast as well. You can check it out at: Gribblenation 20th Anniversary Podcast at the Gribblenation Roadcast.

So sure, why not take a look back at the first logo used for the Gribblenation website, along with a logo created by Doug's brother that we used for many years and finally a new logo that we've introduced to our Facebook and Instagram pages just last week. A great thanks to everyone for riding along with us the past twenty years! We hope you'll join us for twenty more years and then some.

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Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley. To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker. Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa. The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language. The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246. CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County. CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward. South of CA 127 ...

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...

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