You’ve probably noticed the Highway 40 historical signs along Adams Street in Dixon. Some of you may be old enough to recall that all the motor vehicle traffic going between Sacramento and San Francisco once went right through Dixon using this route instead of bypassing the city on the north as Freeway 80 does today.

In the early 1900s, after the transcontinental railroads connected the eastern U.S. with the western states, there was a push to provide routes for motor vehicles to make that long journey as well. The roads were mostly already there, but the desire was to connect them all into cross-country routes that could be mapped, allowing the adventurous to drive to whatever state they wished to visit well-known tourist destinations and visit relatives. Also, this would encourage entrepreneurs to build automobile service stations, restaurants and overnight accommodations along these routes.

One of the routes was the brainchild of eastern businessman Carl Fisher, who in 1913 at the dawn of the motor vehicle age dreamed up a Lincoln Highway that stretched from New York to San Francisco. This route came about several years later, stretching through the upper Midwest states, out through Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah and Nevada and into California via Donner Pass.

In its first version, the route went to Sacramento and then south to Stockton, and then east to the Bay Area via the Altamont Pass. Later, in 1927, after the Carquinez Strait Bridge was built, the route was adjusted to pass through Davis and Dixon on its way to Vallejo and the bridge, which offered a shorter route. In 1921, the federal government decreed that all major highway routes have a number instead of a name, so the Lincoln Highway became Highway 40.

Before the creation of the present-day Freeway 80 route, Highway 40 (after leaving Davis) ran out along Russell Boulevard and then headed south along Pedrick Road. It then headed west along Sievers Road, before taking a southerly turn along Currey Road, which led into Dixon along First Street.

In downtown Dixon, Highway 40 then turned right, heading west along ‘A’ Street before turning left unto Porter Street at the water tower. Porter followed the train tracks out before connecting with Midway Road, which carried Highway 40 toward Vacaville.

If you think the truck and car traffic through Dixon today along Highway 113 and First Street is considerable, think back to when Highway 40 used that route and was the main connecting route between Sacramento and the Bay Area. It’s said that when a long freight train stopped traffic at the train tracks near downtown Dixon, the vehicular backup was formidable.

So, in 1929 the state highway department in cooperation with the Dixon city fathers decided to find a better route that avoided the two train track crossings, and eventually agreed to route Highway 40 down Adams Street to Porter.

It’s along Adams Street today that you’ll find the historic Highway 40 signs commemorating the route.

That leads me to mention the peculiar building that sits empty along Adams Street today which got me interested in the historic route in the first place. At the northwest corner of Adams and D streets, at 409 North Adams, sits a really unique turreted building. I learned that it was originally situated on the other side of Adams a block or two north, and was the office building for what was called variously the Normandy Inn and the Dixon Auto Camp.

Built in 1929, it served travelers along the old Highway 40. A Dixon Tribune blurb of that year noted that “Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Houck … have built a first-class auto camp, consisting of ten cabins. … The camper can use his own bedding, or it may be had at headquarters. … (The Houcks) have built their auto camp largely on the prospect of the state highway having routed cross the land to connect with Adams St.” Meals at the Inn consisting of salad, chicken soup, fried chicken and mashed potatoes, green peas and creamed cauliflower, and dessert cost only 50 cents in those days.

In 1936, the Inn built four new cabins, but then turned around and removed seven cabins in 1941 to create travel-trailer parking spaces.

Also along Adams Street and Highway 40 were a good number of gas stations. I expect that in those days, white-garbed attendants pumped gas for travellers and wiped windshields. You’ll see photographs of some of those stations accompanying this column.

Another overnight stop along Highway 40 was the Casa Blanca Motel – a traditional motel – just outside Dixon in those days, located where Walmart is now. A postcard in the Dixon Library archives depicts it in its glory days. The postcard was mailed in 1960, so it was still operating then. I’m told by local historian Alan Schmeiser that in its later years the motel had a topless bar. He said that due to poor access from the eventual freeway, at some point the motel was shuttered and went out of business.

A future column will talk about the former Milk Farm restaurant which also served Highway 40 customers.

Another unique piece of Dixon’s history is the location of the George’s Orange refreshment stand along Highway 40 near the southwest corner of Adams and ‘A’ streets (where a glass company is located now). This was one of many orange-shaped stands in the Central Valley area, and did big business selling fresh-squeezed orange juice and other fast food to residents and travelers during its heyday in the 1950s. It’s said that during the hottest period of the summer, this stand squeezed over 12,000 oranges a week.

Fortunately, the former George’s Orange stand (which closed in 1973) still remains, protected by the former taco place along the outer reaches of ‘A’ street. Let’s hope that it's preserved as a reminder of the businesses along Highway 40.   

As motorists over the years grew used to travelling at higher and higher speeds, and the trucking industry grew in political power, there was much interest in developing straight high-speed highways. So, around 1949 the main highway from Sacramento to the Bay Area (called Highway 80) was built just north of Dixon. That new route, which was eventually upgraded to Interstate Freeway 80 in 1965, changed the complexion of businesses along Adams Street considerably.

Eventually, two new business districts were created in Dixon close to freeway exits that tapped into that traffic. Walmart, the Cattlemen’s restaurant and the food establishments along Ary Lane are part of those districts.  

To learn more about the history of the Lincoln Highway and Highway 40, visit the Lincoln Highway Association's Web site or search for Lincoln Highway at www.wikipedia.org. There is considerable interest in preserving the history of the old route, and fortunately Dixon had the historical foresight to sign the former route through our city.