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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
1973-1986
East: Cumberland, MD
West: Morgantown, WV
1986-1989
East: Hancock, MD
West: Morgantown, WV
Maryland and West Virginia secured permission for a new US route a few years before the highway was actually built. Below is an agenda item from AASHO's October 1969 meeting...
...but it wasn't until 1973 that the second US 48 was signposted.
Morgantown
US 48[ii] was designed as a limited-access freeway from the start, perhaps even with the intention of being re-designated as an interstate upon completion. Its west terminus was outside Morgantown:
Moraseski, Aug. 2002
That is where modern I-68 (formerly US 48) ends at I-79; the exit for downtown Morgantown is four miles to the north.
Next up are photos of the former beginning of US 48 as seen from both directions on I-79; US 48 began via what is now signed as I-68:
Nitzman, Aug. 2004
Nitzman, Aug. 2004
Cumberland
Originally US 48[ii] ran eastward to the Willowbrook Road interchange (now exit 44) in Cumberland, where it met US 40:
Nitzman, Aug. 2004
This photo shows the original east beginning of US 48:
Nitzman, Aug. 2004
That was westbound on US 40, which formerly exited there, and US 48 began straight ahead. In 1986, AASHTO approved an eastward extension of the US 48 designation:
Hancock
Despite what that said, the junction with I-70 was in Hancock, not Hagerstown. This photo shows the east end of I-68 (formerly US 48) at I-70:
Field, Oct. 2001
Next we are looking at the former east beginning of US 48 as seen from both directions on I-70:
Nitzman, Aug. 2004
Nitzman, Aug. 2004
By Feb. 2007, that tipping truck sign was a bit wider, and it was topped with flashing lights. In June 1989, AASHTO agreed to decommission the US 48 designation, replacing it with the I-68 designation, although it may have been 1991 by the time signage along the highway was actually changed:
Research and/or image credits: Andy Field; Dan Moraseski; Alex Nitzman; Tim Reichard; Dale Sanderson
Page originally created 2003;last updated Aug. 10, 2025.
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