End of US highway 319

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Justin Cozart; Brian Holt; J.P. Nasiatka; Steven Nelson

Approx. time period North terminus South terminus
1934-1935 Tallahassee, FL Eastpoint, FL
1935-1938 Thomasville, GA Eastpoint, FL
1938-1947 Wenona, GA Eastpoint, FL
1947-1952 Wadley, GA Eastpoint, FL
1952-present Wadley, GA (near Eastpoint, FL)

US 319 was commissioned in 1934 to run the short distance from Tallahassee to Eastpoint FL. At the time there was no bridge, and the east end of US 98 was across the bay from there, in Apalachicola:

c. 1935; scan by Cozart

The photo below shows the original south end of US 319 in Eastport:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

In the distance you can see the location of the old ferry dock, and beyond that, Apalachicola Bay.

You can view a photo of US 319's probable original endpoint in Tallahassee on my US 19 page. But already by the following year (1935) the north terminus had been extended to Thomasville GA. Below we're looking south on Business 319 at Business 84:

Nelson, Aug. 2005

At the time, that was mainline US 19/US 84, and US 319 began straight ahead. (Steven reports as of June 2006, Business 319 is no longer signed through town.) Three years later, the US 319 designation was extended north to Moultrie, and then north along today's GA hwy. 33 to end at US 41 in Wenona GA. Here's a clip from a GA DoT map that was made back when that was the case:

c. 1943

The photo below shows modern signage at the historic endpoint:

Brian Holt, July 2001

The north end of modern GA 33 is an historic north end of US 319...

...but in 1947, the US 319 designation was truncated at Moultrie and instead extended northeast from there, this time to Wadley. At the time, there was no bypass around the east side of Wadley, so US 319 ended at Main Street (then US 1, but currently Business US 1):

Google Maps Street View, 2008

Today's US 1 was built in the late 1970s or early 1980s - when it was complete, the US 319 designation was extended about a half-mile ahead to its current terminus. The photo below is approaching the endpoint:

Nasiatka, Jan. 2002

The sign in the distance is shown close-up below:

Nasiatka, Jan. 2002

The shot below shows the north beginning of US 319 as seen from southbound US 1:

Nasiatka, Jan. 2002

J.P. also sent photos from August 2003, one of which shows basically the same sign configuration heading the opposite direction (north on US 1).

Supposedly the south end of US 319 was extended across the bay from Eastpoint into Apalachicola when the bridge was built in 1952. That may have been the case, but according to current signage, US 319 ends neither in Apalachicola nor Eastpoint. Justin gives the following report:

"Between Apalachicola and Eastpoint there is a bridge, a causeway, and a secondary smaller bridge - the 'End' signage for US 319 is on the eastern end of the bridge portion. US 319 does not go into Apalachicola, but it doesn't end in Eastpoint either. It ends right in the middle of the bay on the causeway portion of the road, where I've placed the yellow star."

"In the photos you see the sign is on solid ground with a bridge in the background; the solid ground is an island in the bay."

Cozart, Dec. 2003

So that's looking west; Apalachicola is on the far side of the bridge, about 2 miles distant. Heading the opposite direction, there's a "Begin" sign at the eastern foot of the Gorrie Bridge:

Cozart, Dec. 2003

Eastpoint is about two miles ahead. (Larry McDonald sent October 2004 photos from this location - similar except for the reduced vegetation, thanks to Hurricane Ivan).

What an odd place for a route designation to terminate... I can't think of a reason why US 319 would be co-signed with US 98 east from Lanark Village for 30 miles, only to end at this non-descript point. If you're aware of the rationale behind this multiplex, please let me know!