End of US highway 21

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Cullan Bryant; David Dawson; H.B. Elkins; Alex Nitzman; Adam Prince; Mac Watkins
Additional research: H.B. Elkins; Mike Roberson

Approx. time period North terminus South terminus
1926-1935 Cleveland, OH Yemassee, SC
1935-1953 Cleveland, OH Beaufort, SC
1953-1971 Cleveland, OH Hunting Island, SC
1971-1974 (near Pocatalico, WV) Hunting Island, SC
1974-present Wytheville, VA Hunting Island, SC

US 21 was an original 1926 route; at the time its southern terminus was in Yemassee SC:

Watkins, Jan. 2008

That's looking south on US 21 (or "Low Country Highway" in these parts) at its junction with "Hendersonville Highway". Today US 21 joins with US 17A to the right - the two go through Yemassee together and then split apart again on the other side of town. But historically this was mainline US 17, and US 21 ended here.

In 1935 the south end of US 21 was extended to Beaufort. Maps from that timeframe show US 21 passing through the city and crossing the river, but ending at its landing on Ladies Island. The photo below is looking north on US 21 - at far right, you can barely make out the bridge and the city of Beaufort:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

This was right about where US 21 began for almost 20 years. But the old bridge didn't follow the exact alignment of modern US 21. At far left you can see the backside of a stop sign. Just right of that you can see a road disappearing into the trees. I believe that was the original alignment of US 21, but that short segment is the only part of the original alignment that differs noticeably from the current bridge, which was built in 1960. By that time, US 21 no longer ended here...

...because in 1953 the US 21 designation was extended still further south, this time to its current terminus at Hunting Island State Park:

Prince, Aug. 2001

A few months after that photo was taken, it appears that someone had taken the shield:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

David explains that the "S-7" refers to South Carolina's seventh county alphabetically: Beaufort. The "406" refers to the designation of the state secondary road ahead. But that was gone by the time of this next photo...

Bryant, Dec. 2005

...at least the US 21 shield has been replaced. Below is the first northbound shield, which David reports was nearly five miles north of the terminus:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

For 45 years the northern terminus of US 21 was in Cleveland OH; you can view photos from there on this page. In 1971 the US 21 designation was removed from all of Ohio and about half of West Virginia. Below is a section of the 1974 official highway map of West Virginia which shows the spot where US 21 ended for a few years:

scan by Elkins

The terminus was at I-77's exit 114. If you exit there today, you'll see the signage shown below:

Elkins

Today the north beginning of WV 622 is to the left; for a few years that was the north beginning of US 21. As you can see, its historic route is now designated as county route 21. Looking the other direction, the north end of modern WV 622 is a historic north end of US 21:

Elkins

In 1974, the north end of US 21 was truncated to its current terminus in Wytheville VA. Before describing the current situation, I'll explain how things used to be: A few miles east of Wytheville, at Fort Chiswell, US 52 joined with US 11, and the two highways were co-signed into downtown Wytheville, along Main Street. That's where they met US 21 coming north out of Statesville NC. US 11 continued south and west to Bristol, while US 21 and US 52 were co-signed north on 4th Street, toward Bluefield WV.

Now, US 52 still joins with US 11 at Fort Chiswell - but only because US 11 is the same as I-77/81 at that point. US 11 traffic leaves the interstate at exit 73 to follow its historic route along Main through central Wytheville, but US 52 is directed to remain on I-77/81, bypassing town on the north side. Today, if you want to get to Bluefield fast, you use exit 72 and follow I-77 north. But continuing south and west on I-81, the next interchange (exit 70) is signed for the old route to the north: US 52. That same exit is also signed for the north beginning of US 21. You're actually heading more westbound at that point, and the offramp drops you down to 4th Street, which is the old north-south road between Wytheville and Bluefield. Here's the assembly that greets travellers at the end of that offramp:

Prince, 2000

It's a divided highway - that photo was taken from the median, so you can't see the sign for northbound US 52 (which goes off to the right, behind the camera). Southbound US 52 is directed to the left, because that's how you get back on I-81, going the other direction. Turning that way, you see this assembly:

Nitzman, July 2005

That's southbound US 52 (which continues to the left), as well as the north beginning of US 21, which leads to downtown Wytheville, and then on into North Carolina. But the first marker on the mainline isn't posted until about a mile ahead, where traffic is directed to join with southbound US 11:

Nitzman, July 2005

Heading the opposite direction (north on 4th), the last US 21 reassurance marker looks like this:

Nitzman, July 2005

The I-81 interchange is about a mile in the distance...

Nitzman, July 2005

...and the US 21 designation ends there:

Nitzman, July 2005

Northbound US 52 is straight ahead, and southbound is to the right with (oddly enough) northbound I-81. As I've said, US 21 was once signed ahead with US 52 into Bluefield. That's where the routes split, but US 21 still had a life of its own, serving Beckley, Charleston, and Parkersburg, before crossing the river. In Ohio, 21 continued through Cambridge, New Philadelphia, Massillon, and Akron, before finally ending in downtown Cleveland. I imagine US 21 was decommissioned because of the advent of I-77. The new interstate completely erased some stretches of old 21 - particularly in Ohio - and it closely parallels most other segments. After a quick glance at a few maps, it looks to me like most of old 21 is still drivable - but I bet you'd get lost more than a few times trying to navigate through Appalachia without some good maps.

The photos below show the signage on northbound I-81...

Nitzman, July 2005

...and the signage at the bottom of that offramp:

Nitzman, July 2005

Turning right puts you at the north beginning of US 21.