Skip to main content

Snelling Road

By

Snelling Road is an approximately 9.4-mile rural highway located in Merced County.  Said highway as the name suggests serves as the most direct route between the city of Merced and community of Snelling.  Snelling Road was constructed during the early 1870s shortly after Southern Pacific Railroad plotted Merced.  The intended purpose of the corridor was to permit travel from the original Merced County seat in Snelling south to the railroad facilities in Merced.  




Part 1; the history of Snelling Road

When Merced County split from western Mariposa County in 1857 the community of Snelling was selected as the first County Seat.  At the time the location of Snelling was ideal given it was on the Stockton-Los Angeles Road and was near numerous stage roads into the western Sierra Nevada.  This changed when the Southern Pacific Railroad began building a line through San Joaquin Valley during the late 1860s.  In 1870 the railroad would plot Merced approximately fifteen miles south Snelling.  A roadway acting as a continuation of G Street in Merced was quickly constructed northward to Snelling. 

Merced being located on the Southern Pacific Railroad began to draw population away from Snelling.  During 1872 the Merced County seat would shift from Snelling southward to Merced.  Snelling Road can be seen clearly on the 1882 Bancroft's map of California as the "Road to Snelling." 


G Street can be seen as one of the few roads crossing north of the then Merced city limit at Bear Creek on the 1897 city of Merced map. 


Despite being part of the most direct route between Merced and Snelling, the corridor of Snelling Road would be passed over for inclusion in the State Highway System.  Legislative Route Number 123 was commissioned in 1933 between Legislative Route Number 32 (now California State Route 152) and Snelling.  North of Merced the State Highway corridor was located on Snelling Highway alongside the Yosemite Valley Railroad.  

Legislative Route Number 123 and Snelling Road (shown as Merced-Snelling Road) can be seen contrasted to each other on the 1935 Division of Highways map.  Merced-Snelling Road is shown beginning at G Street (Township 6 South, Range 14 East) near Youd-Hornitos Road (now La Paloma Road) and terminating at Legislative Route Number 123 north of the Merced River.  The Yosemite Valley Railroad would go defunct in 1945 and Legislative Route Number 123 would begin to be signed as California State Route 59 by 1961. 



In 1969 the modernization of Snelling Road was complete when the Merced River Bridge was completed.  As of 1990 the structure saw 1,500 vehicles cross daily.  



Part 2; a drive on Snelling Road

Snelling Road begins at 7499 G Street via a soft right-hand turn approximately a mile north of the Merced City limit. 



Snelling Road shortly after beginning intersects La Paloma Road.  This now-closed roadway was surveyed in 1873 by Mariposa County as director connector between Merced and Hornitos.  The dirt roadway became contentious when Merced County opted not to include it as part of the University of California Merced Campus Loop during the late 1990s. 







Snelling Road north of La Paloma Road enters hilly terrain flanking the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range.  The corridor intersects the now mostly closed Robinson Road approaching the Merced River.  












Snelling Road crosses the Merced River and terminates at California State Route 59 approximately a mile from Snelling.  





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grand Loop Road of Yellowstone National Park

By
  Grand Loop Road is a 140 mile loop highway which traverses the interior of Yellowstone National Park.  Grand Loop Road connects all of the major attractions and geological features of Yellowstone National Park along with the entrance roads.  Grand Loop Road is a seasonal highway and despite some conjecture never has been part of the US Route System.   Part 1; the history of Grand Loop Road The majority of history pertaining to Grand Loop Road was taken from the below National Park Service article: Historic Roads - Yellowstone National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) Yellowstone was declared the first National Park of the United States on March 1st, 1872.  The first real highway to access Yellowstone National Park came in 1873 when a tolled facility was constructed from Bozeman, Montana via Yankee Jim Canyon to Mammoth Hot Springs.  Numerous attempts were made to fund construction of roadway infrastructure during the early years of Yellows...
Post a Comment
Read more

The last 1956-63 era California Sign State Route Spade?

By
Along southbound California State Route 170 (the Hollywood Freeway Extension) approaching the Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway interchange a white California State Route 134 Sign State Route Spade can be observed on guide sign.  These white spades were specifically used during the 1956-63 era and have become increasingly rare.  This blog is intended to serve as a brief history of the Sign State Route Spade.  We also ask you as the reader, is this last 1956-63 era Sign State Route Spade or do you know of others?  Part 1; the history of the California Sign State Route Spade Prior to the Sign State Route System, the US Route System and the Auto Trails were the only highways in California signed with reassurance markers.  The creation of the US Route System by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926 brought a system of standardized reassurance shields to major highways in California.  Early efforts to create a Sign State Route ...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway

By
From 2017 through to early 2019 I drove the majority of the California State Route 70; the Feather River Highway from CA 89 southwest to CA 99. CA 70 is an approximately 178.5 mile state highway which starts at US 395 near the Nevada State Line and travels west through the Feather River Canyon to CA 99.  CA 70 is often referred to as the Feather River Highway" given it's close association with the river.  Historically CA 70 was previously signed as US 40A and CA 24.  The Legislative Routes prior to the 1964 California Highway Renumbering that made up the current route of CA 70 are as follows: -  Legislative Route Number 21 from US 395 westward to Oroville. -  LRN 87 from Oroville south to Marysville. -  LRN 232 from Marysville to the current junction with CA 99.  CA 70 was even dual signed with CA 99 into Sacramento on what was LRN 232 for a time. The change from US 40A/LRN 21/LRN 87/LRN 232 can be seen by comparing the 1963 State Highway Ma...
Post a Comment
Read more