Gribblenation

08/03/2026

This view is along Washington State Road 14 in Mason County along Hood Canal. This photo was featured in the 1910 Third Biennial Report of the Washington State Highway Commissioner.

Washington State Road 14 was originally known as the Hood Canal Road. This corridor originated in Mason County near Triton and spanned 22.6 miles northward to the vicinity Quilcene. The Hood Canal Road was surveyed in 1907 and was formally designated as a State Highway by the Washington legislature in 1909.

Washington State Road 14 would later be absorbed as an extension of Washington State Route 9. By November 1926 the Hood Canal Road would become part of US Route 101 when AASHO formally designated the US Route System.

08/03/2026

Let’s travel back to sometime between 2000-2003 to Burlington NC and a not completely clear I-85 North Carolina shield.



—Adam

08/03/2026

Minkler is a small former railroad siding community founded in 1911 on Kings Canyon Road (formerly Dunlap Road) just east of Byrd Slough. The community of Minkler between 1934 and 2020 was part of the alignment of California State Route 180 which passed by on Kings Canyon Road. In 2020 California State Route 180 was shifted north of Minkler onto a four-lane expressway bypass. This blog serves as a history of California State Route 180 within Minkler and what artifacts of the older alignment can still be found.

Minkler is a small former railroad siding community founded in 1911 on Kings Canyon Road (formerly Dunlap Road) just east of Byrd Slough. T...

08/03/2026

In Tyringham, Massachusetts, you'll get pointed in the direction of someone named Lee and someone named Otis. Oh, wait those are town names in this case. Plenty of towns in the Berkshires and Hilltowns of Western Massachusetts also double as someone's first name, including Chester, Becket, and Adams (OK, that last one is a stretch).

08/02/2026

The Spring Mountains around Las Vegas are certainly not lacking for scenic roads and State Highways. This particular view is facing west on Nevada State Route 159 just west of the Las Vegas city limit towards Red Rock Canyon.

Nevada State Route 159 is a three-segment highway located in Metropolitan Las Vegas which comprises a total of 19.180 miles. The western segment of this Nevada State Route 159 is the longest spanning from Nevada State Route 160 to Clark County Route 215 in Las Vegas by way of Blue Diamond Road, Red Rock Canyon Road and Charleston Boulevard.

The central segment of Nevada State Route 159 essentially is a glorified ramp facility at Interstate 15. The central segment is comprised of 0.337 miles of Charleston Boulevard between Martin L. King Boulevard and Commerce Street. The eastern segment of Nevada State Route 159 begins at 25th Street and extends 3.01 miles eastward on Charleston Boulevard to Nevada State Route 612 at Nellis Boulevard.

The Las Vegas town site was plotted out after the completion of the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad in 1905. What is now Charleston Boulevard and Red Rock Canyon Road were developed as part of an access corridor to the Excelsior Quarry Company work site in Red Rock Canyon. The quarry hauling corridors would go onto form the basis for much of the current roadways in Rock Red Canyon National Conservation Area in the Spring Mountains.

In 1947 Nevada State Route 5C and Nevada State Route 85 would both be commissioned. Nevada State 5C was a bypass downtown Las Vegas which connected Fremont Street (then US Routes 93, 95 and 466) to Bonanza Road (then US Route 95) via Charleston Boulevard and Rancho Drive. Nevada State Route 85 began at Rancho Drive and followed Charleston Boulevard west into Red Rock Canyon. The path of Nevada State Route 85 took it over Red Rock Summit in the Spring Mountains and into Pahrump Valley where it terminated at Nevada State Route 16.

Nevada State Route 85 was dropped as a State Highway in 1965 but much of the existing roadway between Lorenzi Street and Red Rock Canyon was retained under Department of Highways maintenance responsibilities. In 1976 during the wider State Highway Renumbering a new designation of Nevada State Route 159 was assigned. Nevada State Route 159 began at Nevada State Route 160 (Pahrump Highway) near Blue Diamond and extended eastward to Nevada State Route 612 (Nellis Boulevard). Nevada State Route 159 was overlaid atop Blue Diamond Road, Red Rock Canyon Road and Charleston Boulevard.

In 1995 the state legislature would designate the 8.8 miles of Nevada State Route 159 in Red Rock Canyon as a scenic byway. Following the completion of the interim western segment of the Las Vegas Beltway (Clark County Route 215) in the early 2000s portions of Charleston Boulevard in Las Vegas Valley would be relinquished to local control.

08/02/2026

Recently a new historical plaque regarding the town of Agua Fria was placed along Agua Fria Road in Mariposa County. Photos 1 and 2 are of the new plaque whereas Photo 3 is facing towards where the town of Agua Fria once stood.

Agua Fria Road is an approximately 2.3-mile rural highway located in Mariposa County. This highway corridor is one of the oldest identifiable roadways in the state as it once served the original Mariposa County seat of Aqua Fria. The community of Agua Fria was founded in 1849 by Sonoran Miners and became the first Mariposa County seat in February 1850.

The Mariposa County seat was not long lived in Agua Fria as it would be moved to Mariposa in November 1851. The community of Agua Fria would burn during a fire in 1866 and was never rebuilt.

08/02/2026

This morning’s is a Summer morning in 2000, driving back to NC from PA on a route I would do often when I lived in Eastern NC. The short stretch of US 522 in Maryland included this button copy guide sign for MD 144 in Hancock.

—Adam

08/02/2026

No trip to the Mojave Desert is really complete without a stop at an old mine. If you are a fan of vintage highway signs, old cars, machinery and old buildings the Techatticup Mine a short distance from the terminus of Nevada State Route 165 is worth the effort to visit.

Nevada State Route 165 is an 11.023-mile state highway in southern Clark County which is overlaid on part of Nelson Road. The state highway corridor begins at US Route 95 in El Dorado Valley and extends eastward to Western Street at the mining town of Nelson. Nelson Road continues approximately 7.2 miles east of Nelson through El Dorado Canyon through the former site of El Dorado City to the Colorado River.

El Dorado Canyon was the site of a large gold discover in 1859. By 1861 the Techatticup Mine had been staked and would begin operations the following year. The Techatticup Mine along with various other mines in El Dorado Canyon would form the basis for what became El Dorado City.

In 1867 the mines of El Dorado City would be annexed into the state of Nevada. The mining operations flourished due to the ease of access the Colorado River permitted to steamships. Haul roads branching south to the Mojave Road and north to the Mormon Road at Las Vegas would also be constructed to facilitate greater access through the Mojave Desert.

In 1905 the Las Vegas town plot would be established along the newly completed Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad. In 1907 the Barnwell & Searchlight Railway would be completed south of El Dorado Canyon. The then new railroads shifted the primary method of hauling ore from El Dorado Canyon from the Colorado River onto what is now Nelson Road and Nelson Cutoff Road. In 1907 the El Dorado Canyon Post Office would close and relocate a short distance to the west at the new town site of Nelson.

The Arrowhead Trail would bring major signed Auto Trail to the vicinity of Nelson beginning in 1916. By the 1939 the corridor had been improved enough that it was approved as part of an extension of US Route 95 to Blythe, California.

Nevada State Route 60 would be commissioned in 1941 to serve Nelson and the mines of El Dorado Canyon. Nevada State Route 60 was a tri-point highway which followed the entirety of Nelson Road from US Route 95 in El Dorado Valley through Nelson to the Colorado River. The southern segment of Nevada State Route 60 followed Nelson Cutoff Road towards US Route 95 near Searchlight.

During World War II the Techatticup Mine would shutter due to high labor costs. The site of El Dorado City would decline to a ghost town whereas nearby Nelson would linger on. The marina at Nelson's Landing would later be destroyed by flash floods out of El Dorado Canyon in 1974. The destruction of the marina resulted in ten fatalities.

During July 1976 the wider Nevada State Highway Renumbering took place. The segments of Nevada State Route 60 on Nelson Cutoff Road and on Nelson Road east of Nelson were relinquished. The remaining portion of highway on Nelson Road between US Route 95 and Nelson was reassigned as Nevada State Route 165.

08/01/2026

This view is along the Roosevelt Coast Highway approximately 15 miles north of Gold Beach approaching what is now Sisters Rock State Park. This photo was featured in the 1923-1924 Oregon Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission.

Roosevelt Coast Military Highway #9 was approved for construction in 1919 and broke ground during 1921. As the name implies the highway was mostly aligned along the Pacific Coast of Oregon. In November 1926 this corridor would be designated as part of US Route 101 when the US Route System was commissioned by AASHO. The corridor was renamed as Oregon Coast Highway in 1931. Sisters Rock wouldn't become a Oregon State Park until 2005.

08/01/2026

Centerville is one of the oldest communities in what is now Fresno County having been founded as Scottsburg in 1854. The Centerville community has historically been tied to the history of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road and the Squaw Valley Road. The Squaw Valley Road would later be known as Dunlap Road and became a component of California State Route 180 in August 1934. By the 1940s the corridor was renamed Kings Canyon Road in reference to Kings Canyon National Park.

For the majority of the life of California State Route 180 in Centerville, it has not strayed far from Kings Canyon Road. This changed in 2020 when California State Route 180 was relocated onto the Kings Canyon Expressway. This blog serves as an overview of the history of California State Route 180 and general evolution of highways in Centerville.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2026/08/former-california-state-route-180-in.html?m=1