End of US highway 219 |
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1926-1927
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1927-1934
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1934-1937
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1937-1973
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1973-1980s
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1980s-present
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The south beginning of US 219 was originally at its junction with US 40 near Grantsville:
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c. 1930, Penn DoT
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This photo was looking west on old US 40 (now Alt US 40). US 219 began to the right on what is locally known as Chestnut Ridge Road:
Sanderson, Feb. 2007
In about 1937, US 219 was extended south (left) to its junction with US 19-21 in Princeton:
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c. 1940, Rand McNally
A few years after that map was made, US 460 was extended into Princeton along US 219 (and then further west, via US 19-21). This photo showed one of the last US 219 southbound markers, back when it was still dual-signed into Princeton with US 460. This was looking west on Thorn Street/Oakvale Road, at its junction with Rogers Street/Athens Road:
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Lindsay, 1960
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Ahead from there, Thorn becomes Mercer Street. This map shows US 219-460 traffic was directed west on Honaker Avenue, with US 219 ending at Walker Street, where it met US 19-21:
c. 1962, USGS
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This interactive image is looking west on Honaker, at the historic end of US 219. Straight ahead was northbound US 19-21, while southbound was to the left on Walker:
It would not be surprising to find that US 219 originally went one block further south on Mercer, and then turned west on Main Street (instead of Walker). If so, then its endpoint would have been right at the courthouse square, but as yet that is unverified.
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In about 1946, US 460 was extended through the Princeton area, and it was overlapped with the segment of US 219 between there and Rich Creek. Then, in the mid-1980s, the south terminus of 219 was truncated to its junction with US 460 at Rich Creek. Heading south on 219, one comes into Rich Creek on Riverside Avenue. At Virginia Avenue (historic US 460), traffic is routed west one block, then south again on Federal Street to today's four-lane US 460. This photo was looking south on Federal, at the south end of US 219:
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Elkins, June 2001
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Elkins, June 2001
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These photos show the south beginning of US 219 as seen from westbound US 460. However, that right turn is actually not mainline 219; it is Virginia Avenue. The road goes about one block that direction, then curves ahead again, joining mainline US 219 at Federal, which is three blocks further ahead (US 219 traffic from eastbound US 460 turns directly onto Federal):
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Summa, 1992
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Prince, May 2001
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US 219 was among the original 1926 routes, although AASHO's map from that time showed it ending in DuBois, while it was US 119 that ran north to the NY state line north of Bradford. But already by 1927, AASHO's route log had US 219 continuing north of DuBois to Bradford, and Pennsylvania did not sign its US routes until at least 1928 anyway. In 1934 the north end of US 219 was extended across the NY line and up to Hamburg (which is a few miles south of the current terminus, but this was before the modern US 219 freeway was built):
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c. 1939, Rand McNally
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This photo shows signage looking west on Main Street. Today this is NY hwy. 391, which ends here at its junction with US 62 (northbound is to the right on Buffalo Street, and southbound is straight ahead on Main):
Karner, June 2013
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Originally that was the north end of US 219. This photo was looking the opposite direction:
Karner, June 2013
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Originally the north beginning of US 219 was straight ahead. As a matter of fact, in 2001 it was reported that there were still US 219 signs posted along the entire length of 391 (the other end of which is about 3 miles southeast, at modern US 219 in North Boston).
It was about 1973 when the US 219 freeway serving the Buffalo area was opened. Today the north end of US 219 is in the suburb of West Seneca; here is the last northbound marker: |
Karner, June 2013
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That was posted at Lake Avenue. About a mile ahead, the US 219 designation ends at its interchange with I-90 (also known as the New York State Thruway):
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Nitzman, 2001
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Karner, June 2013
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This photo was taken heading south out of Buffalo on westbound I-90, at the north beginning of US 219:
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Morrison, July 2007
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Reportedly there are nine overhead signs for US 219 before the route actually splits off from I-90. The exit actually goes to a collector-distributor road, which parallels I-90 for some distance before diverging:
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Morrison, July 2007
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Drivers who follow US 219 there will soon see the first standalone southbound confirming marker:
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Karner, June 2013
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Research and/or photo credits: H.B. Elkins; Martin Karner; Doug Kerr; Jim Lindsay; Jeff Morrison; Alex Nitzman; Adam Prince; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2000;
last updated Jan. 24, 2019.
last updated Jan. 24, 2019.
