End of historic US highway 120 |
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1928-1934
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1934-1967
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If the port cities on opposite corners of Pennsylvania (Erie and Philadelphia) were ever served by historic US 120, it was not for long. (In Philadelphia, initial plans called for US 120 to come in on Germantown Avenue, ending at the Bethlehem Pike, which carried US 309. The original west end of US 120 was in Erie.) But US routes in Pennsylvania were probably not actually posted until sometime in 1928, and already by then the east end of US 120 had been truncated to its junction with US 422 in Reading. And soon after that, much of the remainder of the route was swallowed up by extensions of other US routes... so, for the vast majority of its existence, US 120 ran only between Ridgway and Lock Haven:
c. 1939, Rand McNally
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This photo shows US 120's historic endpoint in Ridgway. US 120 was changed to PA hwy. 120 in 1967; this shot was looking westbound at the terminus:
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Bees
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In Lock Haven, US 120 followed today's PA 120 to end at its junction with US 220, which at the time was essentially routed along what is now designated as PA 150. However, US 220 didn't always follow Main Street all the way through town (as PA 150 does now). Coming from the west, it jogged north on Jay Street, and then resumed westward along Water Street. This interactive image is looking west on Water:
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That was southbound US 220, which turned left on Jay (to the right is the bridge over the West Branch Susquehanna). Straight ahead on Water was the beginning of US 120 until about 1939. Then, US 220 was changed to follow Main, so US 120 was extended to the left for one block in order to junction with US 220. The shot below is looking west on Main:
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Nelson, Sep. 2007
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Today this is PA 150/PA 120, but formerly it was US 220, which continued straight ahead. To the right on Jay was the east beginning of US 120 (after a block, the route continued west on Water ).
Research and/or photo credits: John and Barb Bee; Nathan Edgars; Jeff Kitsko; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson
Page originally created 2005;
last updated Apr. 29, 2016.
last updated Apr. 29, 2016.
