NCRoads.com: N.C. 89

N.C. 89
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Photo: NC 89 leaving Virginia (Matt Craig)

N.C. 89 60 miles

The Road:

Begins at US 311 Walnut Cove (Stokes County) and ends at the Virginia State Line near Low Gap (Surry County). The route continues a dozen more miles as VA 89 to US 58-221 in Galax, VA.

Towns and Attractions:

Stokes Co: Walnut Cove, Hanging Rock State Park
Surry Co: Mt. Airy

History:

NC 89 is an original state highway. Initially it ran from NC 897 Walkertown (US 311 at Pine Hall Rd) north to Walnut Grove, then northwest to end at NC 80 (now NC 103) Mt. Airy.
The 1922 Official and Rand McN maps from 1922 and 1923 seem to show NC 89 running Danbury-Moore Springs-Francisco. The 1924 Official map shows NC 89 along its current corridor. Best guess is that NC 89 used Hanging Rock Rd, Moore Springs Rd and Dan GOrge Rd which no longer exists north of NC 268.

1923 Auto Trails
NC 89 through Moore Springs 1924 Official
NC 89 through Piedmont Springs

In 1926, NC 89 east was truncated to NC 77 Walnut Grove, replaced by a rerouted NC 77. Today this is mostly US 311 but also Stokesburg Rd south of Walnut Cove.

1925 Official
NC 89 down to Walkertown 1926 Official
NC 89 truncated to Walnut Cove

In 1930, NC 89 was extended northwest as new primary routing to Virginia.
In 1938, NC 89 was rerouted in the Low Gap area to bypass Landonia. This left behind today's SR 1407 and SR 1338. Also in this timeframe NC 89 was rerouted around Toast leaving SRs 1387 and 1389.

1930 Official
NC 89 extended west of Mt Airy in 1930 1936 Surry County
NC 89 through Landonia 1944 Surry County
NC 89 on modern routing

Between 1963-67, NC 89 was placed on one-way splits in central Mt. Airy. WB used the original two-way route on Main St and NB was put on Cherry St to Renfro St.
Between 1969-72, NC 89 EB was removed from most of Main St (now SR 2111) in central Mt. Airy and placed on Cherry St east to Renfro, with two-way traffic on an extended Renfro St.
NC 89 has been rerouted off of Pine St and instead leaves US 52 Business (no longer on one-way splits) on Independence Blvd which carries NC 89 over to Pine St at the US 52 Byp interchange. My guess this occurred the same time US 601 was truncated to the US 52 Byp, in 2001 or 2002.

NC 89 on split routing through Mt. Airy
1968 Surry County
NC 89 removed from most of Main St
1972 Surry County

Comment:

NC 89 was once a popular truck route between I-77 and Mt Airy, as US 52's mountain climb in Virginia is not good for truck traffic. The completion of I-74 in this area has alleviated that problem on NC 89.

Last Update: 14 May 2010

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