INTRO.....
The history of the "Great White Way" covered a very short period of time. The program came on like a thunder storm and almost immediately began to fade away and within a decade almost totally forgotten. The Richfield Oil Company manufactured a high quality product that became much in demand. The Company used the profits to expand its operations, part of which was to devise some very elaborate and expensive advertising programs. One of these programs was the "Great White Way," a system of airway beacon towers that began at the Mexico border and followed the Pacific Highway (99) to the Canada border. This was at the time that airmail flights were beginning to be made overnight, the beacons aided the fliers. At the same time the Government began building beacon towers along the same route, but closer together. The Richfield beacons were erected near airports with a beacon pointing toward the facility and another flashing for navigation. At the base of most of the beacons a filling station was constructed. These stations were of a unique style only used by Richfield, were equipped with rest stations for the traveler, including a lounge and in most cases cold or hot drinks and snacks were available. The beacons were spaced a distance apart that would insure that a motorist traveling the route would be approaching the next station when the fuel tank gauge was indicating the need for gas. This was a popular service and the customer base continued to expanded even more. Unfortunately for the Richfield Oil Company the demand for their product became greater than their ability to produce product. The downfall began when they began buying product from producers that maintained a lower standard of quality and as such the poorer quality started to turn away the customers. The slide in business along with the massive commitments in advertising it was not long before the company went into bankruptcy. From that point on the "Great White Way" began to fall apart. Within a year some of the beacon lights were discontinued by the government for various reasons, for instance, the airports were downgraded to emergency strips or closed entirely. Other lights underwent color changes of the beacon. Some stations were continued as fueling stations and others just disappeared. Today there are a few of the buildings left, used for a variety of purposes and for the beacon towers only two still remain standing. This has been a difficult subject to follow as there is very little to be found and little was ever recorded. A real treasure hunt and when the slightest clue is found, it is comparable to finding a gold nugget.