End of US highway 399
 
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c. 1939, Rand McNally
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US 399 was not among the original routes of 1927, but it was commissioned shortly thereafter. Back then, of course, there was no US 101 freeway through Ventura, and there was not a CA 33 freeway either. Instead, US 101 traffic was most likely routed along Main Street, and US 399 probably used Ventura Avenue. Here we are looking west on Main, which would have been northbound US 101. US 399 began to the right, via northbound Ventura:
Elbert, Mar. 2005
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Apparently the original north terminus of US 399 was a few miles south of Bakersfield. It was routed along Taft Highway (now CA 119), and it ended at original US 99 (Golden State Highway, or Union Avenue) near Greenfield. Here we are looking south on old US 99:
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Elbert, Mar. 2005
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Elbert, Mar. 2005
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US 399 would have begun to the right on Taft. Later the US 399 designation was extended the opposite direction from that photo (north) along with US 99, ending at its junction with US 466. That route is also extinct now, and the road it used to run along through Bakersfield (Edison Highway) has changed quite a bit, too. This photo is looking north on Union:
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Kaiser, Feb. 2007
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That was northbound US 99-399. US 466 came across the photo from the right, and US 399 ended at the junction, which would have been right about where the overpass at far right is located. US 99 and US 466 continued to the left on today's CA 204 (Golden State Avenue).
Finally, there may have been a short period during which US 399 still existed after US 99 had been rerouted onto what is now the CA 99 freeway. If so, the north end of US 399 would have been at exit 18, near Pumpkin Center. This photo was taken looking east on Taft Hwy. at that interchange: |
Elbert, Mar. 2005
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That would have been the final north terminus of US 399; as can be seen, it is now the endpoint of CA 119.
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Research and/or photo credits: Chris Elbert; Cameron Kaiser; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2005;
last updated Dec. 7, 2023.
last updated Dec. 7, 2023.
