Pomona 1932

Prior to 1932, the only way to get to Pomona from Los Angeles was via Valley and Pomona Blvds. When heading east on Pomona Blvd, just past the Phillips Mansion, the highway would fork just before the S.P railroad tracks. You had a choice of either going to Pomona and beyond via Holt Ave or via Second Street. The 1933 photo below shows a neon directional sign that used to stand at that fork (the road seen to the right is Second Street). The blue dot on the graphic shows where it was located. In order to get to Holt from that point, you had to cross the tracks, curve to the right on Mt. Vernon Ave, go about a half a mile, then make a sharp curve to the left on Erie and then a sharp turn to the right onto Holt. The fork wasn't created until 1926 when Second Street was extended further east from Pomona Blvd along the south side of the S.P. tracks where it then curved SE over the U.P. tracks via a grade separation and joined back up with Second Street on the south side of the U.P. tracks on into Downtown Pomona. This also offered a great option to avoid having to wait for a train on the via Holt Ave route crossing (to the left).