End of US highway 209

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info below is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site. Photo credits: Andy Field; Jason Ilyes; Doug Kerr; J.P. Nasiatka; Alex Nitzman; me

US 209 was among the original 1926 routes; at the time its south end was at Clarks Ferry PA (which was across the Susquehanna River from Duncannon, but today is really nothing more than a highway junction). Today PA hwy. 147 heads south from Milton along the east bank of the Susquehanna - through Northumberland, Sunbury, Millersburg, and Halifax - ending at its junction with US 22/322:

me, Nov. 2000

Straight ahead is Harrisburg, while right (west) across the Clarks Ferry Bridge leads to Lewistown and State College. This is the original south end of US 209 - although I doubt there was a grade separation back then.

The photo below was taken from the opposite direction: north from Harrisburg on westbound US 22/322:

me, Nov. 2000

Those routes go left across the bridge and up the Juniata River valley. PA 147 begins here by continuing north along the Susquehanna. This was the original south beginning of US 209.

In 1936 , US 15 was extended north from Harrisburg along what is now PA 147. So the south end of US 209 was truncated to its junction with US 15 in Millersburg PA. Five years later, US 15 was rerouted to follow the west bank of the Susquehanna (as it does yet today), but rather than re-extending US 209 back down to Clarks Ferry (so that it would again end at a junction with another US route), US 209 was left dangling (so to speak) at its existing terminus, where it remains to this day. That makes it a member in a small group of inland US highways which don't end at a junction with another US route. The photo below was from northbound PA hwy. 147, which is on Market Street in town. US 209 begins to the right, on Union Street:

me, Nov. 2000

Pretty sloppy workmanship, but that assembly has been replaced now:

Ilyes, 2004

Here's approach signage from the opposite direction:

Ilyes, 2004

If you take that left, you'll be on the road visible at far right in the photo below. Union (US 209) doesn't have a "T" intersection with Market (PA 147). Instead, there's a one-way semi-circle or "half-rotary" there. You curve past the side of the brick building in the background, and then take another right, heading straight out behind the trees:

me, Nov. 2000

The photo below was taken from the opposite direction: approaching the half-rotary on Union. The "End" sign was posted just shy of the true end of southbound US 209. You have to go right here to reach Market (or PA 147, which runs behind the gazebo), but there was no "End" sign at that intersection:

me, Nov. 2000

Within a couple years, that sign had either been replaced, or else another one had been added:

Ilyes, June 2002

The original north end of US 209 was in Milford PA; you can view photos from there on this page.

In 1934 the north end of US 209 was extended to Kingston NY. At the time, traffic came in on Lucas Avenue, then made its way over to Albany Avenue, where it ended at Broadway:

Mortell, Oct. 2006

Nortbound US 9W was to the left on Albany, and southbound was to the right on Broadway. The current terminus of US 209 is still at its junction with US 9W, but both routes have changed, and they now meet on the north side of town. The photo below shows the twin "End" signs heading east on US 209:

Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2007

You can see how the mainline itself continues ahead as NY hwy. 199. That goes east across the Hudson River and connects with US 9 in the Rhinebeck-Red Hook area. If it were up to me, I would continue the US 209 designation a bit further ahead, to that junction.

Below is a series of the signage for the north beginning of US 209 as seen from northbound US 9W. Approaching the junction, there's an error:

Nasiatka, Sep. 2003

That should be a US 209 shield, not NY 209. The next two signs have it correct:

Kerr, July 2001

Nasiatka, Sep. 2003

Once you're on US 209, the first southbound sign looks like this:

Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2007