Along Old Ridge Rte., roughly bounded by Sandberg and Canton Canyon, Castaic, California. County/parish: Los Angeles.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places September 25, 1997. NRIS 97001113.
1 contributing site.Also known as:
The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic–Tejon Route and colloquially known as the Grapevine, was a two-lane highway between Los Angeles County and Kern County, California. Opened in 1915 and paved with concrete between 1917 and 1921, the road was the first paved highway directly linking the Los Angeles Basin with the San Joaquin Valley (southern Central Valley) over the Tejon Pass and the rugged Sierra Pelona Mountains ridge south of Gorman. Much of the old road runs through the Angeles National Forest, and passes many historical landmarks, including the National Forest Inn, Reservoir Summit, Kelly's Half Way Inn, Tumble Inn, and Sandberg's Summit Hotel. North of the forest, the Ridge Route passed through Deadman's Curve before ending at Grapevine.
The road was originally built as a state highway, a segment of the unsigned Legislative Route 4, before it became signed as part of U.S. Route 99 (US 99) in 1926. The road was then bypassed by the three-lane Ridge Route Alternate to handle increased traffic and remove curves; the Alternate in Los Angeles County was completed in 1933, and Kern County line to Grapevine in 1936. The roadway was widened to a four-lane expressway in 1953 and replaced by an eight-lane freeway, Interstate 5 (I-5) in 1960-70. The portion of the road in the Angeles National Forest was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, by the efforts of Harrison Scott. Much of the road has been closed by the U.S. Forest Service; other remnants are used by local traffic.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859455