Historic US highway endpoints in Florence, SC
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Highway
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Approx. time period
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US
76
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1926-1935
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1926-1934 |
Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection
of historical road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the
research of Robert Droz; click
here to view his site. More research: Mike
Roberson. Photo credits: Alex
Nitzman
When the US routes were first laid out in 1926, two of them ended in Florence.
The photo below is looking west on Palmetto Street:
Nitzman,
May 2007
At the time, there was no US 52 or US 301 (at least not in Florence). But US
17 did run through Florence: southbound was to the left on Irby Street, while
northbound was to the right on Irby for one block, then east on Cheves Street.
Straight ahead on Palmetto was the east beginning of US 76. The photo below
is of the same intersection, but looking north on Irby:
Nitzman,
May 2007
This was northbound US 17, which continued straight ahead for one more block.
US 76 began to the left on Palmetto. Below is a close-up of the signage at far
right:
Nitzman, May 2007
Today US 301 turns right on Palmetto, which is also US 76. But in the late
1920s and early 1930s, highway traffic to the east of Irby used Cheves, not
Palmetto. The photo below was taken from just ahead, one block to the north:
Nitzman,
May 2007
Here at Cheves, northbound US 17 went to the right. The south beginning of
US 601 was to the left on Cheves - after one block, traffic was directed north
again via Coit Street.
It wasn't long before highway designations in Florence changed quite a bit,
and since the mid-1930s all of Florence's US routes pass through (rather than
end in) the city.
Page created 11 June 2007; last updated 11 June 2007.
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