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 Ventura (Italian, Portuguese and Spanish for "fortune") may refer to: Places ; Brazil * Boa Ventura de São Roque, a municipality in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil * Boa Ventura, Paraíba, a municipality in the state of Paraíba, in t ...

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 language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, 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 List of Ca ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, 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 contine ...

. 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, Unit ...

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.

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

es 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 ...

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 The ''Santa Barbara Independent'' is a news, arts, and alternative newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or ...

'' 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 Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was ...

. 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 Eugene Preston Foster (April 4, 1848 – February 12, 1932), commonly known as E. P. Foster, was a rancher, entrepreneur, banker, and philanthropist in Ventura County, California. A native of Illinois, he moved to California and, in the early 187 ...

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 United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

. 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 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'' * Se ...

. 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 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbered S ...

. 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 A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and camp ...

camping available along the edge of the roadway in several areas.

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

History

Recreation

See also

References