U.S. Route 25 in North Carolina - History

History

Established as an original U.S. Route (1926), US 25 followed NC 29 from South Carolina, through Tuxedo, Flat Rock, Hendersonville, and Biltmore Forest, to Asheville. In the downtown area, US 25 links-up with U.S. Route 70 in North Carolina/NC 20 on College Street; it then proceeds north along Merrimon Avenue out of the city. Following Old Marshall Highway to Marshall, it continues along the same route as today into Tennessee. In 1929, NC 29 was replaced by an extension of NC 69; in 1934, both NC 20 and NC 69 were dropped from the route.

Around 1933, US 25 was rerouted along McDowell Street from Biltmore Avenue. During the mid-1950s, US 25 was split onto one-way streets in Hendersonville (northbound King Street/southbound Main Street); by the early 1960s, southbound traffic moved onto College Street, replacing US 25 Alternate (originally established sometime in 1939-1944 as a bypass through the main roads of town).

In 1960, a bypass north around Marshall was completed, old route through town became US 25 Business (along with US 70). Around 1969, the community of Walnut was bypassed. In 1981, US 25 was moved onto the existing US 19/US 23 freeway north of Asheville, it then went onto new 4-lane road west of Weaverville; the most of the old route was replaced by NC 251.

In 1974, US 25 was placed onto new expressway between Zirconia to the South Carolina state line, the old route would later become part of NC 225 in 1998. In September, 2003, US 25 was rerouted onto I-26/US 74, bypassing Flat Rock and Hendersonville, then replacing part of NC 225 that bridged the connection from the interstate to Zirconia. The old route was replaced by NC 225 through Flat Rock and US 25 Business through Hendersonville via US 176.