Roadside Pix
I love vintage roadside attractions, from the humblest themed drugstore, alligator farm, maple syrup plant, historically significant landmark, you name it. Today's first vintage photo (from August, 1960) shows tourists enjoying the novelty of being at the site of the GREAT DIVIDE. Also known as the "Continental Divide", it extends from the Bering Strait to the Strait of Magellan, and separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean, including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and Hudson Bay. The photo was taken in British Columbia (Canada), with a wooden "arch" or "gate", crafted from massive tree trunks. If you spill your Dr. Pepper on this side, it will run to the Pacific, but once you cross that gate, it will run all the way to the Atlantic. There's no stopping it!
Here's a map showing the squiggly red line indicating the Great Divide:
Here's an olde-timey postcard:
And another, probably from the 1950s:
This next one is related, but a less-nice photo (dated "August, 1968") from an unidentified tourist stop. The yellow sign reminds me of the kind one might see in New Mexico - the Continental Divide runs just west of Albuquerque. But it's just a guess!
9 comments:
Major-
What wonderful images of everyone's favorite 'divide'-! In the 1st image, my eyes were immediately drawn to the off-white, clunky-heeled shoes of the photographing gal wearing the blue sweater. (Maybe they were especially comfy for exploring...)
Thanks, Major.
Our family crossed the Continental Divide in 1966 (I was 13 then) while on vacation to many locations in the western US. I think it was near Yellowstone Park. And again, on the same trip, somewhere in New Mexico, probably near Carlsbad Caverns.
I remember my dad explaining the concept to us kids as we stood at the "Divide". Only, he didn't use Dr. Pepper as an example. ;-)
I also remember being dubious of the claim, but didn't waste too many brain cells trying to refute it, or figure it out. I didn't realize until your post today that there was more than one Continental Divide. I thought it was just along the Rocky Mountains. But the map you posted shows several other Divides. So I was right to be dubious; it's not as clean-cut and precise as it seems.
Thanks for the Great pictures of the Great Divide, Major.... Ooops, I spilled my Dr. Pepper. Lets see which way it goes!
Hey - I was just on the Continental Divide on July 4th! But it didn’t look anything like this. That might be because I wasn’t in British Columbia (not to be confused with the Columbia Record and Tape Club). I was also at 14,272 feet after climbing through rain, sleet, and snow and had no peripheral vision due to the lack of oxygen, so I might have just missed it. Maybe if I’d thought to bring a Dr. Pepper with me…
One wonders…….is there a A&W Root Beer divide? Does it flow a different way than Dr Pepper?
I also remember my Dad explaining this, although he included the Great Basin in the explanation. We never drove east of Utah, all my travels beyond have been by air and my Dr. Pepper ran down the aisle toward the cockpit.
Ditto on the multiple divides, it does make sense, and I’m glad of the map. Where we live there are signs around denoting the extents of the different watersheds, Green Valley to Russian River, Matanzas Creek to Santa Rosa Creek etc. it’s important to the wine enthusiasts to keep the Green Valley appellation separated from the Russian River one, for example, but I’ve never seen a map of just the divides, unless the appellation boundaries also follow the divides.
I love these old-time signs, so much more heart and spirit than the modern Forest/Park Service signs all done in Helvetica Regular.
Thanks Major!
JG
I'm divided on this post...
Lol, gotcha!
Actually it's very nice. I honestly thought the great divide was much further east, which shows you my relatively poor navigational skills. Oh well...
Nanook, I’ll have you know the shoes I am currently wearing are identical to those “off-white, clunky-heeled shoes”!!
JB, as a kid I would have been thrilled to cross the Continental Divide! I was all about that sort of stuff. The Four Corners? Awesome! Did you go to Carlsbad Caverns? I’ve never been, though I sure wanted to after looking at a Viewmaster packet with pictures of it. That map was interesting to me, because I had no idea about thins like the “Arctic” or “St. Lawrence” divides. Follow that spilled Dr. Pepper, and let me know where you wind up in a few weeks!
Chuck, I just think about how embarrassed you must have been to realize that you forgot to bring a can of Dr Pepper, after slogging through rain, sleet, etc! Let’s not forget the graupel (a word that Chuck taught me, for those of you reading). No peripheral vision? It’s overrated anyway!
Budblade, great people ask the great questions!
JG, as a kid I used to think I was fairly well-traveled, but there is so much of the country that I’ve never seen. In a month or so I will probably help a friend drive a U-Haul from Utah to LA. Not exactly fun, but I guess I’ll see some stuff that I’ve never seen before. From the cab of a U-Haul, the best way! I sort of love old photos of people visiting National Parks and other wonders, based on boxes of slides that I’ve had, it really was something that so many Americans did during their vacations.
Stu29573, “divided on this post”… hey, I get it! I love sophisticated humor ;-). I’m confused about where the Great Divide makes loops, such as in Mexico. NOW where will my Médico Pepper flow??
What about where the divide makes an an enclosed circle? Where does the water flow inside the circle?
Major, on that 1966 trip, we went to Yellowstone, Badlands/Mt. Rushmore, Six Flags Over Texas, Carlsbad Caverns, and the Grand Canyon. Plus many relatives along the way.
I started to follow the spilled Dr. Pepper. But it got thick and syrupy real fast... I never got further than our driveway.
The folks at Dr Pepper (there's no "." after the "Dr", I just found out) should be paying us handsomely for today's post!
Steve, the water flows to the center of the circle, then down a hole, where it enters an alternate universe. There, you will find Spock sporting a goatee... You probably don't want to go there.
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