Skip to main content

The original California State Route 26 in Orange County

By


The original run of Sign State Highways were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.  One of the initial Sign State Routes was California State Route 26 which was located in Orange County.  The original California State Route 26 followed Legislative Route Number 183 from Seal Beach to Santa Ana via Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street.  The original California State Route 26 was short lived and it would be eliminated as part of the shuffling of Sign State Route designations due to the extension of US Route 6 California.  Pictured above is the 1937 Gousha Map of California which features the original California State Route 26 on Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street. 



The history of the original California State Route 26

What became the original California State Route 26 (CA 26) entered the State Highway System as part 1933 Legislative Chapter 767 as part of Legislative Route Number 183 (LRN 183).  The definition of LRN 183 was "LRN 60 near Seal Beach to LRN 2/US Route 101 in Santa Ana."  LRN 183 was one of many new State Highways which was adopted in 1933 when the State removed the barriers preventing the Division of Highways from maintaining roadways in incorporated cities. 

LRN 183 first appears on the 1934 Division of Highways Map aligned between Seal Beach-Santa Ana on Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street. 


As noted in the introduction the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works announced the initial run of Sign State Routes.  The initial Sign State Routes were assigned to corridors of travel that were largely considered essential to state-wise transportation.  CA 26 was announced as following the entirety of LRN 183 between Seal Beach and Santa Ana.  




CA 26/LRN 183 appears in detail on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Orange County following Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street in the Seal Beach-Santa Ana corridor.


As noted in the intro CA 26 appears on LRN 183 on the 1937 Gousha Highway Map of California.  


The demise of the original CA 26 came when US Route 6 was extended into California on February 8th, 1937, by the American Association of State Highway Officials.  Given US Route 6 was duplicating the number the original CA 6 it would require the latter be renumbered.  CA 6 had been defined as being aligned on LRN 173 from Santa Monica to Fullerton in the original run of Sign State Routes announced during August 1934.  To accommodate US Route 6 the original CA 26 and CA 6 were eliminated from their initial corridors.  LRN 173, LRN 166 and LRN 171 received the second designation of CA 26 whereas LRN 183 was left without a Sign State Route.  



Thusly the second CA 26 appears on the corridor of LRN 173 whereas LRN 183 is shown to not have a Sign State Route on the 1937-1938 Division of Highways Map.  


Harbor Boulevard facing north towards LRN 183/Bolsa Avenue appears in the November-December 1947 California Highways & Public Works.  


The original iteration of LRN 183 would never have another Sign State Route applied to it.  The original LRN 183 was eliminated from the State Highway System as part of 1951 Legislative Chapter 1562.  LRN 183 thusly does not appear on the 1952 Division of Highways Map.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By
Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

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

By
  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...
Post a Comment
Read more