Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Santa Monica Freeway, 50 Years Ago

There are so many 50th anniversaries this year, of Marilyn Monroe's death, the only successful escape from Alcatraz (did they or didn't they survive?), of the Rolling Stones, the Chieftains, and the Beach Boys' existence, the James Bond movie franchise, Walmart's founding--but here's one I came across in Proquest: On June 21, 1962, the section of the Santa Monica Freeway between the Harbor Freeway and Hoover Street opened--eastbound only.

Fer you young'ns, the Harbor Freeway is the 110, while the Santa Monica is the 10.

There was still no eastbound connection from the Harbor Freeway. Officials hoped that both east and west lanes as far as Vermont would open by August.

And in fact, here is a picture from the LAPL's Herald Examiner photo collection of the opening ceremony for that stretch, on August 16, 1962. The dignitaries and speakers are not identified.

The Harbor Freeway, btw, filled in a gap between Torrance Blvd and Pacific Coast Highway in 1962 as well (it already had a portion from PCH to San Pedro.)

9 comments:

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Anonymous said...


I am not sure where you are getting your information, but great topic.

Vickey Kall said...

Aside from the LA Library, much of the info comes from archives of the Los Angeles Times on Proquest. Thanks for asking!

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