End of historic US highway 227

View a map showing this route.

Summa

1927-1930

• North: Paris, KY
• South: Richmond, KY

1930-1964

• North: Carrollton, KY
• South: Richmond, KY

1964-1972

• North: Carrollton, KY
• South: White Hall, KY

At its maximum extent, US 227 measured approximately 115 miles in total length.

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Originally the north end of US 227 was at US 27-68 in Paris.  This photo was looking northeast on Main Street at 10th Street; today Main is eastbound Business 68.  Mainline 68 and 27 both follow a bypass around the northwest side of town now, but originally this was mainline US 27-68 (and Main carried both directions).  So to the right on 10th was the north beginning of US 227:

Sanderson, July 2007

This photo was looking northwest on 10th.  US 227 ended just ahead at Main (although now KY 627 ends two blocks ahead, at High Street, which is Main's southwestbound counterpart):

Sanderson, July 2007

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That endpoint did not last long: two years later the north end of US 227 was extended to Carrollton, via a somewhat convoluted route that crossed to the opposite side of US 25:  

c. 1939, Rand McNally

From Paris, US 227 ran concurrently with what is now US 460 to the village of Great Crossing, then northwest to Carrollton, where it ended at its junction with US 42.  This photo shows the current end of KY 227 in Carrollton, and the historic endpoint of US 227:

Elkins, Oct. 2007

Here, we are looking east at the same junction; to the right is the former north beginning of US 227:

Elkins, Oct. 2007

For most of its life, the south end of US 227 was in Richmond.  During that time, US 227 ran southwest from Winchester to Boonesboro, and then continued to Richmond.  The route from Boonesboro to US 25-421 at White Hall carried the KY 388 designation:

c. 1950, KY DoT

The original routing of US 227 had the highway coming into downtown Richmond on 2nd Street and ending at US 25 and KY 52 (which now carries US 421 as well):

Elkins, Jan. 1998

This photo (a detail from the one at the very top of this page) was taken looking west on Main Street.  A US 227 shield points to the right on 2nd, as does a sign noting that Winchester is 22 miles in that direction:

(date and attribution unknown)

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In 1964, concurrent to the building of I-75, a new route was constructed between White Hall and Winchester.  When that road was built, the designations were reversed.  The new route between White Hall and Boonesboro became US 227; the old road between Richmond and Boonesboro became KY 388:

c. 1965, KY DoT

USGS

USGS

This photo shows the end of the "new" US 227 (which is now the end of KY 627).  It was at White Hall, just west of I-75's interchange 95:

Elkins, Jan. 2002

This shot was looking north on US 25-421.  US 227 began to the right, but ever since it was decommissioned in 1972, to the right has been the south beginning of KY 627:

Sanderson, July 2007

It was probably a direct result of AASHO's 1970 attempt to encourage the elimination of intra-state US routes that Kentucky requested the deletion of the US 227 designation, as evidenced by the verbiage of that agenda item, reproduced here from the minutes of their June 1972 meeting:

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Research and/or photo credits: H.B. Elkins; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa

Page originally created 2002;
last updated June 30, 2020.