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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
1926-1927
North: South Hill, VA
South: Rockingham, NC
1927-1934
North: Harrisburg, PA
South: Rockingham, NC
1934-1935
North: Harrisburg, PA
South: Walterboro, SC
1935-1950, 1951-1974
North: Rochester, NY
South: Walterboro, SC
1950-1951
North: Rochester, NY
South: Pocataligo, SC
1974-present
North: Painted Post, NY
South: Walterboro, SC
Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 854 miles for US 15... however, that included the mileage of US 15's associated business/bypass/alternate routes. According to the state subtotals on AASHTO's 1989 spreadsheet, mainline US 15's actual end-to-end total at the time was 794 miles. That closely matches our own 2020 measurement, which yielded 793.4 miles. Want historic mileages? Our handy reference book includes the mileages that were published in all 13 of AASHO/AASHTO's historic route logs (spanning the years 1927 to 1989).
US 15 was an original 1926 route, commissioned to run between Rockingham and Harrisburg. In 1934 US 15 was rerouted such that the south end extended to Walterboro (more info on those pages).
Rochester
In 1935 the north end of US 15 was approved to Rochester. In Pennsylvania that extension replaced the northernmost section of US 111; New York may not have signposted their segment until 1939:
c. 1956, Gousha
The old road is still drivable (the northern segment is now signed NY hwy. 15), but it is no longer heavily used, thanks to I-390 and the Southern Tier Expressway (I-86/NY 17). This photo was taken heading south on South Avenue at Court Street:
Wiley, 2000
Nitzman, Jan. 2017
Note the old US 15 sign: a relic from the past. That entire sign bridge shown there was gone as of 2008, as was another old US 15 sign posted about a block further south, shown here:
Nitzman, 2000
Nitzman, 2000
Those shots were taken from what was historically the north beginning of US 15. Since that road is one-way southbound, the historic north end was about a block away. This photo shows that spot, on Clinton Avenue at Woodbury Boulevard (or NY hwy. 31), just north of I-490:
Nitzman, 2000
US 15 ended there until 1974, when its north end was truncated to its present terminus. Here is that agenda item from the minutes of AASHTO's meeting in June of that year:
Painted Post
Travel between Painted Post and Rochester would soon be accomplished via I-390 and the Southern Tier Expwy, which was already complete in the Corning area by the time the US 15 designation was truncated. So US 15 never ended at the historic junction of Hamilton and High Streets in Painted Post. Rather, it ended at an interesting interchange with NY 17:
c. 1976, USGS
These photos were taken just west of Corning, heading east on the Southern Tier Expressway. Note the changes to route designations that have taken place:
Nitzman, 1994
Nitzman, 2000
These photos were taken just west of Corning, heading east on the Southern Tier Expressway. Note the changes to route designations that have taken place:
Nitzman, May 2005
Bender, July 2010
By 2010 the panel included a NY 352 sign, and the control point "Elmira" was changed to "Binghamton". An I-99 shield was added to these overhead signs in about 2014, but initially those replaced the US 15 shields, which were not added back until about 2016. Here is a more current photo of the same sign bridge:
Nitzman, Jan. 2017
This next series of shots shows signage heading the opposite direction on NY 17, before and after I-86 and I-99 had been designated:
Nitzman, 1994
Nitzman, July 2005
Nitzman, Aug. 2021
After taking that exit, these photos show the first southbound sign over the years:
Bender, July 2010
Nitzman, Jan. 2017
Nitzman, Aug. 2021
These next shots were taken while approaching the north end of US 15, at its interchange with I-86. This is the last northbound US 15 sign:
Nitzman, Aug. 2021
For a time, an "End" sign was posted just prior to the point where US 15 merges with westbound I-86...
Osbaldeston, Mar. 2010
...but unfortunately that has since been removed, and now instead there are twin "End I-99" assemblies near that location. They are visible in the background of this photo:
Nitzman, Aug. 2021
That is the north end of US 15. Prior to the completion of the modern interchange, the north terminus looked like this:
Nitzman, May 2005
At the time, the flyover ramps were under construction, and the true end of US 15 was technically at the stoplight ahead; here is a shot from there:
Nitzman, May 2005
The road straight ahead used to be US 15, back when the designation continued up to Rochester. Now that the interchange with I-86 has been reconfigured, US 15 traffic can no longer get to that intersection (at least not directly).
This was the beginning of US 15 as seen from the opposite direction (on Hamilton Street, heading south out of Painted Post), but now traffic coming from this direction no longer has direct access to US 15:
Kerr, Mar. 2001
Research and/or image credits: Jesse Bender; George Bourey; Doug Kerr; Alex Nitzman; Greg Osbaldeston; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa; Mike Wiley
Page originally created 2000;last updated May 18, 2025.
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