About 100 people came out on a rainy Saturday, Sept. 22, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Old Ridge Route being placed on the National Register of Historic Locations.

Hundreds of photographs were on display as well as books and artifacts, such as an original road sign warning motorists that the speed limit was 15 miles per hour on curvy road areas.

According to Harrison Scott, president and founder of the Ridge Route Preservation Organization, there were two motorcycle patrolmen assigned to enforce the speed limit. If your vehicle had the newer pneumatic (air) tires, the limit was 15 miles per hour. If, however, you had hard rubber tires, the limit was 12 miles per hour.

Eventually, Scott says, authorities stationed officers at both ends of the Ridge Route, in Grapevine and Castaic. You were given a time-stamped card when you entered and, if you arrived at the other end in less time than the speed limit allowed, you received a speeding ticket.

The Sandberg Summit Hotel was a popular stop for the wealthy, where fancy cars were often parked out front, according to Scott, who said rumor had it that the hotel had a sign posted in the parking area which read, "No truck drivers or dogs."

A tri-tip barbecue lunch was served.

If you’d like to volunteers for the next Ridge Route Cleanup Day on October 13, meet at 9 a.m. at Carl’s Jr. in Gorman.

Find out more about the Ridge Route at www.ridgeroute.com.

This is part of the September 28, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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