Bubblegum Alley

Nobody agrees on how it started. Some historians trace Bubblegum Alley to a San Luis Obispo High School graduating class ritual after World War II; others put the origin in the late 1950s, as a rivalry between SLO High and Cal Poly students. Either way, by the 1970s the 15-foot-high, 70-foot-long alley off Higuera Street was well established — and two full cleanings couldn't stop it. A 1996 attempt to clear it failed entirely. It's stayed.