In 1972, George Lucas began filming "American Graffiti," loosely based on his own experiences growing up in Modesto, California.
The bulk of the filming took place in downtown San Rafael on 4th Street, which then looked similar to main streets in many small communities.
4th Street in San Rafael was transformed into McHenry Avenue (circa 1962), Modesto's main street for cruising. Classic cars from around the country were brought to San Rafael and a good deal of the downtown area
was blocked to regular traffic from 10 PM until the early hours of the morning during filming. Today, 4th street has been transformed with trees, wide sidewalks and mandatory coffee shops every 25 yards.
