That disclaimer aside, I found another cool map on the internet! (That PV scan was mine, but these others are found objects I'm using as jumping off points)
The other part of that is I'm going to focus on the South Bay here on this blog, since that's where I've grown up, and that's what I've seen. I'll never comment on something I've only seen on maps, like the Valley (both of them).
So what do I glean from this map? There's good old Sepulveda Blvd. way back in 1941, Avalon, and Main St. becoming Wilmington. There was no 110 freeway back then. Primer on the 110 freeway; back in 1924, there was a plan to widen Figueroa in order to make a truck road to the port of LA. The length was signed route 165 in 1933, but then renamed Sign Route 11 in 1934 (as seen on the map).
You can also see on the map the number 6, the portion between Sign Route 1 and Avenue 26 was signed US Route 6 as well. So on the map, the circles are Sign Routes (state routes) and the more familiar US Shield marks US routes.
US 6 still exists, and it's called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, stretching from Massachusetts all the way to Long Beach until 1964. Now it ends in Bishop, CA.
Sticking with SR 11 though, you'll notice that even through we're pre-110, we've got the Arroyo Seco Parkway designated on the map, which had just opened that year! I love driving the Parkway, even if the people coming on from a full stop sure is terrifying.
That postcard I found online shows what it would have looked like back in 1941. Same sentiment as today, completely different execution. Now back to the Harbor Parkway (later Freeway). The first southward headed portion opened May 14th, 1954, and then it slowly pushed toward the harbor. It took until 1962 to reach PCH (SR 1). 1970 saw it reach it's current completion, as well as the opening of the Vincent Thomas Bridge.
So an elevated road to downtown was just a concept back when this map was printed in 1941. SR 11 along an expanded Figueroa was the best way to go from the harbor to downtown. No idea how frequent stops were on this road. Certainly there was much less development in 1941.
In case Marine Stadium catches your eye like it did mine, that was build for the 1934 Olympic rowing events. Hollywood Park and Turf club is there off Manchester, but LAX looks a little too far inland, touching Hawthorne Ave. (now Blvd.)
The map shows Loyola University, but not Marymount. Not sure when those schools combined. University of California at Los Angeles, love it.
Carson wasn't a city yet, but we've got incorporated Lomita, Harbor City, Long Beach, and Compton. Note how font size tries to convey city size, Long Beach and Compton are much bigger than say Wilmington.
Walteria is listed as it's own city, that's now been annexed by Torrance. That's enough for now.
Hi. It would be very interesting to know why US 6 now, as you say, having made it 98% or so of the way across the continent, just ends in Bishop, CA. I have recently been through Bishop, CA, in the Eastern Sierras. It is not the end of anywhere. If not quite the middle of nowhere, it is close to that. The road does not disappear, but merges with what is now known as route 395 (which starts much further north, in, or as it comes out of, Reno, Nevada). I think that 395 is a state route. Route 395 is a north-south route, so maybe it makes some sort of sense that it prevail also below Bishop. What used to be US route 6 could not have just evaporated but must have continued as what is now the southern extension of 395. About 100 miles or so further south, on the edge of the Mojave desert, 395 veers off towards Riverside, while the straighter southern route to LA branches off as route 14 which eventually ends and joins what's now US 5. From the look of the map above, where I think that's US 6 approaching Burbank (? it's too small for me to read), I believe that is the tail end of today's US 5. It would be interesting to know which of these continuations was the old US 6.
ReplyDeleteBishop is basically where the Owens River Valley becomes defined. I am going to guess that something about the famous or notorious Owens River aqueduct made the route from Bishop to LA a bigger state responsibility. Most - but not quite all - of route 395 is now 4-lane. The same with route 14 further south. I wonder whether, as part of the now essential connection of the Owens River Valley to Los Angeles, the state of California rather than the federal government paid for the road upgrade and took over responsibility - and route numbers - from the federal government and US 6. This is all idle speculation. If you come upon further information about this, I'd be curious to know how and why the premature western truncation of US 6 came about.
This site has really grown since I was here last week. Terrific job.
And by "today's US 5" I meant of course "Interstate 5" which is a much newer road system and numbering system.
ReplyDeleteIf you right click or cntl click and then chose view in new tab, you can see the image in its full glory outside of blogger's stupid slide show that helps no one. Anyhow, route 6, after going through LA, takes a turn and follows US 99 to Bakersfield, so that would be I-5 today.
ReplyDeleteThe wikipedia says that this is all due to the 1964 renumbering of state highways in California, specifically, usually, US routes being decommissioned for Interstates, to free up numbers basically. In LA that's SR1, SR11 (now 110), I-5, SR 14 and 395.
395 is still a US route, but it's maintained by Caltrans. The second Owens Valley aquaduct was built in 1970, so maybe there is something to your theory. Where I'm sitting, it's the only logical reason to improve the route between LA and the Owens River Valley
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ReplyDelete