Former US 99/Current US 97 and CA 265 in Weed

[Max Rockatansky]

One of the more interesting segments of Former US 99 is that of Weed Boulevard in the City of Weed.  Weed Boulevard was the original alignment of US Route 99 when it was first defined and remained so up until the highway was decomissioned in California in 1965.  Unlike numerous segments of US 99 the right of way on Weed Boulevard was retained as a State Highways via an extension of US 97 and the new-for-1965 CA 265.  Interestingly Weed Boulevard has been altered in a way that US 97 acts as the through route and isn't an exact one-for-one to what a driver would have experienced on US 99.  Weed Boulevard also has some Postmile oddities such as US 97 featuring a "L" suffixed extension and CA 265 carrying the mileage from the 1964 definition of Route 5.  If you've ever been so inclined now is some time to enjoy some Weed (the City) given it has an interesting story as part of the State Highway System:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/11/former-us-route-99-in-weed-us-route-97.html

[sparker]

One of the more interesting segments of Former US 99 is that of Weed Boulevard in the City of Weed.  Weed Boulevard was the original alignment of US Route 99 when it was first defined and remained so up until the highway was decomissioned in California in 1965.  Unlike numerous segments of US 99 the right of way on Weed Boulevard was retained as a State Highways via an extension of US 97 and the new-for-1965 CA 265.  Interestingly Weed Boulevard has been altered in a way that US 97 acts as the through route and isn't an exact one-for-one to what a driver would have experienced on US 99.  Weed Boulevard also has some Postmile oddities such as US 97 featuring a "L" suffixed extension and CA 265 carrying the mileage from the 1964 definition of Route 5.  If you've ever been so inclined now is some time to enjoy some Weed (the City) given it has an interesting story as part of the State Highway System:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/11/former-us-route-99-in-weed-us-route-97.html

I remember the first time I went through Weed back in the summer of 1963 with my parents, coming back down US 97 from Klamath Falls after going through Crater Lake NP.  At that time, I-5 was still a line on a map (but an adopted alignment nevertheless).  Coming downhill we went over the original wooden bridge over the (then) SP Siskiyou line before the intersection with US 99, which was a simple 3-way stop sign for all directions -- and, of course, the southern US 97 terminus.  My mother, who greatly appreciated a pristine lawn (particularly dichondra) wondered why a town would be named after a pestilent plant! (this well before the present connotation of weed).  Heading south out of town, we hit the first freeway (Dunsmuir bypass) since Arcata (we had come up US 101 and over 199); the original US 99 in the Rogue Valley was still the principal artery.  But Weed was the archetypal mountain town of about 3K population, with a large lumber mill (now defunct) just north of the US 97 RR overpass ostensibly supplying a substantial portion of the town's employment.  Haven't been through town since US 97 was "straightlined"; look forward to doing so in the not-too-distant future. 

[kkt]

If I remember right, Weed was the last name of the person who owned the lumbermill...

[Max Rockatansky]

If I remember right, Weed was the last name of the person who owned the lumbermill...

Yes, Abner Weed specifically. 

[nexus73]

I had a friend who claimed to have stolen a Weed Police shield...LOL!

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

I had a friend who claimed to have stolen a Weed Police shield...LOL!

Rick

Interestingly the City this past decade Weed has seemingly increasingly embraced it's name and it's modern connotation.  When I was there in 2014 there wasn't much in the way of colorful gifts and signs drawing attention to the City name of "Weed."   I noticed the gift shop in 2016 but on this last stop in Weed there were signs to probably from said gift shop up and down Weed Boulevard.  Even my Wife, who isn't exactly a history fan wanted to know more about the City and how it came to be named.  I guess it's a decent example of turning something potential negative into a positive. 

[Desert Man]

Weed (interesting name for a town in CA, LOL) is like a sister city to Indio (also on former US 99, aka 60-70 and CA SR 86-111). Siskiyou county touches OR, Modoc county touches NV (the former US 299), Riverside county touches AZ and Imperial county where historic US 99 finally ends in Calexico on the Mexican border. While the Coachella Valley worries about a major earthquake on the southern end of the San Andreas fault (also in San Bernardino county), you guys in Weed face a dormant volcanic peak Mount Shasta and then there's Lassen Peak in Shasta-Lassen-Tehama-Plumas county junction. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Weed (interesting name for a town in CA, LOL) is like a sister city to Indio (also on former US 99, aka 60-70 and CA SR 86-111). Siskiyou county touches OR, Modoc county touches NV (the former US 299), Riverside county touches AZ and Imperial county where historic US 99 finally ends in Calexico on the Mexican border. While the Coachella Valley worries about a major earthquake on the southern end of the San Andreas fault (also in San Bernardino county), you guys in Weed face a dormant volcanic peak Mount Shasta and then there's Lassen Peak in Shasta-Lassen-Tehama-Plumas county junction.

Apparently the eruptions on Mount Shasta occur in 600-800 year intervals.  Considering that last eruption was about two centuries ago it is likely the City of Weed will disappear for other reasons long before the next eruption.