End of US highway 522

Approx. time period

North Terminus

South Terminus

1926-1944

Selinsgrove, PA (Pine)

Hancock, MD

1944-1949

Selinsgrove, PA (Pine)

(near Powhatan, VA)

1949-1977 Selinsgrove, PA (north) (near Powhatan, VA)
1977-present Selinsgrove, PA (bypass) (near Powhatan, VA)

Click to view map
(about 58 k)

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: Robert Mortell; Steven Nelson; Alex Nitzman; Tim Reichard; Bob Robb


US 522 was an original 1926 route; at the time its south end was at Hancock MD. There, the original route of US 522 (Warfordsburg Road) has been interrupted by I-70, but that aligns with Limestone Road on the south side of the freeway. My guess is that US 522 ran along Limestone and ended where that joins Main Street:

Mortell, Aug. 2007

You can see from the sign assembly that Main is now MD hwy. 144, but it carried US 40 traffic until I-70 was built. Below we're looking west on Main:

Mortell, Aug. 2007

That was westbound US 40, which curved to the left. To the right on Limestone was probably the south beginning of US 522. In 1944, US 522 was extended south from Hancock - the bridge visible in that photo carries US 522 traffic over the Potomac River and into West Virginia. Since then, the south end of US 522 has been at its present terminus, which is at its junction with US 60 near Powhatan VA. The photo below is heading south on US 522, approaching the endpoint...

Robb, Mar. 2004

...and the shot below shows the actual intersection where US 522 ends:

Robb, Mar. 2004

Incidentally: prior to the mid-1930's, this segment of US 60 hadn't been built. Instead it followed what is now VA hwy. 13, which is about 1/4-mile ahead. But by the time US 522 was extended down to Powhatan, this "newer" US 60 was already here.

Below we're looking the opposite direction - US 522 begins straight ahead:

Robb, Mar. 2004

The green sign on the opposite side of the intersection gives mileage to Goochland (11), Gum Spring (18), and Winchester (143); there's a US 522 shield mounted on the top.

Below is the south beginning of US 522 as seen from eastbound US 60...

Robb, Mar. 2004

...and below is the view from westbound:

Robb, Mar. 2004


US 522 originally came into Selinsgrove PA on University Avenue, and its north end was at the intersection of Pine Street at Market Street (historic US 11/US 15). The photo below was taken looking south on Market:

Nelson, Sep. 2007

US 522 began to the right on Pine. It was 1949 when modern US 522 opened to traffic - this road runs along the north edge of Selinsgrove. At the time, US 522 still ended at Market - the photo below is looking east:

Reichard, Oct. 2001

Southbound US 11/15 was to the right, and northbound was to the left. But in 1977, US 11/15 was routed onto a bypass that skirts the east side of Selinsgrove. So the US 522 designation was extended north along former US 11/15 to its current terminus: a partial interchange with the new US 11/15, which is about a half-mile to the left. Below is an enlargement of the sign assembly shown in the photo above:

The view in the photo below is heading south towards Selinsgrove on US 11/15:

Nitzman, 1994

US 11/15 used to continue straight ahead on Market through downtown, and the north terminus of US 522 was about a half-mile ahead. But now US 11/15 exits right, loops around to the left via the overpass, and then continues south again along a newer bypass off to the east. So today US 522 begins straight ahead. It follows Market to the intersection shown in the first photo, then turns right. While US 522 does start out heading essentially west, it soon begins a gradual curve to the south, mimicking the bend of the Appalachian Mountains. Which, to me, suggests that it should've been numbered differently, as a branch of a north/south route: seems like an "x11" or "x15" number would've been more appropriate.

For more photos of current and historic endpoints of US 522, please visit Tim Reichard's page.






Page created 10 March 2000; last updated 18 September 2007.
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