Black Horse Pike - History

History

The Black Horse Pike was named in the early 19th century. In 1923, the portion from Mays Landing to Atlantic City became part of Route 18S. With the 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering, the route became New Jersey Route 42 from Camden to Mays Landing and New Jersey Route 48 from Mays Landing to Atlantic City. U.S. Route 322 was later designated along the road from Williamstown to Atlantic City and U.S. Route 40 from Mays Landing to Atlantic City. With the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering, which eliminated long concurrencies between U.S. and state routes in New Jersey, the NJ 42 and NJ 48 designations were removed from the parts of the road already signed US 322 or US 40/US 322, with NJ 42 cut back to Williamstown and NJ 48 completely removed from the Black Horse Pike. Following the completion of the North–South Freeway, NJ 42 was moved off the Black Horse Pike to the new freeway between Camden and Turnersville, and the New Jersey Route 168 designation was given to the Black Horse Pike between Camden and Turnersville.