Old US-101 Routing?

[Caboosey]

Here is the rest of my collection....

Hwy 101 at northside of Cuesta Grade/Pass in 1920's:



Old Hwy 101 at present day Hwy 101 and Avila Beach Drive just outside of Pismo Beach in 1920's:


Old Hwy 101 in Pismo Beach in 1927:


Old and New Hwy 101 at Miles (near present day Hwy 101 and Avila Beach Drive) in 1941:






Old Hwy 101 (Price Street) in Pismo Beach in 1941:


1942 map of Pismo Beach, Grover City (Grover Beach), and Arroyo Grande:


Old Hwy 101 in Pismo Beach in 1950's:


Old Hwy 101 (Price Street) in Pismo Beach in 1963:


Hwy 101 in Pismo Beach in 1972:

[nexus73]

Great photos Caboosey!  My favorite one was the Pismo Beach Fifties.  The color in the photo seemed so vibrant!

Rick

[CtrlAltDel]

Does anyone know what the routing of 101 was through Santa Barbara before the freeway got built? The freeway took over what used to be Rancheria Street, but that might just be because it was easier to follow the railroad than anything else.

I've been looking, but I haven't been able to find anything. Most of the information out there stops just short of the Santa Barbara area.


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To answer my own question, yes, 101 followed Rancheria Street before it was converted into the freeway. I got this information thanks to the link that usends provided earlier today: http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/.

[DTComposer]

Does anyone know what the routing of 101 was through Santa Barbara before the freeway got built? The freeway took over what used to be Rancheria Street, but that might just be because it was easier to follow the railroad than anything else.

I've been looking, but I haven't been able to find anything. Most of the information out there stops just short of the Santa Barbara area.


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To answer my own question, yes, 101 followed Rancheria Street before it was converted into the freeway. I got this information thanks to the link that usends provided earlier today: http://historicalmaps.arcgis.com/usgs/.

The Rancheria route only dates to about 1940; prior to that, US-101 continued along Hollister and went down De la Vina.

[NE2]

1938 official (first with a Santa Barbara inset):

[JustDrive]

Interesting that Hollister Avenue was signed that far east and that 101 used to run along Gutierrez Street (currently one-way westbound)

[mrsman]

Interesting that Hollister Avenue was signed that far east and that 101 used to run along Gutierrez Street (currently one-way westbound)

Yes, I always thought that the old routing was along State Street between Downtown SB and Hollister Ave and assumed that on the way east the freeway sat on top of the old routing.

[DTComposer]

I was off by a few years (trying to remember off the top of my head - I know I have a map somewhere in storage). CHPW says the Rancheria route was constructed in 1934. Here's a 1930 map showing the Coast Highway using Hollister/De la Vina/State/Cabrillo:

[mrsman]

This history begs the question, if Montecito was a newer routing, why did it take so long to turn those few blocks around State Street into a freeway?  For years (until 1992), there was a series of 3 lights in Downtown SB along US 101, when the rest of the road was a freeway (and traffic light free from LA to SF with the exception of these 3 signals).

[TheStranger]

In Atascadero, I just noticed (on Google Maps) the Viejo Camino loop off of El Camino Real - is this a 1920s/1930s 101 routing, or a road built long after 101 had been moved west to the freeway?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Viejo+Camino,+Atascadero,+CA+93422/@35.449754,-120.6318758,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80ece970e127b95b:0x999331ad34204721

[NE2]

The Spanish meaning of Viejo Camino (Old Road) is a good clue. I don't know if it was US 101, but it was the main road in 1897. By 1937 it had been bypassed: http://research.archives.gov/description/5823159 (second image on second page).

[sdmichael]

In Atascadero, I just noticed (on Google Maps) the Viejo Camino loop off of El Camino Real - is this a 1920s/1930s 101 routing, or a road built long after 101 had been moved west to the freeway?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Viejo+Camino,+Atascadero,+CA+93422/@35.449754,-120.6318758,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80ece970e127b95b:0x999331ad34204721

There is an old bridge on that roadway, so it is indeed original US 101 (and the original State Highway).

[NE2]

There is an old bridge on that roadway, so it is indeed original US 101 (and the original State Highway).

How does the existence of an old bridge mean that it was bypassed after 1926?

[Caboosey]

In Atascadero, I just noticed (on Google Maps) the Viejo Camino loop off of El Camino Real - is this a 1920s/1930s 101 routing, or a road built long after 101 had been moved west to the freeway?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Viejo+Camino,+Atascadero,+CA+93422/@35.449754,-120.6318758,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80ece970e127b95b:0x999331ad34204721

Yes, that is the old Hwy 101 Alignment.

[CtrlAltDel]

Interesting that Hollister Avenue was signed that far east and that 101 used to run along Gutierrez Street (currently one-way westbound)

Yeah, I was surprised by that too. I used to live around State/De La Vina, and it just doens't seem Hollister-ish to me. But apparently, De La Vina only went to Mission, and Hollister himself built the road past there for access to the ranch.

As for more tidbits of information I've learned, State didn't go past Constance for quite some time, which I think is why De La Vina and Rancheria became the 101 instead of State. It's quite hilly in that area, and so basically they just went around it. I learned this while jogging.

Anyway (and not linked to the 101), I'm amazed at how much the street names haven't changed, at least for the past century or so. The Cabrillo/Castillo/Carrillo mess is quite old. The only exceptions I've found are a street I lived on long ago, Olive, which was formerly Canal for some reason, and that there used to be 1st through 5th Streets between Mission and Constance on the west side of state. They were renamed to match the names of the streets east of state (Padre, Los Olivos, Pueblo, etc.), except for 5th, which became Quinto.

Thanks to everyone for the maps! It's very interesting how the town has grown over time.