For a century, the route of Highway 99 has been the main transportation corridor in western Washington. Forest and farm products, fish, and families have all been a part of the flow of business and recreational travel between the Canadian border at Blaine and the Columbia River at Vancouver. What is now Highway 99 originated as a loose network of muddy roads connecting early settlements. With the dawn of the automobile age and construction of good roads, travel for business and pleasure began to shift away from ships and railroads to trucks and family cars. Roadside services developed within and between towns to cater to the new type of travelers--as many as 1,300 "gas, food, and lodging" businesses lined Highway 99, ranging from primitive auto camps to luxury hotels and from simple burger stands to roadside eateries shaped like giant tepees and igloos.

The portion of Californias Highway 99 between Modesto and Bakersfield presents a fascinating and nostalgic environment. The highway has a unique charm and character that are significant to California natives, visitors, and those who have moved to the California Central Valley over the past century. This roadway has never been upscale or presumptuous but is truly egalitarian. This book is a pictorial and textual history of the highway itself, the cities and towns along the highway, and other locations in Northern California that evoke the same nostalgic feelings. Presented here are images taken in the region before Highway 99 was officially established. It includes images that were captured over the past century of Giant Orange juice stands, vintage signs, historical buildings, and other attractions that are part of the heritage. The authors hope is to entertain, provoke thought, and provide glimpses into obscure slivers of history.

From the Columbia River to the Siskiyou Mountains, Highway 99 traverses 300 miles of western Oregon. Big cities and small towns, the level Willamette Valley and steep hills, rich agricultural lands and tall evergreen forests, and rushing rivers all lie along its path. Arising from an early network of emigrant trails, stagecoach routes, and farm-to-market roads, the highway had developed into Oregon's major transportation corridor by the end of the 19th century. The dawn of the automobile age saw an exponential increase in traffic, creating a greater demand for improved roads; these better roads, in turn, created yet more traffic for both business and recreation. Roadside businesses, such as auto courts, restaurants, and service stations, sprang up along the highway to cater to a new type of motorist--the tourist. Today, much of Highway 99 and its predecessor, the Pacific Highway, remain in daily use.

Before it was a modern freeway, California’s State Highway 99 was “the main street of California,” a simple two-lane road that passed through the downtowns of every city between the Mexican border and the Oregon state line. Highway 99: The History of California’s Main Street turns back the clock to those days when a narrow ribbon of asphalt tied the state’s communities together, with classic roadside attractions and plenty of fun along the way.