U.S. Route 1 in North Carolina - History

History

The general route of US 1 in North Carolina was first part of the Capital Highway, an auto trail organized in 1909 to encourage counties along the route to improve the road between Washington and Atlanta. It differed from US 1 north of Norlina, where it ran via Emporia and Roanoke Rapids, and between Southern Pines and Rockingham, where a route via Pinehurst - where the association's president lived - was followed. The Quebec-Miami International Highway, organized in 1911 and renamed the Atlantic Highway in 1915, also followed this corridor, overlapping many parts of the Capital Highway. It initially followed even less of US 1 than the Capital Highway, only taking the same route between Raleigh and Cameron and south of Rockingham, but was modified to match the Capital Highway by 1920.

In 1922, the route was designated as North Carolina Highway 50, from the South Carolina state line to Roanoke Rapids. In 1923, the route from Norlina to Roanoke Rapids was renumbered as NC 48; redirecting NC 50 north to Virginia and continuing on to South Hill as VA 122. In 1926, US 1 was established, it was assigned to overlap all of NC 50; it would be in 1934 when NC 50 was dropped from the route.

Since its establishment, US 1 has not changed its route from the South Carolina state line to Pinebluff. The first change along the route happen in 1930 in Raleigh, where minor road changes were done in the downtown area. In 1933, US 1 was moved off Rocky Church Fork Road near Tramway onto new road to the west. Between 1937-1944, US 1 was rerouted in Aberdeen to its current routing and also north of Wise where US 1 moved onto new road east of Mac Powell Road. In 1948, US 1 was removed from most of Wake Forest Road, in Raleigh, and placed onto Louisburg Road; the old route became US 1A. In 1953, US 1 was placed on a bypass west of Wake Forest, leaving the old route to become US 1A.

Around 1956-1957, several changes along US 1 were made: A new bypass build west of Sanford, old route replaced by US 1A (later US 1 Business). In Raleigh, US 1 was redirected onto one-way streets Dawson and McDowell that connected to a new road called Capital Boulevard, which connected US 1 back onto Louisburg Road; Person Street and Wake Forest Road became secondary roads ever since. Finally, a new Super-2 bypass was built east of Henderson; which would later become a full freeway between 1991-1993.

In 1960, US 1 was placed on a Super-2, bypassing Moncure. Around 1963, US 1 was placed onto new freeway between Apex to North Boulevard (today an extension of Capital Boulevard), in north Raleigh. The old route to Hillsborough became Salem Road, while the routing through Raleigh becamse US 1 Business (1963-1975). Around 1965, the Super-2, from Moncure, extended north into Apex. In 1975, the Super-2, from Moncure, extended south to Sanford, connecting to its bypass. The entire route between Sanford to Apex became a freeway by the mid-1990s.

In June, 2005, a new freeway bypass was built east of Vass and Cameron; the old route became US 1 Business.