End of US highway 176

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Steven Nelson; Alex Nitzman; me
Additional research: Mike Roberson

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1926-1940(?) Newberry, SC Hendersonville, NC
(Old Spartanburg Rd)
1940(?)-1951 Newberry, SC Hendersonville, NC
(New Spartanburg Rd)
1951-present Goose Creek, SC Hendersonville, NC
(New Spartanburg Rd)

The western terminus of US 176 has been in Hendersonville NC since the beginning in 1926. Approaching downtown initially, the highway departed today's routing at Old Spartanburg Road. At Barnwell Street, US 176 turned west, ending at Main Street (which carried US 25 at the time). The shot below is looking west on Barnwell:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That was the initial US 176, which ended at the signal (Main). Then in about 1940, US 176 traffic was rerouted along New Spartanburg Road, which intersects Main about five blocks south of Barnwell. The photo below shows where US 176 ends: at its junction with Main (what was then US 25 but is now Business 25), just south of where that route splits into one-way pairs downtown:

me, Oct. 2000

No "End" sign, and I'm not sure why the northbound 25 sign said "Truck" - as far as I know, that was just plain old US 25. Although they're probably not clear enough to see, the "South US 25" signs in both the photo above and in the one below don't have a "Truck" sign. The shot below was taken across from the west beginning of US 176 (from the shopping center parking lot visible in the first photo). The cars at right were northbound on US 25; US 176 (or New Spartanburg Road) goes off into the distance at left:

me, Oct. 2000

Now it's Business 25 to the left and ahead, while to the right is now NC hwy. 225. Below is an enlargement of the first eastbound sign, which you can see strung between the traffic lights:

me, Oct. 2000

Beginning in 2006, NC DoT maps began showing the US 176 designation truncated to a point about five miles ahead: that's where Business 25 ends at mainline US 25, and US 176 is shown beginning to the east of US 25. I'm not sure whether there's any significance to this, or whether North Carolina plans to eventually petition AASHTO for a truncation.

The original east terminus of US 176 was in Newberry SC - a town it no longer even serves. Below we're looking east on US 76:

Nelson, Aug. 2005

Today US 76 goes straight ahead on Wilson Road, bypassing town to the north. But during the early years, US 76 traffic was routed to the right on what is now designated SC hwy. 121, or College Street. To the left on SC 121 was the west beginning of US 176. About two miles that direction is I-26's interchange 72.

In 1951, those first eight miles heading out of Newberry were decommissioned, and US 176 was extended eastward along its current route, to its terminus at the junction with US 52 in Goose Creek SC. The photo below was taken from southeastbound St. James Avenue; ahead is Goose Creek Boulevard, which serves as US 52:

Nitzman, May 2007

Downtown Charleston is about 15 miles to the right. Below we're looking north on Goose Creek:

Nitzman, May 2007

US 176 begins to the left on St. James. The photo below was taken from the opposite direction (south on Goose Creek):

Nitzman, May 2007

The east beginning of US 176 is to the right.