Here's another one for the Whys Guy's file marked "Whatchamacallit?"
If you drive into Sacramento along Fair Oaks Boulevard, you will cross a bridge near California State University, Sacramento.
Robert Harris called to ask us, why is everyone calling that the J Street Bridge?
He saw it marked "J Street" on a sign during a marathon that crossed the span and, truth be told, on occasion The Bee has referred to it as the J Street Bridge as well.
"It's always been the H Street Bridge," Harris said. He said all the old-timers – his words, not ours – call it that.
Some new-timers – our words – often call it the J Street Bridge because, well, if you drive out J Street, you end up on the bridge.
On the other hand, if you drive in from the east, you could wind up on H Street.
We took a look at the map and found it does look like H Street goes more directly to the bridge than J Street.
Then we looked at an old map to assess the possible origins of the name. Guess what?
Neither H nor J street went to the bridge.
H Street stopped way short. To get to the bridge – marked "to Carmichael Colony" on a 1923 map – you went out J, took a jog north on 57th Street and then a turn onto the bridge.
Here's another confusing bit of information: The modern Thomas Guide map book shows a big dot on the road where H and J come together.
That means a street name change. Is that a change from H to J or from J to H?
The Whys Guy put the matter to the city's Department of Transportation.
Spokeswoman Linda Tucker relayed two answers.
Unofficial department historian Dennis Murphy said he'd always understood it to be the H Street Bridge. Score one for the traditionalists.
Ricky Chuck, head of maintenance, had a different answer.
"It is called the American River Bridge at H Street," he said flatly, in an e-mail to Tucker.
Ooh. Why don't we make everyone happy by calling it the H Street Bridge at J Street, or vice versa?
By the way, people crossed the American River near that spot even before there was a bridge or letter-named streets.
It was roughly there, according to local historian Ray Oliver, where Sutter-era folks forded a shallow spot in the river.
The Mexicans of the time referred to it as the Americans' pass, or el paso de los Americanos, which in turn gave its name to the land grant Rancho del Paso, which gave its name to Del Paso Heights, Del Paso Road and Del Paso Boulevard.
Those probably all should've been "vado," for a fording spot, rather than "paso," a pass.
But that's water under the bridge.
H Street Bridge
View H Street Bridge in a larger map
Call The Bee's Carlos Alcalá, (916) 321-1987.
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