Historic US 395, San Diego to Hesperia

[andy3175]

Article on preservation of Historic US 395 in Inland Empire: http://www.pe.com/articles/highway-790695-route-valley.html

The historic route is signed in portions of San Diego, Poway, unincorporated San Diego County, Temecula, and Riverside County, among other locations. Now Moreno Valley is adding historic signs in January 2016.

A faded metal sign stating "north"  on a light pole on Old 215 Frontage Road in Moreno Valley stands as the last reminder that the route was once part of historic U.S. Highway 395.

That will change soon.

Moreno Valley city officials and historic enthusiasts plan to bring more attention to the roadway and, they hope, new life into an area — part of the Edgemont neighborhood — that often has lagged in basic amenities such as sidewalks.

Moreno Valley will be the latest Inland city, joining others from Riverside to Temecula, to rediscover the mostly forgotten 395 and put up brown signs along the route of the once-vital artery.

The city and Moreno Valley Historical Society will dedicate the 2-mile section of the 395 between Eucalyptus and Cactus avenues on Memorial Day with a weekend of activities. They will include a classic car show and booths from several history-minded groups. ...

Though Route 66, another U.S. highway, is considered the mother road connecting the nation east to west, the 395 is its lesser-known north-south counterpart. The 1,400-mile road was known as the Three Flag Highway because it went from the Mexican border through several Western states to the Canadian border, said Jeffery Harmon, founder of the Historic Route 395 Association.

It was officially designated U.S. Highway 395 in 1939 after passage of federal legislation. However, it had existed as a series of dirt roads from San Diego to the Cajon Pass for decades.

During World War II, at the urging of the military, the highway was improved to provide a better link between San Diego's Navy base, a weapons depot in Fallbrook and March Field in what later became Moreno Valley. The route was nicknamed the Cannonball Highway because of its military importance.

The highway faded into obscurity after years of rerouting and the development of other north-south routes, I-15 and I-15E (now the 215), in the 1970s. By the 1980s, the 395 had been decommissioned in Riverside and San Diego counties, though it continues to run from Hesperia in San Bernardino County along the eastern Sierra Nevada and north to Canada. ...

In recent years, several cities have begun efforts to commemorate the 395. In San Diego and other cities in San Diego County, signs were put up along the route. Communities such as Fallbrook, Rainbow, Temecula, Murrieta, Lake Elsinore, Perris and Riverside did the same.

Harmon, a member of the Temecula Valley Historical Society, said the enthusiasm for remembering the 395 results from the car culture in California, comparing it to Route 66. In Temecula, 395 signs are sold at the museum and visitors center, and Murrieta now hosts a downtown car show, he said. ...

In Riverside, city officials put up 36 signs on downtown streets, including Market Street and University Avenue, which still has roadside hotels that are a remnant of when it was part of the highway, said Steve Lech, president of the Riverside Historical Society. ...

In 2008, the Legislature recognized U.S. Highway 395 as a historic route.

[usends]

It was officially designated U.S. Highway 395 in 1939 after passage of federal legislation.

395 was actually extended into California in '34 or '35; it's shown on the 1936 CalTrans map.  (Of course, it existed outside CA from the beginning, commissioned in 1926.)

In 2008, the Legislature recognized U.S. Highway 395 as a historic route.

Kind of ironic: California led the charge to decommission US routes back in the '60s, but now it seems like the state is at the forefront in terms of re-signing these historic routes.  They've acknowledged 66, 99, 395... any others?

[Alex]

Kind of ironic: California led the charge to decommission US routes back in the '60s, but now it seems like the state is at the forefront in terms of re-signing these historic routes.  They've acknowledged 66, 99, 395... any others?

Several sections of Historic U.S. 40, 80 and 101 are acknowledged as well.

[Rover_0]

Kind of ironic: California led the charge to decommission US routes back in the '60s, but now it seems like the state is at the forefront in terms of re-signing these historic routes.  They've acknowledged 66, 99, 395... any others?

Several sections of Historic U.S. 40, 80 and 101 are acknowledged as well.

Aren't there some sections of US-6 south of Bishop marked as historic?

[TheStranger]

Aren't there some sections of US-6 south of Bishop marked as historic?

I want to say some portions of it along Sierra Highway in Los Angeles County indeed are.

[english si]

I want to say some portions of it along Sierra Highway in Los Angeles County indeed are.

Say so, it's true! Though I'm not sure there's that many more signs than this one captured on the AA Roads page:
.

[emory]

Kind of ironic: California led the charge to decommission US routes back in the '60s, but now it seems like the state is at the forefront in terms of re-signing these historic routes.  They've acknowledged 66, 99, 395... any others?

Several sections of Historic U.S. 40, 80 and 101 are acknowledged as well.

Aren't there some sections of US-6 south of Bishop marked as historic?

I've only seen Historic US 6 signs on Sierra Highway. None on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Jacumba CA, 8 miles to the east of me officially changed it's name to Jacumba Hot Springs, since Caltrans already renewed the Exit 74 signage along I-8, they had to raise the $$ to replace the sign and have done so.  But since there was alot of extra space, they convinced Caltrans to incorporate a brown strip on the village name that will read "Historic {80} Business Loop" with the designation ending at Exit 61, Crestwood Road.  There are no plans to replace that signage however.