End of US highway 211

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. Photo credits: Chris Elbert; Alex Nitzman; Mike Roberson; Dave Strong; Michael Summa; Kel Utendorf

Surprisingly few US routes defy the "number-direction parity" concept. US 211 is one of the exceptions: it runs east/west, and is signed east/west, but it was numbered as a north/south branch route. Originally the east end was at its junction with US 50 in Fairfax, so I'm not sure why it wasn't numbered as US x50. The photo below is looking west on Lee Highway:

Roberson, Mar. 2006

That's westbound US 50, which continues to the right on Main Street. (Today this is also southbound US 29, which continues straight ahead.) But before US 29 was extended through this area, straight ahead was the east beginning of US 211. In 1929, US 211 was extended further east: all the way to the Francis Scott Key Memorial Bridge in Rosslyn, just across the Potomac River from Washington DC. Below is an historic photo of the bridge:

Library of Congress, HAER collection, date unknown

That's looking north into the District; US 211 ended on the near shore. In 1934, US 29 was extended northward to Warrenton, and from there it was co-signed with US 211 through Arlington (and then beyond, on its own). So US 211 could've been truncated to Warrenton as early as 1934, but perhaps since it was the first route to serve that corridor, it remained on that segment. It wasn't until 50 years later (1984) that US 211 was truncated to its current east terminus in Warrenton. The photo below shows the odd place where the "End" sign is posted. This is looking east on Lee Highway at the Blackwell Road intersection:

Strong, 2000 (unchanged as of 2006)

Downtown Warrenton is about a mile to the right. (Chris reports there's also a nearly identical assembly posted about a block before you reach this point.) See the green signs in the distance? They give directions at the interchange with the US 15/US 17/US 29 bypass. So why doesn't the US 211 designation extend to that point? It's quite uncommon for a main route to end at a business route.

This next series begins from southbound US 15/29. US 211 should start here...

Elbert, July 2006

...but it doesn't - as you can see, this exit is signed "TO US 211". If you get off there, you'll encounter the assembly shown below as you approach the junction with Blackwell:

Elbert, July 2006

As you can see, the east beginning of US 211 is at the same intersection as the east beginning of its own business route. Continuing past that traffic signal, the sign below is posted...

Elbert, July 2006

...but notice the assembly in the distance - it's shown close-up below:

Strong, 2000 (unchanged as of 2006)

Seems strange that's not posted closer to Blackwell. The "Begin" sign itself is pretty unusual as well.

From Warrenton, it's only about 60 miles to US 211's west end at New Market. Originally US 211 came into town on Old Cross Road, ending at US 11 (Congress Street):

Roberson, July 2007

That lasted until perhaps the 1950s, when US 211 was rerouted to its current alignment, which intersects US 11 on the north edge of town:

Nitzman, June 2004

That was the west end of US 211 until 1967. Below is another view of that junction, approaching from the north:

Nitzman, June 2004

For 10 or 15 years, US 211 began to the left on Lee Highway. When I-81 was built, the US 211 designation was extended ahead with US 11 for a couple blocks, and then west again on its own to a junction with I-81:

Nitzman, June 2004

That's looking south on Congress at Old Cross. The original beginning of US 211 was to the left. Now US 211 continues to the right, ending at I-81:

Nitzman, June 2004

Straight ahead is VA hwy. 211, but that has never been part of US 211. Below is a shot from I-81 at the exit marking the west beginning of US 211:

Nitzman, June 2004

This next shot shows the signage visible as one exits northbound I-81 at New Market:

Utendorf, Oct. 2002

The tanker truck in the background is southbound on I-81. Note how it's US 211 to the right, but VA hwy. 211 to the left (both assemblies are shown close-up below):

Utendorf, Oct. 2002 (both)

US 211 begins to the right - after a couple blocks it joins US 11, which runs parallel to I-81. Below is a 1995 photo from that intersection:

Summa, 1995

Straight ahead on Old Cross was the original beginning of US 211. Now it continues to the left on Congress, and soon reaches the intersection marking its other historic beginning:

Summa, 2000

To the right on Lee Hwy. was where US 211 began until I-81 was built.