End of US highway 422
(eastern segment)

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 Jeff Kitsko and Robert Droz. Photo credits: Chris Elbert; Christopher Mason; Alex Nitzman; "xirtam"; me

(There is also a separate western segment of US 422; click here to view its page.)

From 1927 to 1932, the eastern segment of US 422 only made it as far west as Reading. The shot below is looking south on 5th Street at Penn Street:

Nelson, Sep. 2007

That was originally westbound US 22, which continued to the right on Penn. To the left was the west beginning of US 422. And straight ahead on 5th was the north beginning of US 222.

For about the first 60 years of its existence, the east end of US 422 was at various points around Philadelphia (you can view photos of the first two endpoints on this page). Below is a shot of the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge:

Mason

During the late 1940s-early 1950s, US 422 was routed this way, ending at the New Jersey state line just ahead. Later US 422 was rerouted such that it came in on Clarissa Street, ending at Hunting Park Avenue (US 13):

Nelson, Sep. 2007

Then for a few years US 422 was rerouted to use Henry Avenue, ending where that junctions Hunting Park...

Nelson, Sep. 2007

...but then it went back to its previous endpoint on Clarissa for the next 24 years. In 1985 the east end of the eastern segment of US 422 was truncated to its current location in King of Prussia PA, at its junction with US 202. The photo below was heading south on US 422:

Nitzman, 2000

Ahead, the only options are to go north or south on US 202. This next photo is from the opposite direction, and it shows the first westbound marker:

Elbert, July 2006

For more photos of current and historic endpoints of US 422, please visit Tim Reichard's page.

Now back to the west end: in 1932, US 422 was co-signed with US 322 to an endpoint in Harrisburg. The routes came in on Derry Street, then Mulberry Street, which becomes 4th Street. US 422 ended at Market Street (which carried US 22). The shot below was taken looking southwest on Market:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That was US 22, and US 422 began to the left on 4th. It wasn't long before US 422 traffic was changed to follow Paxton Street (instead of Derry), then Front Street (2nd Street was not yet being used as the northbound counterpart for Front). The Harvey Taylor Bridge had not yet been built, so the Walnut Street and Market Street bridges were the only bridges serving the downtown area. Maps from that era seem to indicate that US 11 traffic was routed over the Market Street Bridge, so US 422 probably ended on Front at Market. The photo below shows the Market St. Bridge heading northeast:

xirtam, Sep. 2004

That carried US 11, and probably US 15 as well until 1936. US 15 would've ended at Front Street, which is the intersection visible just beyond the foot of the bridge. After that time, US 15 was extended northward, but by then US 422 had been routed to that intersection, ending at its junction with US 11. By 1959, Front was one-way southbound, so US 422 would've ended on 2nd Street at Market...

Gousha, 1959

...however, as you can see: by then the Harvey Taylor Bridge was open, so it's possible that US 422 would've been extended, ending on 2nd at Forster Street. It's not possible to tell from that map exactly where the route ended, and I haven't seen any other maps that are definitive. But for now I'll post the following photos:

me, Nov. 2000

The intersection shown above could've been an endpoint of westbound US 422. It would've still been co-signed with US 322 to this point, and 322 continued straight ahead on 2nd Street, along with westbound US 22. Eastbound US 22 was right on Forster. The photo below shows another perspective:

me, Nov. 2000

This is looking south on Front Street; you can see the Harvey Taylor Bridge on the right, which aligns with Forster on the Harrisburg side of the river (left). Eastbound US 22 was here on Front, and then left ahead on Forster. Straight ahead on Front could've been an historic beginning of eastbound US 422.

In 1961 the west end of the eastern segment of US 422 was truncated to its current terminus, which is between Hershey and Hummelstown PA, at the junction with US 322. The photo below is from eastbound US 322, at the beginning of US 422:

Nitzman, 2000

The shot below was taken at 422's interchange with US 322 and PA hwy. 39:

Nitzman, 2000