The Rincon Parkway is a portion of
California State Route 1 along the north coast of
Ventura County, California
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...
. This narrow coastal area north of the city of
Ventura and south of the
Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Santa Barba ...
line is commonly referred to as The Rincon. The automobile route along this portion of coastline opened up in 1913 as the Rincon Causeway or the Rincon Sea Level Road as the first driveable coastal route for motorists traveling between
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California.
The access road alongside the railroad bed, that cut through the area in 1886, provided the basis for building the Rincon Sea Level Road.
History
Historical travel by foot or horseback along the small alluvial fan beaches and coastal bluffs had to wait for the low tide due to the rock outcroppings which have always made travel difficult along this dramatic meeting of the
Santa Ynez Mountains
The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges.
The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age create ...
with the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
. A safer but longer and steeper route was over Casitas Pass and is the more likely route used to travel between
Mission San Buenaventura
Mission San Buenaventura ( es, Misión San Buenaventura), formally known as the Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura, is a Catholic parish and basilica in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The parish church in the city of Ventura, California, Uni ...
and
Mission Santa Barbara
Mission Santa Barbara ( es, link=no, Misión de Santa Bárbara) is a Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California. Often referred to as the ‘Queen of the Missions,’ it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on December ...
than the
El Camino Real as designated with commemorative bell markers.
Stagecoaches along the coast were delayed by high tides, storms, mud or rock slides before an alternate route was established over the inland Casitas Pass that was accessed by traveling through the narrow
Ventura River
The Ventura River, in western Ventura County in southern California, United States, flows from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. The smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, it flows through the steeply sloped, narrow Ventura V ...
Valley towards
Ojai
Ojai ( ; Chumash: ''’Awhaỳ'') is a city in Ventura County, California. Located in the Ojai Valley, it is northwest of Los Angeles and east of Santa Barbara. The valley is part of the east–west trending Western Transverse Ranges and is ...
. The route over the Casitas Pass was still used for stagecoach travel to the Santa Barbara area after the opening of
a tunnel through the
San Fernando Pass in 1876 which completed the inland railroad route and provided an alternate means of travel to northern California.
[Redmon, Michael (November 21, 2011]
"Rincon Point Road "
'' Santa Barbara Independent''
As the
automobile age began, motorists had to follow the Ventura River Valley towards
Nordhoff to the
road over Casitas Pass. Civic boosters were eager to open the more direct coastal route. The moment arrived with the construction of the
Coast Line by
Southern Pacific Railroad. The construction of the railroad had provided an unimproved road flanked by
rip-rap
Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...
but it was often flooded in several sections from the ocean waves.
Civic boosters started raising funds locally to pave the road and build wooden causeways where needed. Ventura resident
E. P. Foster was a leader in this effort together with Franklin E. Kellogg, secretary of the Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce. Sufficient funds to complete the project had not been raised locally when the newly formed
State Highway Commission took over and completed the road.
[Gyllstrom, Paul]
"Rincon Sea-Level Road Soon Completed" ''Motor Age,''
Volume XXII, 17 October 1912, p. 24-25 Waves hit the pilings during storm surges and regular maintenance was required. In 1926,
US 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
was established as one of the original
U.S. Routes. The road was modernized with a concrete seawall and the "rickey elevated road was scrapped."
Motor Age magazine from the era described the project in some detail.
The method of construction is simple. Eucalyptus piles are driven, cross-beams are laid, then the floor of the causeway, and the wooden railings on each side. Asphalt
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...
will in time be laid. All causeways are twenty feet wide.
A new bridge over the Ventura River also opened in 1913 when the causeways were complete being forerunners to the impact
automobiles would have in the 1920s.
[City of Ventur]
"Grand Projects 1913: The Year of Ventura's ''Big Bang''"
''City Hall Centennial'' Official Webpage
Accessed 28 October 2013
a freeway bypass was completed from
Emma Wood State Beach
Emma Wood State Beach is a California State Beach in Ventura, California. It is located on the Santa Barbara Channel on the west side of the Ventura River estuary and south of the railroad tracks of the Coast Line and the US Highway 101 freewa ...
north to the Mobil Pier Undercrossing near
Sea Cliff
Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to:
;Places
''Australia''
*Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide
* Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
*Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales
''New Zealand''
*Seacl ...
. US 101 was then re-routed onto this freeway bypass, while the original two-lane alignment of this portion of the Rincon Sea Level Road was re-signed as part of
State Route 1. In other segments of the old Rincon Sea Level Road, US 101 has been upgraded to either a four-lane freeway or expressway.
Recreation
The beaches along the coast are a popular destination for day use with
recreational vehicle camping available along the edge of the roadway in several areas.
See also
History of California's state highway system
The state highway system in the U.S. state of California dates back to 1896, when the state took over maintenance of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road. Before then, roads and streets were managed exclusively by Local government in California, local gove ...
References
{{Ventura, California
Transportation buildings and structures in Ventura County, California
Historic trails and roads in California
Roads in Ventura County, California
Road bridges in California
Transport infrastructure completed in 1913
California State Route 1
U.S. Route 101
1913 establishments in California
Named highways in California