Editing Prunedale, California (section)

== History ==
One of the area's earliest settlers was Charles Langley, a [[Watsonville, California|Watsonville]] banker, who also operated the Prunedale post office,<ref name="NMCoC"/> which opened in 1894, closed in 1908, and re-opened in 1953.<ref name=CGN /> Langley helped establish the Watsonville post office mail service in Prunedale.<ref name="NMCoC"/> Langley Canyon Road in Prunedale is named after the Langley family. It was around the time of Prunedale's founding that the plum orchard failed due to a lack of irrigation and fertilizer, yet the name Prunedale was retained. The unincorporated area maintains a rural feel in most areas.<ref name="NMCoC"/>

A major development in the area's history occurred when [[U.S. Route 101]] was rerouted through Prunedale between 1931 and 1932.<ref name="NMCoC"/> U.S. Highway 101 had previously run directly from [[Salinas, California|Salinas]] to [[San Juan Bautista, California|San Juan Bautista]].<ref name="NMCoC"/> That old route is now known as San Juan Grade Road. In 1946, Highway 101 was widened to four lanes.<ref name="NMCoC"/> As Prunedale has grown, increased traffic congestion made Route 101 through Prunedale a Traffic Safety Corridor and a double traffic fine zone in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with reduced speed limits to 55 miles per hour. Detailed plans to build a 101 bypass of Prunedale did not develop. After [[Caltrans]] purchased the land for the bypass, it was resolved to improve the highway through Prunedale by adding a San Miguel Canyon overpass, improving the Highway 101 and [[California State Route 156|Highway 156]] interchange, making more turn and merge lanes, and making several other improvements on the roadway.<ref>[http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/prunedale/ Prunedale Improvement Project] Caltrans. Retrieved 13 February 2008.</ref> These improvements were completed in the early 2000s. In the last few years, with a decline in traffic fatalities, the speed limit was increased to 60 miles per hour via state traffic formulas.

One of the original businesses to inhabit Prunedale was Glenn's. In the 1970s, the Prunedale Shopping Center was built. The Prunedale Senior Citizens' Center was built in 1989 with grant funds secured by then Monterey County Supervisor Marc Del Piero. Meals for seniors and public assistance programs, including a bi-weekly food bank giveaway, continue to be operated from that facility.