Current and historic US Highway ends in and near Milford PA
Photo and/or research credits: Chris
Elbert; Cameron
Kaiser; Jeff Kitsko
| Highway | Approx. time period |
|---|---|
| US 209 | 1926-1935 |
| US 206 | 1934-present |
When the US routes were first marked out in 1926, the north end of US 209 was at its junction with US 6 in Milford PA. In the mid-1930s, US 209 was extended north from Milford. But right about that same time, US 206 was commissioned, and its north terminus was at the same intersection where US 209 had previously ended. In 1946, US 206 was truncated to its junction with US 209, eliminating the US 206/209 duplex into Milford. So officially US 206 no longer connects with its implied "parent" route (US 6), but some signage in the area belies that (as you'll see below). We'll start with a photo looking south on Broad Street at Harford Street:
Elbert, July 2006 (same as of 2010, except to the right is now "Red Detour")
US 6 and US 209 join in Port Jervis NY (about 8 miles northeast of Milford), cross the Delaware River to Matamoras PA, and then head southwest together into Milford. This is westbound US 6 (which continues to the right on Harford) and southbound US 209 (which continues to the left). Originally to the left on Harford was the north beginning of US 209. Later it was the north beginning of US 206, although this assembly correctly indicates that today you have to go south a ways on US 209 before you reach US 206. Same with the signage heading east on US 6:
Kaiser, July 2006
That's looking east on Harford. US 6 continues to the left on Broad, and that's northbound US 209 as well. Straight ahead is southbound US 209 - that was once the north beginning of US 209, and later the north beginning of US 206. Today US 206 signage within the borough of Milford consistently includes a "TO" banner. But look what happens if you continue straight ahead on southbound US 209:
Elbert,
July 2006
That's the first confirming assembly posted outside of Milford limits, indicating that we're on US 206 after all. Ahead less than a mile, we reach the junction where the two routes diverge:
Elbert,
July 2006
To the left is officially the north beginning of US 206 now, but as you'll see below, signage at this junction indicates otherwise. In the distance, you can see the backsides of some other signs - the frontsides are shown in the photos below, which were taken from northbound US 209:
Elbert,
July 2006
That particular sign doesn't say anything about US 206 continuing ahead, nor does the next assembly posted ahead at the gore:
Elbert,
July 2006
(US 209 was misidentified as PA 209 there, but that assembly is gone as of 2010, and its replacement makes no reference to 209 whatsoever.) But more to the point: look at the overhead sign in the distance - that one implies that US 206 does continue ahead. That sign is also visible way in the distance of the lower-right corner of the photo below:
Kaiser, July
2006
That was taken coming across the toll bridge from Montague NJ. Signage here also indicates that US 206 does not end at this junction, but rather continues north into Milford, where the road aligns with Harford. Since this junction is within the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, signage here is their responsibility. Apparently they never got the memo that US 206 ends here. But continuing north, as soon as you exit Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and cross into Milford, there are no longer any references to US 206, and at Harford's junction with Broad, there is no "End US 206" sign...
Elbert, July 2006
...only directions for US 6 and US 209. However, despite the fact that US 206 was truncated in 1946, Edward Fitzgerald wrote to say that, during the 1960s, he distinctly remembers US 206 being multiplexed with US 209 all the way up to this junction. At any rate, this is the historic endpoint of US 206, and before that it was also the north end of US 209. Technically this should still be the north end of US 206, because that route should connect with its parent. For more photos from these junctions, please visit Tim Reichard's page.