| U.S.
1 171 miles |
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| The Road: |
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Begins at the South Carolina state line below Rockingham (Richmond County) and ends at the Virginia state line above Norlina (Warren County). Nationally the road runs from Key West, FL to Fort Kent, ME.
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Towns and Attractions: |
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Richmond Co.: Rockingham
Moore Co.: Pine Bluff, Aberdeen, Southern Pines,
Lee Co.: Sanford
Chatham Co.: None
Wake Co.: Apex, Cary, Raleigh, Wake Forest
Franklin Co.: Franklinton
Vance Co.: Henderson
Warren Co.: Norlina
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History: |
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US 1 is an original US Highway. When it appeared in late 1926 it was assigned to the entirety of the original NC 50 and ran broadly the way it does now. A closer look from a geographic standpoint:
South Carolina to Sanford: US 1 appears not to made any changes from the South Carolina line to Pine Bluff.
Between 1931-36, US 1 was removed from Broad St and Pennsylvania St in Southern Pines.
Between 1939-44, US 1 was rerouted in Aberdeen to today's routing. Initially, US 1 used S. Pinehurst St, a small bit of today's NC 5 and Poplar Ave.
US 1 on Poplar
1936 Moore County
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US 1 moves west to current alignment
1944 Moore County
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In 1956 or 1957, US 1 was given a bypass to the west of Southern Pines. The old route through town on May Ave became US 1-A but is unnumbered today.
US 1 through Southern Pines
1953 Moore County
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US 1 bypasses Southern Pines
1957 Moore County
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In June 2005, a new freeway bypass of Vass and Cameron opened. The old route became US 1 Business.
US 1 through Vass-Cameron
2005 Official
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US 1 bypasses Vass-Cameron
2006 Official
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In 1933, US 1 south of Tramway was removed from Rocky Fork Church Rd and put on today's US 1.
US 1 swings east
1930 Lee County
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US 1 straightened out
1936 Lee County
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In 1957, US 1 was given a western bypass of Sanford. The old route through town became US 1/15/501-A (now US 1 Bus except on Carthage St below NC 42 which is now unnumbered).
US 1 through Sanford
1953 Lee County
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US 1 bypasses Sanford
1957 Lee County
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Sanford to Raleigh:
In 1960, US 1 was given a new super-2 routing bypassing Moncure leaving behind "Old US 1"
In 1963, a new segment of US 1 superhighway opened between NC 55 Apex and HIllsborough St in Western Raleigh. US 1 was duplexed with NC 55 at this time to get from old 1 to new 1. The old route through Apex became Salem Rd, a little US 64 (also not numbered today) and an extended NC 54.
In 1964 or 1965, another super-2 segment opened connecting the Moncure bypass to NC 55, leaving behind more "Old US 1" plus the NC 55 duplex.
In 1975, the final super-2 segment connecting the Sanford Bypass to the Moncure bypass was opened, leaving behind a couple miles of US 15-501/NC 87 and Deep River Rd.
The Sanford to Apex Super-2 was upgraded to full freeway in stages in the mid 90s.
In April 1999, AASHTO rejected a request to add I-140 to US 1 from the US 421 Sanford bypass to I-40 Raleigh.
US 1 original Sanford to Raleigh route
1959 Official
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US 1 bypasses Moncure
1960 Official
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US 1 bypasses Cary
1963 Official
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US 1 bypasses Merry Hill
1965 Official
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US 1 rerouted above Sanford
1975-76 Official
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Raleigh:
US 1's originally left Cary via Hillsborough St and headed to central Raleigh. Hillsborough became New Bern Ave at the Capitol, then US 1 left New Bern on Person St NB. US 1 then followed today's Wake Forest and Old Wake Forest Rds out of the area.
The 1930 Wake County map seems to show US 1 leaving HIllsborough/New Bern at Halifax north to Edenton then over to Person.
In 1948, US 1 was removed from most of Wake Forest Rd and instead placed on Louisburg Rd, replacing what had been briefly US 1-A. Wake Forest Rd then became US 1-A.
In 1957, US 1 was rerouted in Raleigh to leave Hillsborough at Dawson/McDowell Sts (one-way pairs) which connected to a new road, Capital Blvd which took US 1 to Louisburg Rd. Person St and Wake Forest Rds have been secondary ever since.
About 1963, US 1 was removed from city streets of Cary and Raleigh and put onto today's Beltline. Hillsborough Rd from Cary to the Beltline became an extended NC 54. The rest of the old US 1 through Raleigh became US 1 Business for a while (today Hillsborough is unnumbered but the rest is still part of US 401).
US 1 original Raleigh route
1926 Auto Trails
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US 1 removed from New Bern
1930 Wake County
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US 1-A on Louisburg Rd
1947 Gen Draft
US 1 moved to Louisburg Rd
1948 Amoco
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US 1 removed from Person/Wake Forest
1958 Official
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Raleigh to Virginia:
Between 1939-44, US 1 was removed from Stockyard Rd/Hyco St through Norlina and Mac Powell Rd above Wise.
In 1953 (per 1974 AASTO applications), US 1 was placed on new western bypasses of Wake Forest, Youngsville and Franklinton. The old routes through those places became US 1-A's. The Franklinton US 1-A is now SRs 2130 and 1297 Main St.
US 1 north of Raleigh
1951 Official
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US 1 bypasses Wake Forest and Franklinton
1953 Official
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In 1957, US 1 was given a super-2 bypass to the east of Henderson. The original route through Henderson became US 1-A (now US 1 Business). This was turned into a full freeway between 1991-93.
US 1 through Henderson
1953 Vance County
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US 1 bypasses Henderson
1953 Vance County
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Comments: |
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US 1 is not the whipping boy for I-95 in North Carolina like it is in many other states. It is a major thoroughfare through most of its Tar Heel run.
US 1 is multilane from Henderson south to a bit past NC 177.
US 1 with I-85 in Virginia is an attractive alternative to get from Richmond and points north to Raleigh.
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