The need for insurance in Orange County has evolved as the area has over the past few decades. What was once a quiet rural area filled with orange groves and vineyards that years ago was described as a “fringe town” has become a fast-moving urban county with more than three million residents. Turn back the clock a few decades, though, and it’s hard to recognize Southern California or some of the behaviors that make insurance in Orange County a necessity.
driving in the dark
Believe it or not, in the 1940s, during World War II, motorists speeding down Pacific Coast Highway at night in Orange County were not allowed to drive with their headlights on; the bulbs had to be covered so that only one ray of light escaped. This tactic was intended to make it more difficult for the Japanese to detect the US coast in the event of a bombardment. Unfortunately, it also proved dangerous for driving, so much so that the stretch of PCH from Los Angeles to San Diego was nicknamed “Blood Alley” by military personnel traveling from one side of the highway to the other, due to the frequent head-on collisions that resulted. of this wartime security measure that was anything but secure.
Old street maps illustrate how green pastures have given way to asphalt parking lots. What is now Edinger Avenue in Huntington Beach and Westminster was once called Smeltzer Avenue in recognition of the Smeltzer Celery Farm that existed nearby. The name changed in the 1960s when Edinger was connected to Edinger Avenue in Santa Ana.
A road by any other name
Before the 1940s, Garden Grove Blvd. (Highway 22) was known as Ocean Boulevard. Other major streets in Orange County also took other names over time, until the 1960s State College Avenue (CA-250) was Placentia Avenue (south of present-day Placentia Avenue) and Cypress Avenue from that point to the north. Another major thoroughfare, Beach Boulevard, changed names three times (Stanton Avenue, Grand Avenue, and La Habra Avenue) at various intersections with other smaller streets. Motorists lacking GPS devices or good directions will be thankful that the multiple names merged into a single Beach Boulevard in the mid-1960s.
Roads and landmarks may have changed over the years, but the need for insurance in Orange County remains the same, just not for celery. Contact a professional insurance agent to learn more about insurance to protect your home, car and other property.