End of US highway 209 |
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1926-1934
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1934-1936
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1936-present
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Summa
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US 209 was among the original 1926 routes; at the time its south end was at Clarks Ferry (which was across the Susquehanna River from Duncannon, but today is really nothing more than a highway junction):
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c. 1930, PennDoT
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Today PA hwy. 147 heads south from Milton along the east bank of the Susquehanna -- through Northumberland, Sunbury, Millersburg, and Halifax -- ending at its junction with US 22-322:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2000
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Straight ahead is Harrisburg, while right (west) across the Clarks Ferry Bridge leads to Lewistown and State College. That is the original south end of US 209 (although there was no grade separation here until 1986). This photo was taken from the opposite direction: north from Harrisburg on westbound US 22-322:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2000
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Those routes go left across the bridge and up the Juniata River valley. PA 147 begins there by continuing north along the Susquehanna. That was the original south beginning of US 209.
In 1936, US 15 was extended north from Harrisburg along what is now PA 147. So the south end of US 209 was truncated to its junction with US 15 in Millersburg: |
c. 1940, PennDoT
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Five years later, US 15 was rerouted to follow the west bank of the Susquehanna (as it does yet today), but rather than re-extending US 209 back down to Clarks Ferry (so that it would again end at a junction with another US route), US 209 was left dangling (so to speak) at its existing terminus, where it remains to this day. That makes it a member in a small group of inland US highways which do not end at a junction with another US route. This photo was from northbound PA hwy. 147, which is on Market Street in town. US 209 begins to the right, on Union Street:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2000
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Ilyes, 2004
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Here is approach signage from the opposite direction:
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Ilyes, 2004
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Travelers taking that left will be on the road visible at far right in this next photo. Union (US 209) does not have a standard "T" intersection with Market (PA 147). Instead, there is a one-way semi-circle or "half-rotary". Drivers curve past the side of the brick building in the background, and then take another right, heading straight out behind the trees:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2000
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These photos were taken from the opposite direction: approaching the half-rotary on Union. The "End" sign was posted just shy of the true end of southbound US 209. Drivers must go right here to reach Market (or PA 147, which runs behind the gazebo), but there was no "End" sign at that intersection:
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Sanderson, Nov. 2000
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Ilyes, June 2002
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To the north, US 209 originally ended in Milford. But already by 1934 the north end of US 209 had been extended to Kingston. At the time, US 9W traffic was directed more through town, via Ulster Avenue, Albany Avenue, and Broadway. US 209 went through the Stockade District (the original part of town), then made its way over to Albany, where it ended at Broadway:
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Mortell, Oct. 2006
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Northbound US 9W was to the left on Albany, and southbound was to the right on Broadway. But it was not long before US 9W was changed to follow Chester Street, which shaved off about a mile of its route through town. It would have been pretty standard to designate the old route as "Business 9W", but USGS topos from the late 1930s and early 1940s indicate that it may have been the US 209 designation that was extended along both directions of former US 9W. This forked terminus would have given through traffic two options, depending whether the ultimate destination was northbound or southbound on US 9W. Northbound drivers were directed north via Albany and Ulster, while traffic heading for southbound US 9W used Broadway. This interactive image is looking south on Chester:
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Originally US 9W ran both directions on the crossroad (Broadway). After US 9W was changed to follow Chester, it continued to the left on Broadway, but to the right may have been one of the north beginnings of US 209. Another north beginning is shown here:
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That is looking south on Ulster. Originally US 9W continued south by staying to the right on Ulster, but then US 9W was changed to follow the left fork. At that time, US 209 may have begun to the right.
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Sometime around 1960, US 209 traffic was routed onto a newer highway that bypasses the city to the west and north, ending at a different junction with US 9W. This photo shows the twin "End" signs heading east on northbound US 209:
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Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2007
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The mainline itself continues ahead as NY hwy. 199. That goes east across the Hudson River and connects with US 9 in the Rhinebeck-Red Hook area... which makes one wonder why the US 209 designation does not extend a bit further ahead, in order to junction its parent route.
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The mainline itself continues ahead as NY hwy. 199. That goes east across the Hudson River and connects with US 9 in the Rhinebeck-Red Hook area... which makes one wonder why the US 209 designation does not extend a bit further ahead, in order to junction its parent route.
This series shows the signage for the north beginning of US 209 as seen from northbound US 9W. Approaching the junction, there was a sign error: |
Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
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That should be a US 209 shield, not NY 209. The next two signs have it correct:
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Kerr, July 2001
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Nasiatka, Sep. 2003
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Drivers who make that turn onto US 209 will soon see the first southbound sign:
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Field/Nitzman, Aug. 2007
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Research and/or photo credits: Nathan Edgars; Marc Fannin; Andy Field; Jason Ilyes; Doug Kerr; J.P. Nasiatka; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2000;
last updated Aug. 14, 2019.
last updated Aug. 14, 2019.
