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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
1926-1929
North: Wilkes-Barre, PA
South: Philadelphia, PA
1929-1963
North: South Waverly, PA
South: Philadelphia, PA
1963-1967
North: Tunkhannock, PA
South: Philadelphia, PA
US 309 was among the original US routes of 1926. Here is a vintage photo from Towanda PA, looking south on Main Street at Bridge Street:
(date and attribution unknown)
For all of its 40-year existence, the south end of US 309 was always in Philadelphia. At the time the north end of US 309 was in Wilkes-Barre; this is an excerpt from AASHO's April 1927 route log:
Wilkes-Barre
c. 1929, Automobile Blue Book
There, US 309 came into town via Hazle Street, ending at US 11 (which was routed along Main Street at the time). This shot was looking south on Main; US 309 began to the left on Hazle:
Nelson, Sep. 2007
But in just a few years, the north end of US 309 was extended to South Waverly. From Wilkes-Barre it went north to Tunkhannock via what is now PA hwy. 309. There it was overlapped with US 6 to Towanda, then with US 220 to Waverly.
Tunkhannock
In 1963, US 309's concurrencies with US 6 and US 220 were eliminated, such that its northern terminus was truncated to Tunkhannock. This photo was looking east on Business US 6:
Kaiser, July 2006
Until about 2000, that was mainline US 6. To the right at the signal is PA 29, but historically that was the north beginning of US 309. The US 309 designation was retired four years later, but today's PA 309 remains, serving essentially the same corridor.
Research and/or image credits: Bryan Farr; Cameron Kaiser; Jeff Kitsko; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 1999;last updated May 19, 2025.
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