The A744 is a defunct A-road in west Lanarkshire with a complicated history.
In 1922 the A744 number did not exist but it came into being in 1924 or 25 as an upgrade of the entire route of the B743 from Class II to Class I. This route started on the A71 in Strathaven and headed south to cross the Avon before winding to the east to reach the A74 (now B7078) in Kirkmuirhill. There was a short multiplex south along the A74 before the route resumed and took another winding route to the east. It crossed the River Nethan before crossing the ridge and descending into the valley of the River Clyde, where it ended on the A72 near Kirkfieldbank, not that far west of Lanark.
The full length of the A744 did not last long. In 1934 the entire section of the road west of the A74 became an extension of the A726. The route survived the coming of the M74 and downgrading of the A74 (although this did mean that the A744 and A726 joined each other end-on in Kirkmuirhill - see the A726 page for more details on this) but it was finally downgraded in the 1990s. The A744, together with the A726 east of Strathaven, is now the B7086, thus meaning that the pre-1935 route now has a single number once more.
An official document from 16/05/1934 details the following changes: Curtailed. The section of this route from route A74 at Blackwood Lanarkshire to the termination at Strathaven to be renumbered as A726
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