Current and historic US Highway ends
in Rouses Point and Champlain, NY

Note: much of the information on this page is based on the research of Robert Droz and Dan Moraseski (who also brought my attention to the map scans). Photos are courtesy of Hank Eisenstein; Andy Field, Alex Nitzman, Chris Jordan, and Robert Mortell.

When the US routes were first commissioned, three of them ended in Rouses Point: US 9, US 11, and the eastern segment of US 2. Below is a scan of the 1943 USGS map:

USGS maps have never been completely reliable with regard to highway designations, but it's a safe bet that this one was correct where it shows US 9 going to the Canada border. The question is, where did US 2 and US 11 end? US 11 is the road coming in from Champlain along the bottom left, on aptly-named Champlain Street. Did it really end at its junction with US 9? Probably not. But if so, here's a photo of modern signage at that intersection:

Field/Nitzman, July 2000

This is on northbound Lake Street (old US 9) at Champlain St. Today northbound US 11 goes straight ahead, but it's possible that this was its north beginning at one time. However, it's just as likely that US 11 was co-signed with US 9 north from here to the border. About a mile to the north we come to the Bridge Road intersection, which is shown in the photo below:

Nitzman, July 2005

At this point I'm not sure what's going on there, so to explain I'll use an older photo of the same assembly:

Field/Nitzman, July 2000

That's looking north on Lake, this segment of which is US 11/historic US 9. Today US 2 begins to the right. However, it's likely that US 2 was originally co-signed north with US 9 (and probably US 11 too) to the border: this would've been the practical way to mark the road, especially for travellers coming in from Canada. In the distance ahead, you might just be able to make out a US 11 reassurance marker; that's shown close-up below...

Field/Nitzman, July 2000

...although Alex reports that was gone in 2005, too. The customs house is just visible at far left. Today, as you can see, US 11 continues ahead about a half-mile to the Canada border; it's probably always been that way, despite what's shown on these maps. Here's a photo from there:

Eisenstein, Apr. 2002

The Canada line is right about where the railroad crosses in the distance; that's probably the historic end of US 2 and US 9, as well. Now: the US 2 signs in the photos above mark the west beginning of that route. On the map above, US 2 is shown coming in from Vermont on Bridge Road, and possibly ending here at Lake St, just as it does today. Below is a photo of modern signage approaching that intersection:

Field/Nitzman, July 2000

This is looking west on Bridge, approaching Lake St. Today the west end of the eastern segment of US 2 is just ahead, at its junction with US 11 (historic US 9) at Lake. It may have been that way in the past too, but as I said above, it's likely that US 2 used to continue north from here with US 9 and US 11. Today however, it's only US 11 that goes all the way to the border. Below is the first marker heading south from Canada:

Mortell, 1996

Seems like a "To US 2" marker would be appropriate there, too. Here's the signage at that upcoming intersection:

Mortell, 1996

Today the west beginning of US 2 is to the left. Anyway, my guess is it was shortly after the map above was published that US 9 was rerouted north of Chazy NY. Now - instead of going northeast through Coopersville to Rouses Point (via today's NY 9B) - it goes more northerly through Champlain, ending at the border crossing north of town. Dan theorizes that this change was in conjunction with the rerouting of Quebec hwy. 9 to the west. Here's the 1956 USGS map:

(The solid red line running east-west is US 11.) The shot below was taken heading north out of Champlain, just shy of the Canada border.

Field/Nitzman, July 2000

US 9 used to continue about 1000 feet past this sign, to the customs house in the distance, and then into Canada. But now the old road dead-ends shy of the border. The "End" sign is posted here because you have to get on I-87 (ahead to the left) to get to customs. The shot below was taken heading the same direction (northbound), but on I-87:

Nitzman, July 2005

If you exit there, you'll see this sign on the offramp:

Nitzman, July 2005

That's really the north beginning of US 9 now; as I said, it used to continue to the left, but Alex reports that now leads only to a cul-de-sac adjacent to the customs house. Below is the first southbound sign...

Nitzman, July 2005

...well, maybe not the first - "Morgan from Montreal" reported the following in March 2006:

"While it is true that US 9 dead-ends just shy of the border on the east side of I-87, the first southbound sign can actually be found further north: on the west side of the interstate, on West Service Road. This road is flanked by customs brokers' offices and warehouses. It also dead-ends just after the parking area for southbound trucks that are clearing customs. The sign is easy to miss as it is actually facing the dead-end! I happened to spot it from my truck over a retaining wall as I was waiting in the commercial vehicle line at U.S. customs. The only other way to see it would be to make a u-turn at the end of W. Service Rd., something that pretty much only a border patrol vehicle would ever do. Either this sign was placed by a very sleepy D.O.T. worker or this road was once the southbound side of route 9 prior to the Interstate 87/Autoroute 15 connection. Either way it's quite an odd site to see. This must be the most useless U.S route sign still standing! According to Wikipedia, Autoroute 15 and The Northway were linked by 1967, so I'm figuring this sign hasn't served a motorist in nearly 40 years. I've always wondered why there are two route 9's in that area, but after seeing the 1956 USGS map on your site [above], I noticed the split of the route near the border. I wonder whether the sign is still accurate. Regardless, its days are probably numbered, because the customs facilities are expanding onto the other side of the road."

Anyway, in the background of the photo above, is the first exit sign for southbound I-87 coming from Canada; it's shown close-up below:

Nitzman, July 2005

After US 9 was routed through Champlain, its old route through Coopersville and Rouses Point became NY hwy. 9B, a sign for which you saw in one of the photos above, and which shows up on the map below:

That's from that same 1956 USGS quad. Again, what it shows is kind of odd: did US 11 really end on Champlain at NY 9B (Lake) back then? Or did it continue north to the border, as it does today? Or, a third possibility: check out this 1959 Gousha map:

In this series, the legend clearly differentiates US routes as red lines with blue casing, while state routes are red or blue lines with no casing. So this makes it look like US 2 and US 11 end at each other, while it was only 9B that actually served the border crossing. Who knows...