End of historic US highway 611

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 Jeff Kitsko. Photo credits: Chris Elbert; Andy Field; Doug Kerr; Steven Nelson; Alex Nitzman

US 611 was part of the original 1926 system, and it lasted until 1972. Its south end was always at Penn Square in Philadelphia - even in its latter years, after all other US routes had been rerouted away from the square. Penn Square was a fitting place to end a US route - it essentially functions as a giant rotary encircling the massive city hall building, and it thus forms the epicenter of Philadelphia:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

The photo below is heading westbound; Broad exits the Square to the right:

Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2005

Straight ahead was once southbound US 1/13; northbound was to the right on Broad. That direction was also the south beginning of US 611. If you turn that direction, the first northbound sign you'll see is shown below:

Nitzman, May 2007

PA 611 follows historic US 611 northward all the way up through the Poconos.

The north end of US 611 was always in Scranton PA, but its location shifted quite a few times during those years. US 611 came into town via what is now PA hwy. 435, connecting with Drinker Street, and at Blakely Street it turned south. Orignally US 11 left Scranton via Main Avenue, so US 611 was directed west on Green Ridge Street, ending at Main:

Nelson, Sep. 2007

That's looking north on Green Ridge, where US 611 originally ended at Main (old US 11). However, it wasn't long before US 11 was rerouted out of Scranton via Blakely and Green Ridge instead of Main. So then US 611 ended at the location shown in the photo below:

Elbert, July 2006

That's actually in the town of Dunmore, looking west on Blakely at Green Ridge. Eastbound US 11 traffic came towards the camera on Blakely, then continued to the right on Green Ridge, so the car in the foreground is at an historic north end of US 611. That lasted until about 1940, which is when US 611 was co-signed with US 11 to the right - along Green Ridge, Main, and Market Street - to end at the point where US 6 came in on Keyser Avenue:

Nelson, Sep. 2007

In 1954, when the route of US 6 changed, US 611 was extended up to meet it - it ended at what is today the junction of US 11/US 6/Business 6 north of the city:

Nelson, Sep. 2007

Then in 1964, when more freeways had been built, US 611 was routed onto what is now I-84/I-380, ending where those two routes currently end, at the junction with I-81:

Kerr, Dec. 2002

Below we're looking south on I-81, at the west beginning of I-84 / north beginning of I-380:

Nitzman, July 2005

Up until the time when US 611 was decommissioned in 1972, that was its final north beginning.