El Camino Real in California is historically the road built in 1769 by Father Junípero Serra to connect the Catholic missions in Alta California between Sonoma in the north, and (what is now Presidio Park in) San Diego in the south, during the Spanish colonial era, and now a sequence of modern highways which approximate the historic route.
The following is a legal definition of El Camino Real according to the California Streets and Highways Code:
"State highway routes embracing portions of Routes 280, 82, 238, 101, 5, 72, 12, 37, 121, 87, 162, 185, 92, and 123 and connecting city streets and county roads thereto, and extending in a continuous route from Sonoma southerly to the international border and near the route historically known as El Camino Real shall be known and designated as 'El Camino Real'." [CS&HC Sec. 635(b)] Many streets throughout California today have the name of this famous road, often with little factual relation to the original.
The iconic status of El Camino Real on the San Francisco Peninsula (where it is signed as Route 82, and usually abbreviated as El Camino) is such that navigation is usually done relative to it, and it defines logical north and south in the area, even though it is closer to north-west/south-east. Visitors to the area are often confounded by the street numbers on El Camino Real, which reset (often to 100) when each new city is entered (roughly every two or three miles). To make matters even more confusing, the road alternates between West, East, and (plain) El Camino seemingly without much logic. Locally, El Camino runs past Stanford University, Santa Clara University and through downtown San Jose.
In Southern California, the road follows Harbor Boulevard in Orange County, Whittier Boulevard/Route 72, Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, the Cahuenga Pass, and Ventura Boulevard. San Francisco's Mission Street continues the route, connecting what is now California State Highway 82 to Mission Dolores.
The modern El Camino Real was one of the first state highways in California. Given the lack of standardized road signs at the time, it was decided to place distinctive bells along the route, in the form of a shepherd's crook. The first of 450 bells was unveiled in 1906 in Los Angeles. Most of the bells eventually disappeared due to vandalism or theft. Then, in 2004, Caltrans finally decided to replace the bells. As of 2005, 450 bells have been installed along Highway 101, to Los Angeles, and there are plans to continue this to San Diego.
Historic designations
- California Historic Landmark #784 - El Camino Real (starting point in San Diego)
See also
Last updated: 06-02-2005 12:04:02
