End of US highway 276

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: John Allen; Andy Field; Brian LeBlanc; Steven Nelson; Alex Nitzman; me

Originally, from Laurens SC, US 76 went northwest (along what is now SC hwy. 14), ending in Greenville. But in 1932 it was rerouted more westerly in order to serve Anderson (as it does yet today). So that's when US 276 was commissioned: it branched off from US 76 at Laurens SC, following old US 76 to Greenville. The shot below is looking east on Main Street in Laurens:

Nelson, 2006

The original east beginning of US 276 was to the left on what is now SC hwy. 14, or Church Street. US 276 continued to Greenville, and then beyond, ending at US 64 in Brevard NC. The shot below was taken heading east on US 64, or Broad Street:

Nitzman, July 2004

To the right on Main Street was the original north beginning of US 276. Today, as you can see, the designation continues further north by duplexing with US 64 ahead on Broad - that happened in 1939. US 276 is signed east/west in South Carolina, as it should be. When it went only as far west as Brevard, I imagine it was signed east/west in North Carolina too. But when the US 276 designation was extended up to Waynesville NC, I'm guessing that's when NCDoT began signing the route north/south. At any rate, that's the way it is today, so the "west" end of US 276 is at the NC/SC state line, as is the "south" end. The shot below is looking north on Main Street in Waynesville:

Allen, Dec. 2008

Today that's Business 23, but originally it was mainline US 23, and during the 1940s and '50s, the north beginning of US 276 was to the right on Pigeon Street. The sign assembly at far right is shown close-up below:

Allen, Dec. 2008

US 276 used to begin to the right, but in about 1960 it was extended ahead with US 23 for a few blocks, before splitting off onto Russ Avenue. US 276 contines a couple miles north, to its junction with US 19 near Lake Junaluska - that's where the photo below was taken:

me, Oct. 2000

As you can see, today 276 is co-signed west from here with US 19. That lasts for about two miles, and then 276 breaks off: north again, towards I-40 at Cove Creek. But during the 1960s the north end of US 276 was here.

Apparently in 1944 there was a plan to extend US 276 westward, via a different route out of Waynesville, which completely bypassed its current north end at Cove Creek. Instead, it would've followed what is now US 19 east from Waynesville to Cherokee. From there, it followed modern US 441 through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, over into Tennessee, to its end at US 411 in Sevierville (pronounced suh-VEER-vull). Things there have changed a lot. Main Street didn't extend east from downtown as it does now (becoming Dolly Parton Parkway). Instead, traffic from the east came in via Eastgate Road. Northbound highway traffic originally came in via Park Road, but that was changed to follow today's Parkway sometime around 1950. So - if US 276 was ever actually signed into Sevierville - it would've first ended at the junction of Eastgate at Park, and later at the junction of Park and Parkway. But there's some question as to whether this was ever the case. One example: TNDoT's official 1951 highway map does not show US 276 at all.

If US 276 was indeed signed into Tennessee, then in 1968 it was truncated to its current terminus. But if the route was never signed west of Waynesville, then in 1968 the US 276 designation was extended to its current terminus. Either way, today US 276 ends at I-40's interchange 20 at Cove Creek NC. Below is the exit sign from westbound I-40:

LeBlanc, Oct. 2000

If you exit there, you loop around and end up just left of the signs shown below, heading in the direction of the 276 arrow. That's basically the north end of US 276. The photo was taken from a side road: to the right is the entrance ramp to I-40 west. To the left, it's a two-way road, and it crosses under the interstate:

me, Oct. 2000

My only question is: why the "To" sign? If that's not 276 to the left, then what is it? And that wasn't the only one - another is shown below:

me, Oct. 2000

This was taken looking south on 276, after crossing under I-40. At right is the off-ramp from eastbound I-40. The "One way" sign in the middleground is optically pointing to the assembly shown below, on the far side of the off-ramp:

me, Oct. 2000

South of the off-ramp, the "To" signs disappear. The road coming in from the right is Cove Creek Road - which, according to Brian, used to be part of NC hwy. 284, until US 276 took over in 1968. The sign in the distance is shown close-up in the photo below:

LeBlanc, Oct. 2000

In 1960, I-385 between Greenville and Clinton was opened to traffic... except it wasn't called I-385 at the time. Instead, the US 276 designation was applied to this new freeway, which ended at its interchange with SC 56. I-26 had been built only as far north as Newberry, so US 276 traffic was directed south on SC 56, joined with SC 72, and ended on Broad at US 76 (or Carolina Avenue, as it's called in Clinton). The photo below is looking west on Carolina:

Nelson, 2006

For a few years, US 276 began to the right on Broad. But it wasn't long before I-26 was complete through the area. When that happened, US 276 was truncated to its interchange with I-26 (at what is now the south end of I-385):

Nitzman, Oct. 2001

That's looking west on I-26. Originally, the freeway that begins to the left was US 276. But in 1984, that freeway was renumbered as I-385, and the US 276 designation was truncated to its current terminus in Mauldin. The photo below shows the exit off northbound I-385 where US 276 begins:

Field/Nitzman, 2004

Beyond this point, I-385 veers to the right to bypass Mauldin, but US 276 continues on this alignment and becomes Laurens Road - the original highway through Mauldin and on to Greenville. There's a little more about US 276 on my "End US 123" page. I-185 was extended to this interchange in 2001; the signage before that is shown in the photo below:

Nitzman, 2000

The photo below shows the end of US 276, where it has an interchange with I-185 and merges into I-385:

Google Maps Street View, 2008