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Summa
1932-1934
1934-present
Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 129 miles for US 117... however, it is unclear where that number came from, because according to the state subtotals on AASHTO's 1989 spreadsheet, mainline US 117's actual end-to-end total at the time was 110 miles (or 116 including the mileage of US 117's associated business routes).  Our own 2020 measurement yielded 113.5 miles.  Want historic mileages?  Our handy reference book includes the mileages that were published in all 13 of AASHO/AASHTO's historic route logs (spanning the years 1927 to 1989).

The original US 117 existed from 1926 to 1932.  The same year it was decommissioned, a second US 117 (the current one) was designated.  Its north terminus has always been in (or near) Wilson.  On its south end, initially US 117 went beyond Wilmington, ending in Conway:
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c. 1934, Gallup
From Myrtle Beach, US 117 first went west to Socastee, then north via today's SC 544 to Conway's Main Street (Business 501).  The US 117 designation ended at 4th Avenue, where it junctioned US 701.  This image shows a view approaching that intersection:
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Karners, Jan. 2017
Straight ahead on Main was northbound US 701, while southbound was to the left on 4th, so that was where US 117 terminated.  The perspective in this photo is from the opposite direction (south on Main):
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Karners, Jan. 2017
Originally southbound US 701 turned right on 4th, and straight ahead on Main was the beginning of US 117.  But that lasted only about two years: in 1934 the road from Conway to Myrtle was redesignated as a part of US 501, and the segment from Myrtle to Wilmington became a part of US 17.  Since then the south terminus of US 117 has been in Wilmington. ​​
Research and/or photo credits: Karin and Martin Karner; Mike Roberson; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 1999;
last updated Nov. 3, 2021.