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George Smith Road (Fresno County)

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George Smith Road is an approximately 5.5-mile rural highway located in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Fresno County.  As presently configured George Smith Road begins at California State Route 180 (Kings Canyon Road) in Yokuts Valley (previously Squaw Valley) and winds above a ridge overlooking Shannon Valley to Ennis Road.  

George Smith Road was developed as the Sand Creek Cutoff Road and originally ended in Tulare County.  The roadway appears renamed after Smith Ranch beginning in the 1930s.  During the 1950s and 1960s George Smith Road would be altered heavily.  The 1960s alteration truncated the corridor away from Tulare County and realigned it to Ennis Road.  




Part 1; the history of George Smith Road

George Smith Road is named after Smith Ranch which historically has been located on the corridor.  As presently configured George Smith Road begins at California State Route 180 (Kings Canyon Road) in Yokuts Valley (previously Squaw Valley) and terminates to the southeast at Ennis Road.  George Smith Road in conjunction with Ennis Road serve as a cutoff between California State Route 180 and Sand Creek Road.  

What is now Yokuts Valley was originally the home to a Yokut tribal village called Múshtihnau.  At one point the valley where  Múshtihnau was located in was called "Woman's Land."  Around 1873 American settlers co-opted the name as "Squaw Valley" which was made official following the establishment of Postal Service in 1879.  The term "squaw" in modern times is considered by many to be an ethnic slur towards Native Americans.  Yokuts Valley traditionally has been centered around George Smith Road and Ruth Hill Road.  

Both Ruth Hill Road and Sand Creek Road originally served the logging community of Millwood which was located in Converse Basin east of Dunlap.  The Kings River Lumber Company had been established in 1888 in the form of a 30,000-acre purchase of forest lands in Converse Basin.  This purchase lied immediately west of Grant Grove and came to be known as "Millwood."  Millwood was both a company town and sawmill.

What is now George Smith Road can be seen part of the Sand Creek Cutoff Road on the 1891 Thompson Atlas of Fresno County in Range 25 East, Township 14 South.  The Sand Creek Cutoff began at Ruth Hill Road in Squaw Valley and passed by Smith Ranch towards Sand Creek Road in Tulare County.  



Sand Creek Cutoff Road and Smith Ranch can be seen in detail south of Squaw Valley on the 1922 United States Geological Survey map of Trimmer Springs.  


The 1935 Division of Highways map of Fresno County displays Sand Creek Cutoff Road renamed as George Smith Road. 


The November/December 1951 California Highways & Public Works announced the realignment of California State Route 180 between Citrus Cove and Squaw Valley was underway.  It is unclear why this project corridor was delayed but it appears to have been completed during 1952 without further incident.  This realignment would shifted California State Route 180 and Kings Canyon Road to the grade it now occupies from Citrus Cove east to Dunlap.  The realignment led to George Smith Road being extended north of Ruth Hill Road to Kings Canyon Road. 


At some point after the late 1960s Ennis Road was largely replaced as the primary cutoff between Ruth Hill Road and Sand Creek Road.  The southern terminus of George Smith Road was realigned as a two-lane highway to Ennis Road near Mistletoe Lane.  Ennis Road south of George Smith Road to Sand Creek Road was converted to two-lane standards aside from the Sand Creek Bridge.

The realignment of George Smith Road to Ennis Road can be seen on the 1982 United States Geological Survey map of Fresno.  




Part 2; a drive on George Smith Road

Southbound George Smith Road begins at California State Route 180 in Yokuts Valley.  


South George Smith Road bisects two discontinuous segments of Ruth Hill Road.  Ruth Hill Road and this short segment of George Smith Road carried early California State Route 180 between 1934-1941. 


Southbound George Smith Road winds above a ridge which overlooks Shannon Valley.  



George Smith Road ends at a soft right-hand transition at Ennis Road.  Ennis Road continues ahead to Sand Creek Road.  



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