History
US 1 south of Calais was initially part of the Atlantic Highway, and became Route 1 when the New England road marking system was established in 1922. The northward continuation from Calais was later designated as part of Route 24. In the original plan, Route 24 was to run from Brunswick to Moosehead Lake in Greenville. By 1925, however, Maine had transferred the Route 24 designation to a completely new alignment on the eastern edge of the state, running from Calais to Madawaska at a border crossing with Edmundston, New Brunswick.
The initial 1925 plan for the U.S. Highway system took US 1 along the better-quality inland route (then Route 15) between Bangor and Houlton, and placed US 2 on the coastal route. This changed in the final 1926 plan, when the inland shortcut — now generally followed by Interstate 95 - became part of US 2.
The Waldo-Hancock Bridge opened in 1931, allowing US 1 to bypass Bangor; the old route became US 1A.
The portion between Portland and Brunswick was rebuilt, mainly as a four-lane divided highway, in the 1950s, and later absorbed into I-95 (now I-295). A freeway from Brunswick east to Bath was built in the 1960s.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Route 1 In Maine
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