05/20/2026
- Origins of the Old Ridge Route - (Part 2)
While this was going on, The Automobile Club of Southern California had been campaigning for Good Roads. Southern California’s Good Roads campaign was called the most advanced "west of the Mississippi". They were actively working with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to push for improvements. They had signed many routes and made maps to make travel safer.
But soon came the explosion of the automobile, and California had already been planning for it.
1908, the Model T was made widely available. This was the game changer in transportation. The automobile became a serious contender for the railroads and stagecoaches of the time.
After 14 years of the Auto Clubs campaigning, the 1909 California First Highway State Bond Act was passed. Bringing $18 Million of funding to construct the new State Highway System. With the intent of creating a “continuous and connected state highway system”. “No longer will counties be spoken of as being ‘remote or inaccessible”. They prioritized the most direct routes, with doable grades and good drainage.
The goal was to have passable, all weather routes, connecting a rapidly dividing state. This particular route being one of two “trunk roads” - the primary north-south. Sister roads, the Coastal Route and our, yet to be determined, Inland Route.
But could they agree on the path it would follow?
Check back in a few days for the next chapter in the story of the Old Ridge Route.
Photo: Old Ridge Route, near Frazier Park. collection
