End of historic U.S. Highway 17-1

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 and Mike Roberson. Photo credits: Alex Nitzman; Mac Watkins

US 17-1 was among the original routes of 1926, and it was the only US highway that was ever assigned a hyphenated route number. US 17-1 connected to its "parent" (US 17) in Wilmington NC, and ran north to US 1 at Petersburg VA. The map below indicates the terminus was on Sycamore at Washington:

Automobile Blue Book, c. 1929

The photo below is looking west on Washington, approaching Sycamore:

Nitzman, Jan. 2008

At the signal ahead, Washington became southbound US 1, while northbound US 1 was to the right on Sycamore. To the left on Sycamore was the north beginning of US 17-1. The sign posted in the distance is shown close-up below:

Nitzman, Jan. 2008

To the left was originally the beginning of US 17-1 from 1927 to 1932. Then in 1932, US 301 was commissioned. It completely subsumed US 17-1, so its north beginning was to the left until 1941 (more info on my main US 301 page).

In Wilmington, US 17-1 came in on Castle Hayne Road, then south on 4th Street (this segment of the historic route is no longer driveable because of MLK Parkway, or modern US 74). It veered off 4th onto Front Street, and then a block later it junctioned with US 17 at 3rd Street. It could've ended there, but Mike has seen atlases that imply US 17-1 was duplexed with US 17 into downtown Wilmington (which wouldn't have been at all unusual in those days).

US 17-1 had a short life: it was already decommissioned in 1932, when an extended US 301 took over the Petersburg-Wilson NC segment, and the remaining segment (Wilson-Wilmington) was renumbered as US 117 [II].

That same year, US 421 was extended to the south and east of Greensboro NC. It joined with US 117 at Castle Hayne, and the two routes were co-signed down to the junction in Wilmington. The US 421 designation ended where US 17-1 had ended, but at first US 117 didn't end there. Instead it continued south of Wilmington (along today's US 17) into South Carolina. But in about 1934, US 17 was changed to its current route, so US 117 was truncated to end at the same junction in Wilmington where its predecessor had ended. This common endpoint was the junction of 3rd Street and Market Street. The photo below is looking north on 3rd:

Nitzman, June 2005

Today that's northbound Business 17, which continues to the right. Straight ahead was the south beginning of US 17-1, then US 421, and then US 117. This ceased to be the beginning of US 421 in about 1935, but US 117 began here until about 1968 (you can click to get more info on those routes). Ahead from there a little ways, we come to the point where the routes split. That junction is pictured below... or at least what remains of that junction. We're looking north on 3rd; the traffic signal is for Front (to the left) and Davis Street (to the right). US 17 used to come up to this point and then cross the Cape Fear River via the Parsley Street bridge (the predecessor to the modern bridge visible at far left). Front used to continue diagonally across this intersection, heading northeast behind the trees at far right:

Watkins, Jan. 2008

So that's where US 17-1 split off, and later US 421 and US 117. The big green signs in the distance are shown close-up below:

Watkins, Jan. 2008

That was taken from right about the spot where the three routes diverged off US 17. (Visible in the distance is a raised drawbridge for a railroad across the river.)