Oregon History and Beyond Blog - Klamath Falls, OR
N 42° 13.454 W 121° 46.778
10T E 600713 N 4675393
The posted coordinates to my personal blog are at my local post office, the tangible version of blogging?
Waymark Code: WMQB31
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 01/26/2016
Views: 28
In January 2016 I created my first-ever blog site dedicated to all things historical that I may encounter in my travels throughout the West Coast United States.
My first blog topic revolves around the historic milestones of Oregon. Portland, Oregon contains over nine milestones dating to the 1870s. Those milestones inspired me to search for other milestones that may exist in Oregon. I was able to discover that in 1924 the Oregon State Highway Department placed concrete mileposts (another term for these, since they were not made of stone) starting at the Columbia River and heading south and numbered accordingly (1, 2, 3, 4 etc.) along the newly-paved Pacific Highway No. 1 (the longest paved highway in the United States at that time and the first paved highway west of the Mississippi). The Pacific Highway became US 99 in 1927 and then eventually would become Interstate-5 in the 1960s that we know today.
At present, most of the original Pacific Highway has been absorbed into country roads and broken up into sections here and there throughout Oregon. Tracing the exact route of the old highway is a major challenge. Some of the highway remnants can be visited with a quick drive or hike in the hills and countrysides of Oregon. Other sections are now part of Interstate-5 and impossible to appreciate its historical significance except via historical photos. The majority of the mileposts that were placed have also been destroyed due to road widening, vandalism, road crew projects and the victim of Mother Nature herself. But some still survive.
Thus far, I have been able to locate five mileposts along a 30-mile stretch of the original Pacific Highway No. 1 in southern Oregon. I will continue to search for other mileposts along original stretches of the old Pacific Highway in the future.
In September 2016 I wrote a blog devoted to all the historical markers throughout Klamath County and have included a Google map of all the markers I've located thus far.
I also wrote a blog about the E Clampus Vitus historical markers that mainly exist in Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona. These markers are dedicated to preserving the history of the American West, in particular, the former gold mining towns that sprung up after the Gold Rush of the mid 1800s.
I will be writing additional posts of some interesting parts of the West Coast in the future. Enjoy the reads!
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