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

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more