End of US highway 62

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Photo credits: Chris Elbert; Jeff Morrison; Alex Nitzman

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1930-1932 Maysville, KY Carlsbad, NM
Approx. time period North terminus West terminus
1932-1944 Niagara Falls, NY El Paso, TX (Piedras)
1944-1974 Niagara Falls, NY El Paso, TX (Mesa)
1974-present Niagara Falls, NY El Paso, TX (downtown crossing)
Point where signage changes from "East/West" to "North/South": OH/PA state line

US 62 was commissioned in 1930. At its east end, US 62 joined with US 68 at Washington KY, and the two routes were co-signed to a common terminus in Maysville. That's right, they didn't quite make it to US 52 at Aberdeen OH: apparently there was no span over the Ohio then. But perhaps a bridge was already planned (or was under construction), and maybe that's why these highways were signed into Maysville in the first place: because they would soon be able to continue across the river. It would be difficult to determine where these routes actually ended in Maysville, since there was no junction with another US route. The only marginally relevant photos I can offer at this point are on my separate page for the Maysville area.

At the time, the west end of US 62 was in Carlsbad NM - an odd terminus, considering that there was no north-south US route serving town back then. Maybe the road west to El Paso wasn't yet in good enough condition to include in the system. At any rate, the photo below is looking south on Canal Street:

Elbert, Mar. 2007

That's really, um... creative, the way they overlapped those signs. The shot below is from the opposite direction (north on Canal):

Elbert, Mar. 2007

Old signs juxtaposed with new signs. If nothing else, the upcoming intersection is the modern equivalent of the historic junction. Today eastbound US 62/180 continues to the right on Greene Street. US 285 didn't come through Carlsbad until 1936, but before that, this segment was NM hwy. 2. So in the early 1930s, the west beginning of US 62 was probably to the right... that is, assuming highway traffic was always routed down Canal Street. Seems to me it may have originally used Main Street, in which case US 62 would've begun two blocks to the right. If we turn that way, we see the assembly below:

Elbert, Mar. 2007

The actual beginning of US 62 may have been at Main (the stoplight in the distance). Turning around, we see this on westbound Greene at Canal:

Elbert, Mar. 2007

That may have been the original west end of US 62. Now, it continues west (along with US 180) by turning left, joining with southbound US 285 for about two miles. Here's how that multiplex is signed:

Elbert, Mar. 2007

Nice, isn't it? I'm not going to add anything to what I've already said about signage in New Mexico...

Two years later, both ends of US 62 were extended, to the same destinations that the highway still serves today. The west terminus of US 62 is in El Paso TX. Its endpoint there has shifted around over the years - you can view photos and get more info on this page.

The east end of US 62 is now at the Ohio line at Sharon PA; the highway is signed north/south in Pennsylvania and New York. So the Niagara Falls terminus of US 62 is actually its north end. US 62 is routed north out of Buffalo on Niagara Falls Blvd. By the time that road reaches Niagara, it's heading pretty much due west. About a mile before its north end, US 62 splits into one-ways. The photo below looks at the north end, which is on Walnut Avenue at its intersection with Main Street. Main is now NY hwy. 104, but it used to be US 104:

Nitzman, 2000 (unchanged as of July 2006)

By the way, I believe that "US 62A" sign is a mistake - I think it's supposed to be a NY hwy. 62A. The shot below is looking north on Main (or east on NY 104). To the right is eastbound Ferry Street, which is the north beginning of US 62. The traffic light in the background is at Walnut - the same intersection shown in the photo above:

Nitzman, 2000 (unchanged as of July 2006)

Here's a photo from the opposite direction on NY 104 (southwest on Main):

Elbert, July 2006

There, signs don't direct you all the way to Ferry Street. Instead, that left turn takes you south on 3rd Street, and then at the Ferry intersection you encounter the sign shown below:

Elbert, July 2006

Of course that's actually US 62 (not NY 62). If you take that left turn onto Ferry, you'll soon see the first southbound US 62 marker:

Morrison, Aug. 2002 (unchanged as of July 2006 - "SOUTH" was still skewed)