Gribblenation

Tucked away in the southwest corner of Northeast Ohio's Trumbull County, the Village of Newton Falls, Ohio has a few claims to fame. One of their claims to fame is being the home of ZIP Code 44444, the only place in the United States where the ZIP Code is the same digit, five times over. Another claim to fame is that Newton Falls was along the route of the former Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal , which was in service during the 19th Century.  Yet another claim to fame is that Newton Falls also has the oldest covered bridge still in service in Ohio and is the oldest covered bridge at its original location in the state. Built in 1831, the 123 foot long Newton Falls Covered Bridge crosses a branch of the Mahoning River right outside of downtown Newton Falls, giving the village an added charm. The bridge is built in the Town lattice style of covered bridge design and is also the only covered bridge in Ohio with a covered walkway, as it was added to the bridge in 1921 so children co...

Being in an area that is surrounded by water, between bayous, lakes, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico, the New Orleans area is home to some notable bridges, such as the famous Huey Long Bridge and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. However, there are some lesser known water crossings in this corner of Louisiana to check out as well, such as the Belle Chasse Tunnel and Judge Perez Bridge, located in the New Orleans suburb of Belle Chasse, Louisiana. The Belle Chasse Tunnel carries southbound traffic and the accompanying Judge Perez Bridge carries northbound traffic as it crosses the Algiers Canal that is part of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway . Just over the border into Plaquemines Parish from Jefferson Parish, LA 23 is the highway that use these crossings to continue its southward march towards the southern end of the Mississippi River delta and serves the roughly 23,000 residents of Plaquemines Parish along the way. The 800 foot long Belle Chasse Tunnel came first, as it had opened in...

For a state that has the most covered bridges of any state west of the Mississippi River, Oregon still has plenty of unique surprises to be found among its inventory of covered bridges. One of these covered bridges is the Short Covered Bridge, located just off of US Highway 20 just west of Cascadia State Park near the community of Foster in eastern Linn County. It's also one of a handful of covered bridges located along current or historic alignments of US 20, with the Chitwood Covered Bridge being another covered bridge located along US 20 in western Oregon. Built in 1945, the Short Covered Bridge is the last remaining covered bridge that spans over the South Santiam River and is one of a few remaining covered bridges in Linn County to feature a roof made of wooden shingles. The Short Covered Bridge is far from short, spanning a total length of 173 feet across the South Santiam River. When the covered bridge was built, the bridge was known as the Whiskey Butte Bridge, but...

This past month I drove a segment of California State Route 116 from US Route 101 in Cotati east to CA 121 near Schellville.  CA 116 is a 46 mile east/west State Highway entirely located within Sonoma County.  CA 116 begins near CA 1 in Jenner and travels easterly to a terminus at CA 121. Part 1; the history of CA 116 What is now CA 116 entered the State Highway System as Legislative Route 104 in 1933 according to CAhighways.org.  LRN 104 between Jenner and Sebastopol was added to Sign Route 12 in 1934.  CA 12 can be seen on LRN 104 between Jenner and Sebastopol on the 1938 Division of Highways State Map . During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering CA 12 west of Sebastopol was given a new planned alignment that was an unbuilt segment of LRN 51.  All of LRN 104 was redefined with a new designation of CA 116.  CA 116 included a multiplex of US 101 from Cotati south to Petaluma.  The change from LRN 104 to CA 116 can be seen by comparin...