Skip to main content

Boundary Cone Road (Mohave County Route 153)

By

Mohave County Route 153 comprises an approximately 10-mile segment of Boundary Cone Road west of Oatman Highway (former US Route 66) to Arizona State Route 95.  Boundary Cone Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in continuous use in Arizona as it was incorporated into General Beale's Wagon Road during 1857.  Boundary Cone Road is named for a prominent rock formation in the Black Mountains which carries great significance to the tribes of Mohave Valley.  Below what is now Boundary Cone Road can be seen branching east from Fort Mohave towards Sitgreaves Pass on the 1873 Bancroft's Map of California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona.  




Part 1; the history of Boundary Cone Road

Boundary Cone Road is one of the oldest highway components in continuous use in Arizona.  In 1857 the trail from Mohave Valley in New Mexico Territory westward to Soda Lake in California was ordered by the War Department of the United States to be incorporated into a wagon route as a segment of Edward Fitzgerald Beale's Wagon Road.  Beale's Wagon Road approached the Colorado River over the Black Mountains via what came to be known as Sitgreaves Pass (originally John Howells Pass) and the rock formation known as the Boundary Cone.  This new wagon road from Fort Mohave and Mohave Valley westward past Soda Lake subsequently came to be known as the Mojave Road. 

The Boundary Cone is a volcanic neck which sits prominently above Mohave Valley in the Black Mountains.  The Boundary Cone peaks out an elevation of 3,432 feet above sea level.  Numerous Native American tribes consider the Boundary Cone to a be scared location and peak is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.  The prominence of the Boundary Cone made it an easy way marker for Native tribes and for 19th Century travelers.  

Boundary Cone Road can be seen as the southern highway branching east over the Black Mountains via Sitgreaves Pass on the 1865 Gensoul Official Map of Arizona.  A northern highway is also displayed through Union Pass along the corridor of modern Arizona state Route 68.  Fort Mohave was established as a military encampment near Beale's Crossing on April 19, 1859.  Mohave County would be founded on November 8, 1864, as part of Arizona Territory. 


The Black Mountains, Boundary Cone and Sitgreaves Pass would become prominent during the era of Arizona Territory due to numerous mining claims.  Mining around Oatman began in 1863 when the first mining claims were staked, by the early 20th Century it had become a boom town. During the early 20th Century, the communities around Oatman would boast several thousand residents.  The mining claims around Oatman would help ensure the continuous use of Boundary Cone Road.  

Boundary Cone Road can be seen branching east from Fort Mohave towards Sitgreaves Pass on the 1873 Bancroft's Map of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona.  


Boundary Cone Road can be seen east of the Colorado River branching into the Black Mountains on the 1903 United States Geological Survey map of the Needles area. 


Boundary Cone Road can be seen branching west towards the Colorado River from early US Route 66 along Oatman Highway on the 1931 Clason's Map of Arizona.  Oatman Highway was part of the original alignment of US Route 66 through the Black Mountains and would remain part of the highway until it was realigned through Yucca during 1953.  


Boundary Cone Road appears on the 1937 Gousha Map of Arizona west of US Route 66/Oatman Highway. 

The modern alignment of Boundary Cone Road between Arizona State Route 95 and Oatman Highway appears on the 1970 United States Geological Survey Maps of Needles and the Boundary Cone.  It isn't clear when Boundary Cone Road began being signed as Mohave County Route 153, but shields are present on Google Street View as early as 2011. 





Part 2; a drive on Boundary Cone Road

Oatman Highway (former US Route 66 and Mohave County Route 10) passes through the ghost town of Old Trails.  Oatman Highway intersects Boundary Cone Road within view of the namesake rock formation.  Traffic heading to Bullhead City and Laughlin are directed to follow Boundary Cone Road. 





As westbound Boundary Cone Road begins to descend towards Arizona State Route 95 and the Fort Mohave Reservation a Mohave County Route 153 shield can be seen.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more