End of US highway 278

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 and Adam Froehlig. Photo credits: David Backlin; David Dawson; Jeremy Lance; Steven Nelson; Adam Prince

US 278 wasn't commissioned until 1952; at the time its west end was at US 78 in Tupelo MS. The photo below is looking south on Gloster Street at Main Street:

Nelson, June 2006

Today this is MS hwy. 145, but it was once eastbound US 78 (which turned left on Main) and southbound US 45 (which continued straight ahead). Also straight ahead with US 45 was the west beginning of US 278. The two routes were co-signed ahead for 22 miles, where US 278 finally split off on its own.

That direction, US 278 went only as far as Guin AL - a very modest distance of about 40 miles. At Guin, instead of approaching town from the south as it does today, US 278 came in on what is now AL hwy. 142, ending at its junction with US 43 (which was also US 78 at the time). The photo below is looking south on 11th Street:

Nelson, July 2006

Today that's US 43 and US 278, which split here. But originally US 278 began to the right, on AL 142 (which is not mentioned on this assembly). That didn't last for long: in 1955 US 278 was extended east from Guin, to Augusta GA. The inset on my 1959 atlas shows that US 278 came into town via Gordon Highway (along with US 1-25-78), which aligned with 5th Street at the time. At Broad Street, US 25 went west, US 1-78 went east, and US 278 ended. The shot below is looking west on Broad:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

Today US 1-25-78-278 is on an overpass just behind the camera. But during the 1950s and 60s, US 1-25-78 used Broad, and they all turned south (left) at the next intersection (5th). The east beginning of US 278 was also that direction.

In 1965, the east end of US 278 was extended to Hilton Head Island SC. At the time the toll highway did not exist, so initially US 278 followed today's William Hilton Parkway all the way through the island. At Pope Avenue, US 278 turned towards the beach and ended at Coligny Circle (which is where Pope ends at its junction with Forest Beach Drive):

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That was taken looking southeast on Pope at Coligny Cir/Forest Beach, and it shows the first Hilton Head endpoint of US 278. That was the case until about 1975, when US 278 was cut back to its current terminus at Sea Pines Circle. That's where Pope, Hilton Pkwy, Palmetto Bay Road, and Greenwood Drive converge. The photo below is looking southeast on Palmetto Bay:

Prince, Aug. 2001

Behind the camera is a fairly new toll road into Hilton Head. US 278 has been routed onto it, and the designation ends at the rotary ahead. Notice that northeastbound Hilton Parkway is the beginning of Business US 278. Before the toll road, that was the east beginning of mainline US 278. The photo below shows the signage further ahead at the rotary, where the designation actually ends:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

This next shot is approaching the rotary from the opposite direction (northwest on Pope Avenue):

Dawson, Dec. 2001

The two overhead signs are shown close-up below:

This next shot is a bit further ahead, showing the green sign visible in the distance above:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

As you can see, the east beginning of US 278 is straight ahead now (second exit). But the first exit to the right on Business 278 (or Hilton Pkwy) used to be the east beginning of mainline 278. A perspective heading that direction from the rotary is below:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

The shot below is looking southwest on Hilton Pkwy, at the former east end of US 278 (now the east end of Business 278):

Dawson, Dec. 2001

Today US 278 begins at the first exit to the right. If you head out that way, you don't see the first reassurance marker for another 4 miles (after you've gone through the toll booth). It's shown below:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

At this point, you're nearly back to the junction with old 278; the green sign is shown close-up below:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

In the 1970s, the US 278 designation was truncated to a junction about 32 miles south of Tupelo: at US 45, 6 miles west of Amory. The photo below was taken looking east at this junction:

Nelson, Aug. 2005

The west beginning of US 278 used to be straight ahead. Below we're looking the opposite direction:

Nelson, Aug. 2005

That used to be the west end of US 278. But in 1998, the designation was extended north from here with US 45, through Tupelo again, and then further west via a tortured route all the way to its current terminus at Wickes AR:

Backlin, Nov. 2007

That's where US 278 ends, at its junction with US 59/71, but David reports that - not only was there no "End" sign - but there was no junction signage at all! At the far right of that photo is the only sign for drivers, and it's hardly adequate: to the right of the railroad crossing sign is a street sign that says "HWY 71". At far left is an assembly for northbound traffic, shown head-on in the photo below:

Backlin, Nov. 2007

That's looking north on US 59/71; the west beginning of US 278 is to the right. The photo below is looking the opposite direction:

Backlin, Nov. 2007

That's from southbound US 59/71. If you take that left turn, the first eastbound marker looks like this:

Backlin, Nov. 2007

Compare that to the photo below, showing the same view about ten years earlier:

Lance, 1998

When US 278 was extended this way, it replaced AR hwy. 4, but the routes were co-signed during a transitionary period.