El Camino Real Bell

[CASIGNS]

I always wanted an El Camino Real (ECR) bell like those found along US Highway 101 and at several historic California Missions. Well thanks to a good friend, I was able to purchase an ECR Bell last month from a mutual friend who was selling his.

After a trip down south to pick up the bell, and lots of work, the bell is now installed in our back yard! This is the same style bell and pole used by Caltrans and can be seen along US Highway 101 from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  The Caltrans poles are painted a dark green and the bells are left unpainted and are covered by a dark brown layer of rust.

We decided to paint our pole and bell a light green, a Dunne and Edwards color called Real Glory. The pole is 13 feet tall from grade to the top of the curved staff and the bell weighs in at 75 lbs. A really fun project and a great addition to our collection of California highway items and our back yard.

Brian

[Alex]

I always thought the bells posted along U.S. 101 added a nice touch to the drive. That's a great addition to your collection!

[hm insulators]

I remember those bells! I grew up in the Los Angeles area.

[Scott5114]

What's the symbol for El Camino Fake?

[agentsteel53]

What's the symbol for El Camino Fake?

for $549 I'll be happy to make you one!

[sandiaman]

I grew up  on the San  Francisco Peninsula, where  the El Camino Real runs for about 55  miles  thru  a  string of towns.  I too, remember  those bells .  They  werevery classy.  That  was before  the ECR  was CA  82.  In the fifties  it was  US  101  and Bayshore  Freeway  was  BYP  US  101.

[TheStranger]

I grew up  on the San  Francisco Peninsula, where  the El Camino Real runs for about 55  miles  thru  a  string of towns.  I too, remember  those bells .  They  werevery classy.  That  was before  the ECR  was CA  82.  In the fifties  it was  US  101  and Bayshore  Freeway  was  BYP  US  101.

There IS at least one mission bell on a bypassed alignment of El Camino Real in the Peninsula (Mission Road in South San Francisco, bypassed in the late 1930s)...

[agentsteel53]

There IS at least one mission bell on a bypassed alignment of El Camino Real in the Peninsula (Mission Road in South San Francisco, bypassed in the late 1930s)...

an old one?  I know there are modern ones all over the various 101 alignments throughout the state.  The one on Mission Road didn't stick out for me, but I recall it being painted brown.

[TheStranger]

There IS at least one mission bell on a bypassed alignment of El Camino Real in the Peninsula (Mission Road in South San Francisco, bypassed in the late 1930s)...

an old one?  I know there are modern ones all over the various 101 alignments throughout the state.  The one on Mission Road didn't stick out for me, but I recall it being painted brown.

I'm not sure how old it is - the original bridge crossing Colma Creek back to El Camino Real (via today's Antoinette Lane) was taken out by the late 1960s from what I've seen in areial pics.

[realjd]

I spend a good amount of time for work in Carlsbad. Is El Camino Real in San Diego County the same as the one in San Francisco? I know they do have a few of those bells along the route.

Also, how about that earthquake today? It may not have been much for you Californians, but for a Floridian like me, it was intense!

[TheStranger]

I spend a good amount of time for work in Carlsbad. Is El Camino Real in San Diego County the same as the one in San Francisco? I know they do have a few of those bells along the route.

El Camino Real as a continuous named route hasn't per se existed since the pre-automobile days, but as a unified corridor, that is correct - the Bay Area ECR and the San Diego County ECR are on that alignment.  (There are parts of San Diego County where former US 101 runs along Coast Highway while a county road covers the named El Camino Real though.)

[agentsteel53]

Also, how about that earthquake today? It may not have been much for you Californians, but for a Floridian like me, it was intense!

even by our standards, it was mildly eyebrow-raising. 

[BigMattFromTexas]

So what is the actual reason for having bells along the highway? To me it doesn't make sense, but if there's a reason, it'll prolly make more sense.
BigMatt

[agentsteel53]

the mission bell symbol was the 18th century highway shield.

[BigMattFromTexas]

the mission bell symbol was the 18th century highway shield.

Oh, yeah that makes sense, haha.
BigMatt

[BigMattFromTexas]

Wait, like the bell itself was the symbol? Like they had the bells instead of signs? Or what?
BigMatt

[TheStranger]

Wait, like the bell itself was the symbol? Like they had the bells instead of signs? Or what?
BigMatt

Modern route signage didn't exist until the 1910s-1920s named automobile trails, though most of today's El Camino Real bells were installed way after much of the route had been designated as US 101.

[agentsteel53]

Modern route signage didn't exist until the 1910s-1920s named automobile trails, though most of today's El Camino Real bells were installed way after much of the route had been designated as US 101.

really? there were no bells at all before then?  here I thought the road was first marked when it was built between the missions.

[TheStranger]

Modern route signage didn't exist until the 1910s-1920s named automobile trails, though most of today's El Camino Real bells were installed way after much of the route had been designated as US 101.

really? there were no bells at all before then?  here I thought the road was first marked when it was built between the missions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Camino_Real_(California)#Bells

In 1892, Anna Pitcher of Pasadena, California initiated an effort to preserve the as-yet uncommemorated route of Alta California's Camino Real, an effort adopted by the California Federation of Women's Clubs in 1902.[4] Modern El Camino Real was one of the first state highways in California. Given the lack of standardized road signs at the time, it was decided to place distinctive bells along the route, hung on supports in the form of an 11-foot (3.4 m) high shepherd's crook, also described as "a Franciscan walking stick." The first of 450 bells was unveiled on August 15, 1906 at the Plaza Church in the Pueblo near Olvera Street in Los Angeles.
The original organization which installed the bells fragmented, and the Automobile Club of Southern California and associated groups cared for the bells from the mid-1920s through 1931. The State took over bell maintenance in 1933.

[agentsteel53]

never knew that!

1906 is, coincidentally, when the Auto Club started putting up signs.

[TheStranger]

never knew that!

1906 is, coincidentally, when the Auto Club started putting up signs.

The ACSC signed such things as the Midland Trail (in addition to the obvious El Camino Real) I'd assume...

When did the CSAA start doing signage up north?  We have the concrete Lincoln Highway marker on old US 40/99W in Davis, but I don't know if that was original to the pre-numbered route era.

[agentsteel53]

The ACSC signed such things as the Midland Trail (in addition to the obvious El Camino Real) I'd assume...

as well as local things like the direction to various towns.  Not distances yet - those came in 1915 or so.

When did the CSAA start doing signage up north?  

I believe 1913.

We have the concrete Lincoln Highway marker on old US 40/99W in Davis, but I don't know if that was original to the pre-numbered route era.

I do not know which style of concrete marker it is, but if it looks like this...



then it is a 1928.

[TheStranger]

This is the Lincoln Highway marker at Davis's Central Park:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tspauld/30739086/