History
The modern routing of NY 39 between Geneseo and Avon was originally designated as part of NY 36 in the mid-1920s. Around the same time, the piece between Pine Tavern and Geneseo became part of NY 35. In 1927, the portion of NY 35 between East Aurora and Geneseo and the segment of NY 36 from Geneseo to Avon were incorporated into US 20, a new cross-state U.S. Highway that continued east from Avon toward Albany and west from Pine Tavern toward Buffalo. As a result, NY 36 was truncated to its junction with US 20 in Leicester. In Avon, US 20 was routed on Wadsworth Avenue, Spring Street, and Genesee Street.
NY 39 was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York and originally extended from NY 20A (now NY 5) in Dunkirk to US 20 and NY 5 west of the city of Geneva. In between, NY 39 passed through the villages of Pike, Dansville, Naples, and Rushville. The portion of the route from Dansville to Geneva had previously been designated as NY 52. At the same time, a highway connecting Pike to Perry Center via Castile and Perry village was designated as NY 245. US 20 was realigned between Geneseo and East Avon c. 1931 to use NY 254 (current US 20A) and NY 2 (now NY 15) instead. The former routing of US 20 between Geneseo and Avon was redesignated as NY 20D. NY 245 was realigned north of Perry to follow a new highway (modern NY 39) to an intersection with US 20 southwest of Leicester c. 1934.
US 20 was realigned c. 1938 to follow its modern routing between Hamburg and Avon. Its former alignment between Hamburg and Geneseo became part of NY 20A, which continued north from Geneseo to Avon over NY 20D. By the following year, the Hamburg–Geneseo segment of NY 20A was included in the new US 20A while the Geneseo–Avon portion became part of a realigned NY 254. The routings of NY 39 and NY 245 east of Pike were swapped c. 1940, placing NY 245 on a routing extending from Pike to Geneva and NY 39 on its modern alignment to Leicester. NY 39 was also extended northeast to Avon as part of the change, supplanting NY 254. The portion of NY 39 within Avon was rerouted to follow Wadsworth Avenue to West Main Street (US 20 and NY 5) in the early 1950s.
In Dunkirk, NY 39 originally began at the intersection of East Lake Shore Drive (NY 5) and Main Street. From there, it followed Main Street, Franklin Avenue, and Roberts Road to US 20. NY 39 was truncated to its current western terminus east of the city in the mid-1960s; however, the portion of its former routing outside of the Dunkirk city limits remained state maintained as an unsigned reference route. On April 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of it was transferred from the state of New York to Chautauqua County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. The Roberts Road segment of NY 39's former alignment is now part of CR 81 while the Main Street portion is now the northernmost part of NY 60.
Read more about this topic: New York State Route 39
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