There is a town on Old U.S. Highway 80, in Yuma County, called Tacna. According to "The Old U.S. 80 Highway Traveler's Guide" by Eric J. Finley, the town's name came from Tachnapolis, a 17th century Greek priest who came to Arizona after spending time in California to spend his dying days with the local Indians. This name was given to the town, which was previously called Antelope Hill, by Max Noah. At least that is the story that Max Noah told people. I don't know if the story is true or not. Sounds like the author of "Old U.S. 80 Highway Traveler's guide" has his doubts, too. A Greek priest named Tachnapolis did exist, however.
Five miles west of Tacna is a ghost town called Noah. Noah, or what's left of it, is halfway between Tacna and Wellton. Wellton is the biggest town in Yuma County that is outside of the Yuma area, where most of the population lives. Wellton has about 2,000 people.
There isn't much left of Noah, just an abandoned gas station, some scattered debris from long gone buildings, and Antelope High School. That's right, a high school located in a ghost town. Antelope High School has about 400 students and it draws from a huge area of Yuma County east of the Gila Mountains, which are also called the Fortuna Mountains(my preferred name for the mountain range). The school district goes all the way to the boundary with Maricopa County east of Dateland. I am not sure how far north the school district goes, but it goes south all the way to the Mexican border.
Antelope High School is located in a rural area. In fact there is farmland all around the campus. The high school was named after nearby Antelope Hill. The school's mascot is the Rams. The abandoned gas station on Old Highway 80 that I just mentioned is always painted in Antelope High School's colors (red, white and blue). From what I have been told, the senior class of Antelope High School repaints the abandoned gas station with a different theme every year. I am assuming that theme is the Homecoming theme. If that is true, it is an interesting use of an abandoned gas station. It certainly appears to be true because every time I have gone through that area, the gas station was painted with a different theme.
At the end of this 33 mile stretch of Old U.S. Highway 80 is a tiny town called Ligurta. "Ligurta" maybe a corruption of "lagarto," which is Spanish for lizard. Ligurta only has about 25 people. It is mostly an RV park these days. The RV park gets bigger, much bigger, in the winter months when "snowbirds," or winter visitors from cold northern states and Canada, converge on this area to take advantage of the balmy winter weather.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Mohawk Valley
Thirteen miles west of Dateland, there exists a long, continuous stretch of Old U.S. Highway 80. This stretch runs for 33 miles and, even though it is merely a county maintained road now, it is a very busy road. It serves the farms in this area and the 3 towns that still exist along the old highway. These towns are: Tacna, with 600 people; Wellton, with 2,000 people and Ligurta with 30 people. This stretch of the highway runs north of Interstate 8. In some places, it is only about half a mile from the busy interstate, in other places, it is 2 or 3 miles from the interstate. This stretch of the old highway has alot of traffic and seems like it could warrant a state highway designation, but it is merely a county road that is called "Old Highway 80."
Almost immediately after departing Interstate 8 at Exit #54, Old Highway 80 crests Mohawk Pass, which is a gap in the Big Horn Mountains. In this mountain pass, three different alignments of the old highway are visible, but the two older ones are undriveable now.
Just below the pass is a big lot of junked cars and two, antique gas pumps, vintage approximately late 1950s. There is a crudely handlettered sign that identifies this site as "Owl." But there is nothing left of this town except for a vast amount of surface debris, the gas pumps and the junked car lot. Most maps, however, show a town called Mohawk in this general vicinity. Mohawk is also a remnant of the past, but, either these two towns were very close together, they had interchangeable names, or the town changed names at some point, I'm not sure. Anyway, I like the old style gas pumps, they have character.
I'll bet all of these junked cars met their demise on highway 80 when it was the main travel artery through this area.
This is a rich agricultural area. Most of the water is delivered long distance from the Colorado River, but the Gila River runs along the north edge of this area. Notice I said "runs" instead of "flows." The Gila River, one of the Colorado's longest tributaries (633 miles), is usually dry through this area, as it is for the final 300 miles of its length. There is subsurface water, but the water table gets lower every year as the population increases. Later, I will go into more details about how the Colorado's water is delivered to this area. It comes from a dam north of Yuma, astride the California border. It is really sad what has become of a once great river, a river that carved the Grand Canyon.
Almost immediately after departing Interstate 8 at Exit #54, Old Highway 80 crests Mohawk Pass, which is a gap in the Big Horn Mountains. In this mountain pass, three different alignments of the old highway are visible, but the two older ones are undriveable now.
Just below the pass is a big lot of junked cars and two, antique gas pumps, vintage approximately late 1950s. There is a crudely handlettered sign that identifies this site as "Owl." But there is nothing left of this town except for a vast amount of surface debris, the gas pumps and the junked car lot. Most maps, however, show a town called Mohawk in this general vicinity. Mohawk is also a remnant of the past, but, either these two towns were very close together, they had interchangeable names, or the town changed names at some point, I'm not sure. Anyway, I like the old style gas pumps, they have character.
I'll bet all of these junked cars met their demise on highway 80 when it was the main travel artery through this area.
This is a rich agricultural area. Most of the water is delivered long distance from the Colorado River, but the Gila River runs along the north edge of this area. Notice I said "runs" instead of "flows." The Gila River, one of the Colorado's longest tributaries (633 miles), is usually dry through this area, as it is for the final 300 miles of its length. There is subsurface water, but the water table gets lower every year as the population increases. Later, I will go into more details about how the Colorado's water is delivered to this area. It comes from a dam north of Yuma, astride the California border. It is really sad what has become of a once great river, a river that carved the Grand Canyon.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
" The Broadway Of America"
"The Broadway Of America" is the name that was used in reference to U.S. Highway 80. This was in response to "The Main Street Of America," which was the nickname given to highway 80's famous cousin to the north, U.S. Highway 66, better known as "Route 66."
The Broadway of America, in its heyday, was a true coast to coast highway. It began in Tybee Island, Georgia, on the Atlantic Ocean, and ended in San Diego, California, on the Pacific Ocean, a distance of about 2,500 miles. It was an all-weather route, unlike its famous northern counterpart. Very rarely did any town along highway 80 receive snow.
Unlike Route 66, which has been entirely decommissioned by the federal government , U.S. Highway 80 still exists, at least the eastern half of its route still exists as a federal highway. It still begins in Tybee Island, Georgia, but now it ends in Dallas, Texas. The western terminus has been pulled back, piece by piece. In 1974, it was truncated to Gila Bend, Arizona. In 1977, it ended it Benson, Arizona, 45 miles east of Tucson. In 1991, it was truncated back to Monahans, Texas, then, a few years later, the end of the highway was placed in Dallas. The former segments of highway 80 in the West still exist in various forms, such as Interstate Highway Business Loops through towns ( Interstate 8 Business Loop through Yuma, Arizona, for example), state highways, county roads, or city streets. Some parts of it have been abandoned entirely and silently repose under the merciless desert sun.
In the days before 1926, that is before the current highway numbering system was started, what became U.S. Highway 80 was known as the Bankhead Highway. Before 1926, highways had names instead of numbers. What became U.S. Highway 66 was initially the National Old Trails Highway. What became U.S. Highway 40 was originally the National Road, etc. etc.
I have explored many old highways, both active and abandoned, and I have found the history of highway 80 to be one of the more fascinating ones. I have seen the entire routing of Old Highway 80 in Yuma County.
Now that my readers know a little about the history of U.S. Highway 80, I will continue with my writings about Yuma County, Arizona.
The Broadway of America, in its heyday, was a true coast to coast highway. It began in Tybee Island, Georgia, on the Atlantic Ocean, and ended in San Diego, California, on the Pacific Ocean, a distance of about 2,500 miles. It was an all-weather route, unlike its famous northern counterpart. Very rarely did any town along highway 80 receive snow.
Unlike Route 66, which has been entirely decommissioned by the federal government , U.S. Highway 80 still exists, at least the eastern half of its route still exists as a federal highway. It still begins in Tybee Island, Georgia, but now it ends in Dallas, Texas. The western terminus has been pulled back, piece by piece. In 1974, it was truncated to Gila Bend, Arizona. In 1977, it ended it Benson, Arizona, 45 miles east of Tucson. In 1991, it was truncated back to Monahans, Texas, then, a few years later, the end of the highway was placed in Dallas. The former segments of highway 80 in the West still exist in various forms, such as Interstate Highway Business Loops through towns ( Interstate 8 Business Loop through Yuma, Arizona, for example), state highways, county roads, or city streets. Some parts of it have been abandoned entirely and silently repose under the merciless desert sun.
In the days before 1926, that is before the current highway numbering system was started, what became U.S. Highway 80 was known as the Bankhead Highway. Before 1926, highways had names instead of numbers. What became U.S. Highway 66 was initially the National Old Trails Highway. What became U.S. Highway 40 was originally the National Road, etc. etc.
I have explored many old highways, both active and abandoned, and I have found the history of highway 80 to be one of the more fascinating ones. I have seen the entire routing of Old Highway 80 in Yuma County.
Now that my readers know a little about the history of U.S. Highway 80, I will continue with my writings about Yuma County, Arizona.
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