It's an age-old debate - where does Southern California end and Northern California begin? On this edition of KVPR's Central Valley Roots we look at the places - real and imagined that divide the state.
Some have argued the dividing line between north and south is more of an idea or a cultural divide than a place on a map. Like the point where LA Dodgers fans give way San Francisco Giants fans. Or where Vons Supermarkets give way to Safeway branded stores. But there are also real places on the map that mark the state’s geographic divide.
For generations, drivers on Highway 99 between Madera and Fresno have passed two trees in the median, that legend has it, divide the south and the north: the palm and the pine. No one knows exactly who planted them or why this location, but it’s a symbolic marker on the mother road of the Central Valley. Thirty-five miles to the northeast, there’s another site that marks California’s midpoint. On Italian Bar Road near North Fork is a monument marking the exact Geographic Center of California.
But further south, there’s another site that has historic claim as California’s north/south dividing line. In 1859 the Legislature and governor approved the Pico Act. Backed by Southern California interests, the law and called for the state to be split in two. Southern California counties would have become a new territory called Colorado. The plan was derailed by the Civil War but evidence of the proposed dividing line can still be seen on the map today. It’s the straight line that marks the northern boundaries of San Bernardino, Kern and San Luis Obispo Counties. You cross it on Highway 99 just north of Delano on County Line Road.
