It’s a strange name for a bridge that doesn’t come within 170 miles of the nearest ocean. But once upon a time this little span that physically links Arizona with California over the Colorado River was the only automobile crossing that connected East and West for 1,200 miles. If you wanted to drive from coast to coast in 1915, the Ocean to Ocean bridge was one of the few ways to do it.
Legend has it that during the Great Depression California officials exploited this bottleneck by creating a makeshift immigration checkpoint at the northern end of the bridge. Folks trying to migrate west in search of work found the bridge guarded by California policemen who frequently turned people back. To this day a section of Yuma is called “Okie Town” for the population of Oklahomans who settled there after being turned away at the California border.
I like bridges. They connect people
Again a new nice story of my favourite travel-couple . Have a great day!!!
Lovely place I think.
Never visited it before, but it look very nice to me.
Great history! And great image
I’ve been over that bridge and couldn’t quite figure out where the oceans were. Oh well. It’s interesting, to say the least.
Never heard this one, our country has such rich history!
Ah.Something I’ve never seen. But I’m in Arizonia and I’ll make it a point to do so. Still love following you guys.
Very interesting story!
That is a super photo and a great story.
I’ve never come across the Ocean to Ocean bridge, but I have been to both oceans, thanks for airplane travel. A few generations back, I had ancestors from Oklahoma, whom migrated to California. I wonder is they resided in Okie Town for a while?
Oscar
Great story behind a great bridge!
You know, just 20 years ago hitch-hikers used to get stuck in Yuma for years at a time ~ kinda like those folks from Oklahoma. Easy to get dropped off in Yuma but not so easy to hitch-hike out. Yuma is still easy to stop at but not so easy to get out ~ especially with the new inconvenience of having no Greyhound Bus Depot. I was pretty lucky a few months ago when quite accidentally I found the bus stop the Greyhound stops at. Otherwise, I might still be in Yuma… Don’t get me wrong now. I love Yuma! But I prefer to just pass thru…