End of historic U.S. Highway 117 [I]

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: Alex Nitzman

The original US 117 was commissioned in 1926 to run from Virginia Beach to US 1 at Norlina NC. In 1931 the west end was truncated to Franklin VA, and in 1933 the route was completely decommissioned (that's when US 58 took over, so you can view photos of the historic VA Beach endpoint on my US 58 page). That same year, a second US 117 was designated to run from Wilmington to Wilson NC; that's the same US 117 that still exists today. You can read about its endpoints here.

The photo below is heading north on US 1/US 158 in Norlina; the west beginning of US 117 [I] was to the right. It followed modern US 158 to Murfreesboro; US 258 to Franklin VA; and US 58 to Virginia Beach:

Nitzman, 2000

The Virginia line is about 7 miles ahead on US 1. US 158 splits from US 1 at this intersection, and heads east towards Roanoke Rapids. At the time of this photo, the north beginning of US 401 was to the right, but today its north end is a few miles ahead with US 1, at the I-85 interchange. To the right, US 401 is multiplexed with US 158 for about the first mile, but then it splits off, heading south to Raleigh.