Weed CA - Totem Pole
Posted by: 
TheBeanTeam
N 41° 25.383 W 122° 23.273
10T E 551149 N 4585902
This totem pole was placed to mark the "start" of the Alcan or Alaskan Highway. This Alaskan style totem formerly served as the pole for a Safeway Stores revolving sign. Today the pole sits in the center of a parking lot for Ray's Market
Waymark Code: WM5M6D
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2009
Views: 14
The start of the Alcan or Alaskan Highway is debated and there are several locations other than Weed that claim the honor.
ExploreNorth has an article by Murray Lundberg that has this to say about the claim:
"Today, there is a lot of confusion about the highway. Many Americans still know it as the Alcan, and claims by communities as far away as Weed, California, that they are the start of the Alaska Highway, make finding the truth tougher than it should be."
The truth is that Weed is the beginning point of Route 97. The route in Alaska was proposed to become a portion of US 97. A 1957, AAA map even shows the route in Alaska as US97 and signs were even made in advance of the designation. The proposal was dropped because the Canadian Government would not alter their highway numbering scheme to match the US one.
Source: Alaska's US Highway(s)"
So is Weed at the start of The Alaskan Highway? Well, almost.
Flickr user romleys has a photo and history of the location in this flickr photo set.