CONNECTIONS

Roads

Successful development and growth of a town occur when one has easy access to the area. A variety of transportation modes brought people into Carlsbad by road, train and air. The importance of roads cannot be overlooked, as they are fundamental in allowing access into and out of an area. The first documented account of land travel comes from the 1769 Crespi- Portola records. The Spanish Exploration team walked north, along a preexisting trail on the eastern side of Carlsbad's three lagoons. Originally made by Native Americans and later improved on by the Spanish, Californios and early American settlers, the trail followed the upper ridgelines on the coastal hills. Staying on the high ground facilitated travel by eliminating severe erosion. Bits and pieces of this trail became El Camino Real and it was Carlsbad's first road. During the Rancho days, El Camino Real provided the only north southland transportation route for travelers, passing through Rancho Agua Hedionda. What is believed to be Carlsbad's first home, the Kelly Adobe, was constructed between 1842 and 1853 by Juan Maria Marron and was located close to El Camino Real. Once rail lines were established, El Camino Real played an important role in train service. Stagecoaches traveled the road daily bringing passengers to the coastal train depots. El Camino Real remained a simple oiled dirt road up to the late 1940s. After Camp Pendleton was established north of Carlsbad, the Marine Corps advocated for improvements on El Camino Real. The Marine Corps wanted two land routes connecting their base to San Diego. Prior to the 1940's, Highway 101 was the only road running all the way from San Diego to Los Angeles. Often, coastal weather conditions obscured visibility on Highway 101 and slow moving traffic caused congestion. Road widening and paving began along El Camino Real from the northern border of Vista Way south to Palomar Airport Road.

In the late 1960's, construction began on the Plaza Camino Real Shopping Center, located at the intersection of El Camino Real and Highway 78. San Diego County and the City of Carlsbad undertook a joint project widening the two lane El Camino Real to four lanes in anticipation of future mall traffic.

Between 1970 and 2000 a tremendous amount of development and construction occurred along El Camino Real. Housing subdivisions, shopping centers and business parks gradually replaced the agricultural fields running along either side of the road. Increased traffic and congestion on El Camino Real, traveling to and from the business parks highlighted the road's importance for the economic welfare of Carlsbad and its regional neighbors.

Highway 101, or Carlsbad Boulevard as it is called running through town, is another road that had a significant impact on the city. Running north to south along the coastline, it was the first road that directly connected Carlsbad to San Diego in the south and Oceanside in the north. In Carlsbad the road was originally known as Lincoln Avenue was changed to Carlsbad Boulevard when the State of California realigned the Coast Highway in 1927. It was just 12 years earlier; in 1915 that the Coast Road was paved and the old wooden bridge over the Buena Vista Lagoon was replaced by a concrete structure.

The realignment of Lincoln/Carlsbad Boulevard along with the construction of a Rail Road overpass caused considerable concern within the Carlsbad Business District. Through traffic now bypassed the State Street business district. Business owners feared the street "diversion gave visitors little opportunity to view the 'real' town" (Carlsbad Journal, 1927). However, rather than adversely affecting business, the street realignment spurred the establishment of several new enterprises. In the late 1920's, The Shade a Sea Auto Inn, The Red Apple, and The Carlsbad Mineral Springs Hotel were constructed along the newly realigned Carlsbad Boulevard.

Carlsbad's appeal as a tourist destination began with the construction of new businesses on Carlsbad Boulevard.

The Carlsbad Mineral Springs Hotel that opened in 1930 brought celebrities to Carlsbad throughout the depression years. They came to the Hotel to rest, partake in mineral baths, and to participate in Doctor Seixas' exercise programs broadcast in the evenings on radio station KNX from the Buena Vista Lagoon. The restorative affects of mineral baths brought baseball teams such as The Padres, who sent their pitchers and catchers to Carlsbad for preliminary spring training. Padres' owner H. W. Lane highly recommended Carlsbad to all ball teams, stating that the climate, the baths and the hotel accommodations created the ideal spot for spring training. This constituted a major change in focus for the city. Rather than being just a place known for its agriculture, the concept of Carlsbad as a final vacation destination took hold.

Established places like the Twin Inns Restaurant also prospered from the newly realigned coast highway. The increase in tourism warranted construction of a larger dining room at the Twin Inns.

Prior to 1952 the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, acting as a defacto government, sought solutions from appropriate government agencies of San Diego County or California State Government to solve local problems. While State Street and Carlsbad Boulevard were paved in 1935, most of the other streets in town were dirt roads. The Chamber asked John Cole, San Diego County's Road Superintendent, to implement a State Emergency Relief Association program so that six miles of Carlsbad roads could be graded and oiled. Oiling streets lowered their maintenance costs and protected valuable trees and crops from harmful clouds of dust. In the downtown area streets were gradually paved and sewer lines laid.

Three years later, in 1938, the Carlsbad Chamber submitted another petition to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to change several street names. At this time County Avenue became Basswood and County Road became Chestnut.

The Chamber of Commerce made a major effort to beautify city streets. Renowned horticulturist Kate Sessions often spoke to Carlsbad groups such as the Woman's Club and the Chamber of Commerce. During the 1920's and 30's she offered expert advice on which trees and plants would do well in the coastal climate. Massive plantings of avocados, sub-tropical fruit trees and eucalyptus dominated Carlsbad streets, lagoons and hillsides. Trees abounded around Buena Vista and Agua Hedionda lagoons, as well as on Highland and Chestnut. Tree planting made the city more visually appealing and attracted tourists and investors.

An abundance of trees became one of Carlsbad's most notable features. Elm Street was a tunnel of Eucalyptus trees from Carlsbad Boulevard to Highland, planted in 1886 by the Carlsbad Land and Water Company. The trees on Elm Street were removed when State funds became available for street improvements in 1955. The increased traffic on Elm, due to the newly constructed Interstate 5 freeway off ramp, made the street improvements necessary. Citizens protested the removal of their beloved trees, stating, "without beautiful trees we would be just another ordinary little town"(Greenwood, Carlsbad Journal, 1955). However, the California State Department of Highways adamantly insisted that the "State Gas Tax Money" slated for the Elm Street improvements could only be used when the road width increased from 20 feet to 40 feet. This road expansion could not be accomplished by retaining the trees. Carlsbad's financially strapped government could not afford sentimentality and the trees were removed.

Interstate 5 was the third and last north-south road running through Carlsbad. A 10.7mile section of this highway was constructed between Carlsbad and Oceanside in 1953 and by 1966 a 25-mile stretch between La Costa Avenue on south to San Diego was completed. Interstate 5 brought immense change to Carlsbad. The freeway bisected the city and forced the realignment of roads such as Pio Pico, which meant moving City Hall and Fire Station #1 and dealt a blow to the downtown business district. Before Interstate 5 opened, traffic on Highway 101 (Carlsbad Blvd.) averaged 55,000 cars a day. Volume dropped to 7,000 in 1966. However, just as the 1927 realignment of Carlsbad Boulevard created new businesses, the construction of I-5 also cremated new business opportunities. Interstate 5 increased accessibility to the city for tourists and local residents.

After Carlsbad incorporated in 1952, oversight of neighborhood street development and maintenance was transferred from San Diego County to the city. Curbs, sidewalks and street widening took place throughout town. Improvements on Roosevelt undertaken in 1959 used funds from the 1911 Street Acts.

The city implemented street naming policy in 1973, pointing out how easy the new system was for locating an address. When the City annexed La Costa, the growth in city boundaries made the implementation of an easier street naming system necessary so that a street could be located in an emergency situation. The first part of the system was naming a street based on its location in one of seven predetermined city areas. Each of these seven areas of the city was assigned a name designation of an animal, a famous person, a flower, tree, bird, a Spanish name or a topographical characteristic, as long as it did not conflict with a preexisting name. The total name with spaces included could not exceed 17 spaces, in order to fit in street signs. The designation following the name, Street, Drive, Paseo, or Avenue, indicated if the street ran North-South or East-West, or if it was straight or curvy. However this policy was only for newly constructed roads and was not retroactive.

In 1976 the Chamber of Commerce suggested that the city change Elm to Carlsbad Village Drive, which violated the 17 character maximum rule. Changing Elm Street to Carlsbad Village was suggested as a way to encourage tourism into the downtown area, which was suffering from the I-5 road diversion in 1966 and from the 1968 opening of the Plaza Camino Real Mall. The Carlsbad City Planning Department pointed out two potential problems with changing the name: confusion with the already existing Carlsbad Boulevard and the cost of changing the Interstate 5 signs. The City Council endorsed the change in 1987, estimating the actual cost of street sign changes to be $5,000. However, they did not consider that the name changes on I-5 freeway signs would increase from a standard 16 feet to 26 feet, increasing the cost to $143,000!

From the late 1970's through the early 1990's the city implemented a series of improvements to provide a safer road system in Carlsbad for both drivers and pedestrians. Street improvements entailed elimination of street parking on Elm. Diagonal parking changed to parallel parking on Carlsbad Boulevard, and parking lots were added on Roosevelt and State streets. More off street parking made driving easier and safer. In 1989 massive road improvements along Carlsbad Boulevard included sea wall walks, a wider road and better bridges, all of which enhanced the enjoyment of the Pacific Ocean, one of Carlsbad's most treasured resources.

Sometimes street improvements, with safety in mind, conflict with aesthetic considerations. So far, the city has tried to find a balance that complements functionality and beauty.

Connections: Carlsbad and the Outside World

Trains

In 1881, Robert Kelly gave the California Southern Railway permission to lay a rail line through his Rancho Agua Hedionda property. Before this time, those who arrived or departed or simply passed through Rancho Agua Hedionda had to do so on foot, by horse, ox cart or wagon. John Kelly's narrative,” Life on a San Diego Rancho,” detailed his family’s 1868 trip to their Los Kiotes homestead by wagon from San Diego. He said that it took a full day to travel from San Diego to Carlsbad. The ox cart that was carrying the household goods took two days to travel the same distance. The travel time involved before the arrival of trains was dependent the road conditions or what was hauled in wagons or by herding.

Rail service provided new opportunities for those who were already living in the area. Train travel meant they could go to and from San Diego in a matter of hours, no longer making it an all day journey. It gave them greater accessibility to the outside world and opened up a wealth of opportunities: easier travel, an influx of new people and new forms of employment. People could easily move to Carlsbad to engage in businesses other than ranching. They could undertake enterprises such as commercial farming that depended on getting crops to market before they spoiled. If the school system was not adequate, they could send their children to a larger city. Residents realized the train was a convenient mode of transportation.

While early rail service was a boon to the local population, it was also unreliable and unpredictable. Trains did not always stop at a station. W.W. Borden reported in the July 1886 edition of the Plain Truth newspaper, "It is easy to hear the Cannonball train arriving since it sounds like thunder." This was a good tip for his readers, because passengers often needed to flag the train down in order for it to stop. Sometimes they would set a small brush fire on the tracks to alert the train engineer. The cattle guard on the front of the train would disperse the burning material. Those waiting passengers would stomp out the fire and get onboard.

Several station stops built along the rail lines north and south of Rancho Agua Hedionda served the outlying ranches and inland towns. The largest of these stations eventually became the Carlsbad Depot, built just beyond Rancho Agua Hedionda’s northwest corner. The site acquired the name Frazier’s Station, after John Frazier opened his nearby mineral spring well and offered its waters to train passengers. The combination of water and train access opened the area for further development. When the Carlsbad Land and Water Company bought the land surrounding the rail lines and laid out a town, they changed the name of the station to Carlsbad. In 1920 the Santa Fe Railway, trying to eliminate confusion between Carlsbad, California and Carlsbad, New Mexico, shortened the station name to Carl. Citizen complaints forced the railway to reverse their decision rather quickly. The original depot for this station was an open shed that faced the rail lines. In 1907 the railway constructed the 24 by 64 square foot depot we currently enjoy. Ramps located on either side of the loading dock made it easier to move goods and produce from the train to the freight room or from farm wagons to the freight room for storage. For many years, the Carlsbad Train Station was the only way Carlsbad farmers could easily transport their crops to market.

Stewarts and Farr Stations, built south of the downtown station, handled freight and passenger service outside of the downtown Carlsbad area. Stewarts Station, constructed in 1884 close to present day Palomar Airport Road, stored grain and goods for the W.W. Stewart and Company Shippers and Commission Merchants, who also had a warehouse in San Diego. A dirt road known as Stewarts Road ran east from the station towards San Marcos, north of and roughly parallel to present day Palomar Airport Road. Bits and pieces of this road eventually became Palomar Airport Road. The San Diego Central Rail line, laid in 1887, connected Oceanside to Escondido. Before, inland rail service train passengers and freight came by stage or wagon to the coastal stations. The Hayes and Hicks Inland Mail and Stage Company ran stages daily from the inland towns to the coastal rail lines. Stewarts Station was often the closest station for those traveling to the rail lines.

Farr Station, built near present day Cannon road, was another small station mainly used for loading agricultural produce. William Sherman Kelly used Farr Station for loading his hay, since it was the one closest to his ranch.

By 1960 the decline of ranching and farming in Carlsbad had contributed to a drop in freight service. The need for rail service to town was over, a casualty of better roads and housing developments. Through the instigation and persuasion of Chris Christiansen, the old Santa Fe Depot gained new life and purpose after the City of Carlsbad began administration of the site in 1963.

For almost three decades trains passed through Carlsbad without stopping. In the 1990s the North County Transit District began a coastal commuter Rail service. The Coaster runs on the same rail lines as Amtrak, linking all the coastal cities between Oceanside and San Diego. This service provides many of the same benefits to Carlsbad residents today as the original rail service provided in 1881. It reduces travel time to and from the city, facilitates the establishment of new businesses, and opens Carlsbad to new opportunities.

Aviation

Construction of Carlsbad's first airport occurred shortly after World War II. Constructed on Tom Borden's land on the eastern corner of El Camino Real and Chestnut, the 1,600-foot runway was a bulldozed dirt strip. A few of the men who left Carlsbad to fight in the war learned to fly during their military service. After the war was over, they were able to buy surplus planes called BT’s or Basic Trainers from the Navy. Ralph Borden, Tom's son, was one of those wartime flyers. Noted for expertise with all things mechanical, he ran the small post war airport. However, it was Cline Canterini's instigation that fostered interest in flying for those Carlsbad boys who always wanted to learn how to fly. Affectionately known as an "airplane nut," Canterini grew up in Carlsbad and flew in the Pacific during the war. Monte Yearly, Robert Farquhar, Louie Mitchell and Major Russell and others contributed $50 each and bought a BT. Caterini taught them to fly for the price of gas and oil. Canterini inspired awe in those who knew him by flying a P51, which he bought in Sacramento, to Carlsbad and landing on the dirt runway. This was a feat that amazed those who understood how difficult this was to accomplish. Adding to the low-tech features of the airport was the lack of automatic runway lighting. If a plane was due to arrive after dark, someone ran over to the airfield and plugged in the landing lights.

Many of the local flyers and businesses took steps in 1954 to bring a commercial airport to town. The Carroll Kelly property, southeast of Carlsbad, seemed a good site as it had plenty of vacant land around it for development of aviation related businesses. One such business, located on Tyler Street, ran day and night shifts for production of Convair Interceptor parts.

Gerald McClellan, who first learned to fly at the old Chestnut airport and who was quoted as saying, "any reason in the world was a good reason to go flying," was instrumental in the early planning stages of developing the new commercial Palomar airport. Ground breaking ceremonies took place on June 24, 1958. Shortly after, in 1959, Palomar Airport opened with a 3,700-foot runway. Forty years later, in 1999, Palomar- McClellan, so named in 1981 to honor Gerald Mc McClellan, was the fifth most active airport in the nation. Accommodating private and commercial planes that use a 4,600-foot airstrip, this airport processes 290,000 takeoffs and landings a year, compared to 250,000 at San Diego's Lindbergh Field.