As a way to keep track of the immense amount of data regarding old highways, I created highway logs to store the data. They were originally designed after 1940’s state highway logs from the Division of Highways. I have made them available on this website on my Site Documents page. The logs for US 6 and US 99 have recently been updated and have been uploaded.
Completed in 1876, this loop still stands as an engineering marvel and a unique way of keeping the grade steady while climbing over the Tehachapi Mountains between Bakersfield and Mojave.
The Historic American Engineering Record, a part of the National Park Service, produced a very detailed poster for identification of truss bridges. While these bridges aren’t as common in southern California, they still get plenty of use. Railroads are the most common user of these types of bridges, specifically the Pratt Truss.
City Heights, an area of San Diego east of North Park in the central area of the city, is a very old and culturally diverse neighborhood. It was also known as the City of East San Diego before being incorporated into the City of San Diego and renamed City Heights in the mid 1910’s.
In this map, the eastern portion of the University Heights Motor Road, a railway that was built solely to show potential buyers the lands in City Heights, as it passes through the area. The railroad was torn up just a couple years later.
San Diego has changed quite a bit since it was first laid out in the late 1700’s. As the city grew, new neighborhoods were planned farther out from the city center. One of these, University Heights, is still around today by the same name albeit covering a smaller area. The original plan, from 1888, was mostly built and is still quite recognizable today. One major item, a lake known as Mystic Lake, was never constructed. Today, the canyon remains undeveloped and is considered public open space. In addition to the lake,
The map also shows a small section of right-of-way for a railroad just east of Park Blvd. This railroad, the University Heights Motor Road, was built as a way to bring prospective buyers from downtown to East San Diego (later City Heights). It was dismantled not long after construction but traces still remain on maps and in Switzer Canyon.
The name, University Heights, stems from a planned university that was to be sited there. A small teacher’s college, which later became San Diego State University, was indeed located there. In the 1950’s, the structures were mostly torn down except one which remains today. The site is the headquarters for the San Diego Unified School District.
