Florida Friday; Rock Ridge Road and Green Pond Road from US 98 through the Green Swamp to Florida State Road 33

Back in 2014 I was looking for a different way to get from the Tampa Area back to Metro Orlando. That being the case I took Rock Ridge Road east from US 98 through the southern Green Swamp of Polk County via Green Pond Road to Florida State Road 33.

Rock Ridge Road and Green Pond Road are both very narrow but paved through the entirety of the Green Swamp. The only significant junction between US 98 and FL 33 is at Dean Still Road pictured above. Northeast of Dean Still Road the alignment of Rock Ridge Road crosses through a small community known as Rock Ridge.

At Poyner Oaks Road the alignment of Rock Ridge Road becomes Green Pond Road. East of Poyner Oaks Road the alignment of Green Pond Road crosses over the Van Fleet Trail. The crossing of Green Pond Road and the Van Fleet Trail was once the location of the community of Berry. Berry was a siding of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's spur Florida Western and Northern Line. The Van Fleet Trail occupies approximately 29 miles of former right-of-way through the Green Swamp which was once occupied by the Florida Western and Northern until the late 1980s. Berry now serves as Green Pond Trail Head for the Van Fleet Trail.

Approaching FL 33 the routing of Green Pond Road enters Green Pond. Green Pond dates back to 1879 when it was founded around local citrus groves. The Green Pond Cemetery has a historic marker dating it back 1879 but I've seen reports that say that there was grave stones present there since the 1850s.

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The original alignment of California State Route 1 in San Francisco

In 2019 the Gribblenation Blog Series covered the history of the Hyde Street Pier and the original surface alignment of US Route 101 in San Francisco. Given the Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic in May of 1937 coupled with the fact that the Sign State Routes had been announced in August of 1934 there were still some open questions regarding the original highway alignments in San Francisco. Namely the question of this blog is; where was California State Route 1 prior to the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge? Thanks the to the discovery of a 1936 Shell Highway Map of San Francisco and the California Highways & Public Works the answer can be conveyed clearly. Part 1; the history of early California State Route 1 in San Francisco The genesis point for California State Route 1 ("CA 1") in San Francisco dates to 1933. 1933 was significant due to the State Legislature allowing the Division of Highways to assume maintenance of highways in Cities for the first time.

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Santa Clara County Route G8 and the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine

Santa Clara County Route G8 is a 29.38 mile County Sign Route which is part of the San Francisco Bay Area transportation corridor. Santa Clara County Route G8 begins at California State Route 152 near the outskirts of Gilroy and terminates at former US Route 101 at 1st Street/Monterey Road near downtown San Jose. Santa Clara County Route G8 incorporates the notable Almaden Expressway and is historically tied to the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine. (Santa Clara County Route G8 map image courtesy CAhighways.org) Part 1; the history of Santa Clara County Route G8, the Almaden Road corridor and New Almaden Mine The present corridor of Santa Clara County Route G8 ("G8") began to take shape with the emergence of the Almaden Expressway. According to the October 1960 California Highways & Public Works Unit 1 of the Almaden Expressway opened in November of 1959 between Alma Avenue near downtown San Jose south to the Guadalupe River as part of a Federal Highway Aid Secondary pro

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