NCRoads.com: U.S. 19-W

U.S. 19-W
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Photo: US 19-W from US 19-E (Matthew Craig)

U.S. 19-W 22 miles

The Road:

Begins at US 19-19E Cane River and ends at the Tennessee Line near Ramseytown, all within Yancey County. The route continues to US 19-19E in Bluff City, TN.

Towns and Attractions:

Yancey Co.: Ramseytown, Pisgah Nat'l Forest

History:

US 19W was born in 1930. It was added to all of NC 692 from Cane River to Sioux and NC 19 from Sioux to Tennessee.
US 23 was added as a 100% duplex at the same time US 19W was created.

1928 Gen Draft NC 692/19 Cane River to Tennessee
1928 Gen Draft 1930 Official US 19W is born
1930 Official

NC 19 and NC 692 were dropped from the route in late 1934.
In 1935, AASHO tried to get Tennessee to renumber US 19W as US 19. Tennessee declined to do this, but this change showed up on some commercial maps 1935-37. However the 1935, 1936 and 1938 Official maps all show US 19W in place and there is no mention of this in AASHO correspondence with North Carolina.

US 19W back to US 19?
1935 Gen Draft
US 23 was dropped from US 19W in 1951 (AASHO).
In December 1984 (NCDOT), US 19W was extended south slightly to the current US 19/19E junction. This replaced a little bit of US 19.

1968 Yancey County US 19W south end (1930-1984)
1968 Yancey County 1987 Yancey County US 19W south end (since 1984)
1987 Yancey County

Comments:

US 19W has long been a useless US route corridor, definitely since 1951 when US 23 was moved. This should have been re-christened as NC/TN 36. Now 36 is no longer available in North Carolina.
I drove US 19W in 2014. A terrible road not suitable for trucks, though I did encounter a semi on a twisty part near the state line.

Last Update: 14 March 2025

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