Grapevine is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, at the southern end of the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

. The small village is directly adjacent to

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

and consists mainly of travelers' and roadside services. At an elevation of , the community is located at the foot of a grade known as the Grapevine that lies in Grapevine Canyon through the

Tejon Pass The Tejon Pass , previously known as ''Portezuelo de Cortes'', ''Portezuela de Castac'', and Fort Tejon Pass is a mountain pass between the southwest end of the Tehachapi Mountains and northeastern San Emigdio Mountains, linking Southern Califor ...

Etymology

The village and grade are named for the canyon the trail passed through, after the wild

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

s that grow along the original road. Its Spanish name is ''La Cañada de las Uvas'', that is, ''Grapevine Ravine.''

Geography

The ZIP Code is 93243, and the community is inside

area code 661 Area code 661 is a California telephone area code that covers the majority of Kern County, as well as part of Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County, and Tulare County. It was split from area code 805 on February 13, 1999. Principal cities i ...

. A post office operated at Grapevine from 1923 to 1960. The community of

Wheeler Ridge Wheeler Ridge is an unincorporated community in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley, within Kern County, California. It is at the junction of the valley floor and the Wheeler Ridge landform of the Tehachapi Mountains. Geography The community is ...

lies three miles north of Grapevine on Interstate 5, with

Lebec Lebec is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community and census-designated place in southwestern Kern County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 1,468. Geography Lebec is located in Castac Valley ...

nine miles south. Dead-Man's Curve in Lebec, California, 2010

Before the road was straightened and widened during 1933–34 by the three-lane

Ridge Route Alternate The Ridge Route, officially the Castaic–Tejon Route, 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 ...

(US 99), the Grapevine was infamous for its high accident rate. There are escape ramps branching off both sides of the downward part of the road for heavy trucks whose brakes fail on this five mile long, 6% grade, 1600-foot ascent - and now straight - grade. The Grapevine is subject to severe weather and closure to traffic in winter. The stretch of I-5 through the Grapevine and the Tejon Pass is sometimes closed by the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcem ...

, generally because of the icy conditions combined with the steep grade of the pass, and the high volume of traffic during the winter holidays. Occasionally, heavy rains will cause mud and rockslides, closing the freeway. The Highway Patrol is also concerned, especially with the large number of big-rigs that pass through, that just one accident in the icy or snowy conditions might force traffic to slow down or come to a complete stop, leaving hundreds of vehicles stalled at once. Whenever there is such a closure, traffic must either wait for it to reopen, or endure a slow multi-hour detour.''Grapevine Closures: It's for Our Own Good''
Jorge Barrientos; "

The Bakersfield Californian ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is a daily newspaper serving Bakersfield, California and surrounding Kern County in the state's San Joaquin Valley. History ''The Bakersfield Californian'' is the direct descendant of Kern County's first newsp ...

," December 20, 2008.

Landmark

The top of the Grapevine is registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#283, where Don Pedro Fages passed through in 1772 during his explorations through California.

Future development

The

Tejon Ranch Company Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land gr ...

is planning further development in the area, which it identified as at "the northern base of the

grapevine, starting at the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

in the southernmost portion of the

, extending parallel to the

Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company (), based in Lebec, California, is one of the largest private landowners in California. The company was incorporated in 1936 to organize the ownership of a large tract of land that was consolidated from four Mexican land gr ...

Commerce Center along I-5". A company spokesman said the development would result in 12,000 to 14,000 homes and 5.1 million square feet of commercial development. In addition, the company has identified seven thousand additional acres for a development to be called Grapevine North.Patric Hedlund, "Tejon Ranch Positioned to Begin Building in Lebec, Gorman and Grapevine," ''The Mountain Enterprise,'' May 21, 2021, page 5

References

External links

*
The Mountain Enterprise
' - local newspaper serving readers of Grapevine and some other small communities.

Additional reading

Paul Duginski, "The Grapevine Is the Heart of California's Freeway System; It's Also Vulnerable," ''Los Angeles Times,'' December 28, 2019
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Kern County, California San Joaquin Valley Tehachapi Mountains Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass Unincorporated communities in California