End of US highway 117

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Andy Field; J.P. Nasiatka; Steven Nelson; Adam Prince; Jimmy Storey
Additional research: Mike Roberson

Approx. time period North terminus South terminus
1932-1934 Wilson, NC (south 1) Conway, SC
1934-1955 Wilson, NC (south 1) Wilmington, NC (north)
1955-1968 Wilson, NC (south 2) Wilmington, NC (north)
1968-2002 Wilson, NC (south 2) Wilmington, NC (northwest)
2002-2007 Wilson, NC (west) Wilmington, NC (south)
2007-present Wilson, NC (south 3) Wilmington, NC (south)

The original US 117 existed from 1926 to 1932; you can read about its endpoints here. That same year, a second US 117 (the current one) was designated to run from Wilson NC to Conway SC. However, it may never have been signed all the way to Conway, because already by 1934 the south terminus had been truncated to Wilmington NC. Its original endpoint there was downtown, where US 17-1 had formerly ended (you can view a photo of the junction on that page).

In about 1968, US 17-74-76 began using a newer bridge about two miles south of the original Parsley Street bridge, so US 117 was extended a bit further northwest along their former route (across the NE Cape Fear bridge) to this point. The photo below was looking west at the junction with US 421:

Storey

The US 117 designation used to end about a half-mile behind the camera (on the east side of the Northeast Cape Fear River), and this road was US 17/US 74/US 76.

The south end of US 117 was truncated at Castle Hayne (north of Wilmington) in 2002; the old route is now signed simply as NC hwy 133. Instead, US 117 is now extended southeast from Castle Hayne via NC hwy. 132 (College Road). At Shipyard Boulevard the designation heads west, ending at the State Port on River Road:

Field, May 2005

Originally the north end of US 117 was at the same place where its predecessor (US 217) had ended from 1928-1932: where Dixie Inn Road intersects modern US 117, to the south of Wilson NC. The photo below is looking north on today's US 117:

Google Maps Street View, 2009

Originally that would've been US 17-1 (although in the background, the road didn't curve to the left like it does now. Instead, it went more or less straight ahead, aligning with Lattice Road on the other side of the US 264 freeway - more on that below). To the left on Dixie Inn was the north beginning of US 217. That didn't last long, though: by 1932 these routes were renumbered. After that, it was US 301 that came in from the left, and then continued ahead... and then this junction marked the north end of US 117. I think it's interesting that there's a "TO US 301" sign here - it's a testimony to the fact that US 301 used to be to the left on what is now Dixie Inn. If we turn to the left, the view down Dixie Inn looks like this:

Google Maps Street View, 2009

That aligns perfectly with current US 301, but today this road is a dead-end, because about a half-mile in that direction is the I-795 freeway.

In about 1955, US 301 was rerouted to its current alignment, and from then until 2002, the north end was about a mile further north. The photos below show how that spot used to be signed; this first one was looking north on old US 117 (now Lattice Rd):

Prince, July 2000

This was the north end of US 117 - the car veering to the right was merging with northbound US 301, while the white car at the far left would've taken a left to head south on 301. The shot below is looking the opposite direction (south out of Wilson on US 301):

Prince, July 2000

The overhead signs are for US 301 south (to the right) and US 117 south (to the left). Now that the US 264 freeway has been built just ahead, you can still turn left, but it's no longer US 117. That's now a local street (Lattice Rd) that no longer crosses the new freeway.

When the new US 264 bypass was built around the southwest edge of Wilson, the US 117 designation was extended along this route to a new terminus at the interchange with I-95. Below is a view of signage at that exit from southbound I-95:

Nasiatka, Nov. 2004

If you were to take that exit, you'd soon see the first southbound confirming marker:

Prince, May 2003

Heading the opposite direction, I'm told there was an "End 117" sign...

...however, in late 2007 that portion of US 264/117 was signed as I-795. Consequently the US 117 designation was removed from that segment, and now US 117 ends at its junction with US 301. Because US 117 does not cross the US 264 freeway, its north end has been realigned, so its junction with US 301 is now about a half-mile west of its original endpoint, and about a mile south of its second endpoint. The photo below shows the beginning of US 117 from southbound US 301...

Nelson, May 2009

...and signage from northbound 301 is similar:

Nelson, May 2009

If you turn that direction, the first southbound confirming marker is posted not far beyond:

Nelson, May 2009

Looking the opposite direction (north on 117), there was no "End" assembly, but there was an assemblage of references to other routes:

Nelson, May 2009