The Smith Mill Creek Institute began research and development of ways to further permaculture and sustainability in January 2006 with the Asheville Currency Project. At that point, it was named the Haywood Road Institute. The name shift signals a change in emphasis from human created systems and economics, towards sustainability and people's interactions with natural systems.

Smith Mill Creek runs parallel to Patton Avenue, at the bottom of Louisiana and Florida Streets, before  crossing Patton. It is the watershed for most West Asheville residents on the Patton Avenue side of Haywood Road.