After World War II, Modesto's cruising tradition began as "Dragging 10th," a two-way drive along 10th Street centered on Burge's Drive-In, where students from Modesto High School and others from around the region gathered, especially on weekends and most of all on the first weekend after school ended, which became known as "Graffiti Night." The original route ran from 10th and O to the block by the Modesto Fire Station between F and G. In 1957, severe gridlock on 10th Street led downtown Modesto to convert 10th and 11th Streets from two-way to one-way, disrupting the traditional drag but helping accommodate a dramatic increase in cruisers, and the new loop soon became established despite pranks and protests. As the years passed, the route expanded beyond downtown, with Burge's remaining a key turnaround and drivers also looping to A&W at 14th Street and G. After Downey High School opened in 1951, its students made Al's and Felix's Drive-Ins on McHenry important destinations, creating a T-shaped loop along J Street and McHenry that circled Al's at McHenry and Francis Street and passed through Felix's parking lot. By the mid 1960s the cruise had stretched to McHenry Village, and after 1962, with Davis High influencing the scene and Burge's and Al's declining as gathering places, it extended to Sylvan/Standiford Road, the Frosty Top Drive-In, the Sylvan Clubhouse, and the Briggsmore Theater parking lot near another A&W Drive-In. During the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, large parking lots at Mervyn's and GEMCO became major turnaround points as the cruise reached its greatest popularity and drew increasing numbers of out-of-town drivers, until an oversized event in 1993 brought cruising in Modesto to an end.