June McCarroll explained

June Adaline Whittlesey Hill Robertson McCarroll
Birth Name:June Adaline Whittlesey
Birth Date:30 June 1867
Birth Place:Lewis County, New York, US
Alma Mater:Allopathic Medical College, Chicago
Occupation:Nurse and physician
Employer:Nebraska State Schools, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Southern Pacific Railroad
Spouse:
  • Timothy Preston Hill, 1896-1900
  • James R. Robertson, 1900-1914
  • Frank McCarroll, m. 1916
Known For:Painting the first striped lines on highways (disputed); starting the Coachella Library

June McCarroll (June 30, 1867 – March 30, 1954) is credited by the California Department of Transportation with the idea of delineating highways with a painted line to separate lanes of highway traffic, although this claim is disputed by the Federal Highway Administration and the Michigan Department of Transportation as two Michigan men painted centerlines before her. She was born in Lewis County, New York.[1] [2] She was a nurse (later a physician) with the Southern Pacific Railroad in the early 20th century. According to a historic marker in Indio, California, after a near-collision in her Model T in 1917, "She personally painted the first known stripe in California on Indio Boulevard, then part of U.S. Route 99, during 1917."[3] [4]

Early life

McCarroll was born and raised in the Adirondacks.[5] McCarroll's mother Adaline died December 9, 1867, when McCarroll was only five months old. By the 1880 census, her now remarried father, and his family was living in Emporia, Kansas, where he served a time as mayor.[6] By 1888 her father had abandoned his second wife and son in Kansas and moved to Los Angeles, California,[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] where McCarroll later joined him. On December 31, 1896, June Adaline Whittelsey, age 29, married Timothy Preston Hill, age 36, in Los Angeles, in a ceremony performed by Rev. J. Thomson of the Unity Church.[12] Hill was a Massachusetts native living in Los Angeles as early as 1888.[13] The 1900 Los Angeles census shows McCarroll as June Hill, physician, married three years but no husband in household.[14] According to the 1910 census, 1900 was the year of McCarroll's second marriage to James R. Robertson.[15]

McCarroll attended a medical college in Chicago, then eventually moved back to Southern California in 1904 with her second husband, James R. Robertson.[16] They had hoped that the desert climate would help him recuperate from tuberculosis, but Robertson died in 1914.[17] Within two years, she had remarried, this time to Frank Taylor McCarroll,[18] the local station manager for the Southern Pacific Railroad. From 1907 to 1916, she was the only physician regularly practicing in the vast desert between the Salton Sea and Palm Springs.[19] She was also the only physician serving the five Indian reservations in the area on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.[20]

Highway marking

In the fall of 1917, McCarroll was driving on the road leading to her office near Indio, California, on a stretch of highway that would later be incorporated into U.S. Route 99; the highway remains today as part of Indio Boulevard. She was run off the road by a truck, as she recalled many years later:

McCarroll soon communicated her idea to the local chamber of commerce and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, with no success. Finally, she took it upon herself to hand-paint a white stripe down the middle of the road, thus establishing the actual width of the lane to prevent similar accidents.[21] Through the Indio Women's Club and many similar women's organizations, McCarroll launched a vigorous statewide letter writing campaign on behalf of her proposal. In November 1924, the idea was adopted by the California Highway Commission and 3500miles of lines were painted at a cost of $163,000 (equivalent to $ in). Later the idea was adopted worldwide.[22]

On April 24, 2002, to honor her contribution to road safety, California officially designated the stretch of Interstate 10 near Indio east of the Indio Boulevard/Jefferson Street exit as "The Doctor June McCarroll Memorial Freeway." In October 2003, a memorial plaque honoring McCarroll was placed on a small concrete obelisk next to the intersection of Indio Boulevard and Fargo Street in Indio, California. The plaque is located at GPS coordinates 33.721°N -129.04°W.[23]

The Federal Highway Administration has acknowledged Kenneth I. Sawyer of the Marquette County Road Commission in Michigan for painting the first highway centerline in 1917 on what was then M-15 (part of the modern County Road 492).[24] Photographs from 1917 of the Michigan location clearly show the centerline in place during that summer, before McCarroll's fall 1917 incident.[24] [25] The first centerline was painted by Edward N. Hines in the Detroit area in 1911 on a city street, so neither can lay claim to the very first centerline in the country; for his efforts, Hines was awarded the first Paul Mijksenaar Design for Function Award in Amsterdam in 2011.[26]

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Her parents were in Lewis County, New York, US Census for 1850. Web site: United States Census, 1850 . Database with images . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, West Turin, Lewis, New York, United States . September 7, 2015 . Family 251 . NARA microfilm publication M432 . Washington, D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration.
  2. Her parents were in Lewis County, New York, US Census for 1860 Web site: United States Census, 1860 . Database . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, West Turin, Lewis, New York, United States . September 7, 2015 . . Web site: 1860 U.S. Federal Census: Population . Database . Fold3.com . Household ID 1634 . p. 200 . NARA microfilm publication M653; FHL microfilm 803,777 . Washington, D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration .
  3. Web site: Dr. June Robertson McCarroll, Indio, CA . Signs of History on Waymarking.com . June 22, 2013 .
  4. News: Rasmussen . Celia . 'Doc June' Drew the Line on Safety . Los Angeles Times . June 22, 2013 . October 12, 2003 .
  5. News: Shannon . Starr . Woman Credited for Highway Center Lines: Dr. June McCarroll of Indio Will Be Honored with Signs on Interstate 10 . The Riverside Press-Enterprise . April 6, 2002 . B3.
  6. Unable to locate in 1870 United States Census, but found in 1880. Web site: United States Census, 1880 . Database with images . FamilySearch . N Whitelsey, Emporia, Lyon, Kansas, United States . September 7, 2015 . Enumeration district 102, sheet 195C,NARA microfilm publication T9 . Washington D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration . roll 0387; FHL microfilm 1,254,387.
  7. Web site: California Great Registers, 1866–1910 . Database . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, 06 Apr 1888 . September 7, 2015 . Voter Registration, 234 Crescent Ave, Los Angeles, California, United States, county clerk offices, California . FHL microfilm 977,994.
  8. Web site: California Great Registers, 1866–1910 . Database . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, 23 Aug 1890 . September 7, 2015 . Voter Registration, Boyle Ave, Los Angeles, California, United States, county clerk offices, California . FHL microfilm 977,994.
  9. Web site: California Great Registers, 1866–1910 . Database . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, 06 Sep 1892 . September 7, 2015 . Voter Registration, Boyle Ave Bet 7th And Hollenbeck, Los Angeles, California, United States, county clerk offices, California . FHL microfilm 976,929.
  10. Web site: California Great Registers, 1866–1910 . Database . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, 01 Jun 1896 . September 7, 2015 . Voter Registration, 707 S Boyle Ave, Los Angeles, California, United States, county clerk offices, California . FHL microfilm 976,931.
  11. News: Whittlesey in Trouble Again: The Ex-Mayor of Emporia Has Been Sued for Divorce by His California Wife . October 22, 1895 . Emporia Gazette . 1.
  12. Web site: California, County Marriages, 1850–1952 . Database with images . FamilySearch . Timothy Preston Hill and June Adeline Whittlesey, 31 Dec 1896 . September 7, 2015 . Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California . FHL microfilm 1,033,144.
  13. Web site: California Great Registers, 1866–1910 . Database . FamilySearch . Timothy P Hill, 20 Sep 1888 . September 7, 2015 . Voter Registration, 92 San Pedro St, Los Angeles, California, United States, county clerk offices, California . FHL microfilm 977,994.
  14. She was living with 76-year-old thrice-married father Nelson Whittlesey. He was listed as married five years, but no spouse in household, either. Web site: United States Census, 1900 . Database with images . FamilySearch . Nelson Whittlesey, Precinct 52 Los Angeles city Ward 7, Los Angeles, California, United States . September 7, 2015 . sheet 3A, family 75, NARA microfilm publication T623 . Washington, D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration . FHL microfilm 1,240,090.
  15. The 1910 Indio Township, Riverside County, California US census gives James R. Robertson, 39 of Missouri, and his wife June A. W. 42 of New York who was a general practice physician. Web site: United States Census, 1910 . Database with images . FamilySearch . James R Robertson, Indio, Riverside, California, United States . September 7, 2015 . Enumeration district (ED) 69, sheet 7A, family 182, NARA microfilm publication T624 . Washington, D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration . FHL microfilm 1,374,104.
  16. Web site: United States Census, 1910 . Database with images . FamilySearch . James R Robertson, Indio, Riverside, California, United States . September 7, 2015 . Enumeration district (ED) 69, sheet 7A, family 182, NARA microfilm publication T624 . Washington, D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration . . Web site: FHL microfilm 1,374,104 . California Death Index, 1905–1939 . Database with images . FamilySearch . James R Robertson, 1914 . September 7, 2015 . 1921, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
  17. Web site: Doctor June Hill Robertson McCarroll. legacy.billyholcomb.com. March 30, 2020.
  18. Middle name reference Web site: United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918 . Database with images . FamilySearch . Frank Taylor McCarroll, 1917–1918 . September 7, 2015 . Riverside County no 2, California, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 . Washington D.C. . National Archives and Records Administration . FHL microfilm 1,531,276.
  19. News: Shannon . Starr . She Drew the Line Toward Safer Highways: A Section of I-10 Honors Dr. June McCarroll—But Not Many Know Why . The Riverside Press-Enterprise . August 7, 2004 . B3.
  20. Web site: 'Doc June' Drew the Line on Safety. October 12, 2003. Los Angeles Times. en-US. March 30, 2020.
  21. News: Richard . Guzman . Caltrans Will Honor Local Motorist Who Drew the Line . The Desert Sun . April 24, 2002 . B1.
  22. Book: Harris, Gloria G.. Hannah S. Cohen. Women Trailblazers of California: Pioneers to the Present. Chapter 6. Doctors and Dentists – June Hill Robertson McCarroll: Credited for Drawing Lines for Safe Highways. 93–107 [96–99]. https://books.google.com/books?id=pzkcBjl2OXoC&pg=PA95. 2012. Charleston, SC. The History Press. 978-1609496753.
  23. Web site: Doctor June McCarroll Monument. Atlas Obscura. en. March 30, 2020.
  24. Book: Federal Highway Administration . America's Highways, 1776–1976: A History of the Federal-Aid Program . Washington, DC . Government Printing Office . 1977 . 127 . 3280344. Federal Highway Administration .
  25. Book: Kulsea . Bill . Shawver . Tom . Making Michigan Move: A History of Michigan Highways and the Michigan Department of Transportation . 1980 . Michigan Department of Transportation . Lansing . 8169232 . amp . 10 . January 18, 2021 . .
  26. News: Boyle . Johanna . November 7, 2011 . State Inventor of Ubiquitous Centerline Honored . The Mining Journal . Marquette, MI . April 17, 2012 . 1A, 6A . 0898-4964 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110724/http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/568858/State-inventor-of-ubiquitous-centerline-honored.html?nav=5006 . December 24, 2013 . live .

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