Historic US highway endpoints around Wilmington-New Castle, DE
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1927-1992
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c. 1932, DelDoT
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When the US routes were first commissioned in 1926, there was a US 122 running from US 22 in New Jersey to Wilmington. It came in on Concord Avenue, and it junctioned US 13 at Market Street (which is now designated Business 13). But US 122 probably did not end at that junction; likely it overlapped US 13 southward, terminating somewhere in the downtown area.
Nitzman, Oct. 2001 (all references to US routes gone by 2016)
That was actually not US 202, but rather DE hwy. 202, although Concord does become US 202 north of I-95 (about a mile to the left).
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In 1934, US 122 was replaced by US 202, but it never terminated at the same location as US 122. In fact, US 202 was never even routed all the way down Concord Pike, like US 122 had been. Initially, US 202 split off Concord by turning south on Baynard Boulevard, which crosses Brandywine Creek and becomes Washington Street through the downtown area. At Front Street, US 202 traffic was directed east, and DelDOT maps all the way through the late 1950s show the route ending at its junction with US 13 (Market):
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c. 1936, DelDoT
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When US 202 was commissioned in 1934, AASHO's route description specified that it continued eight miles southwest of Wilmington, ending at a junction known as State Road (which is west of New Castle, where US 13 and US 40 diverge). So it is curious that DelDOT maps showed US 202 ending in Wilmington. But I suspect that is where signage for US 202 actually ended, because a.) the maps were quite explicit and intentional about showing that; b.) the signs shown in this 1956 photo do not reference US 202; and c.) there was no reason for US 202 to overlap US 13 down to State Road. Even if there was a desire to have US 202 reach a junction with US 40, it still would not have had to go all the way down to State Road. At the time, US 40 split off from US 13 at Hares Corner, following what is now DE 273 to New Castle (where traffic used a ferry to connect with Pennsville NJ). So US 202 only would have had to go to Hares Corner to reach US 40 (which is a mile north of State Road). But I have seen no evidence that US 202 even went that far south. So this next image shows where US 202 probably ended in Wilmington. Historic southbound US 13 was to the right (under the railroad), while northbound went straight ahead a couple blocks before continuing north (left) on French Street:
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Karners, Dec. 2016
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The Delaware Memorial Bridge was opened in 1951, and US 40 was rerouted to use it (instead of the ferry). Specifically, traffic was directed 2.5 miles further north with US 13 to what is now known as I-295's Farnhurst interchange, then east across the bridge. In 1959 the US 301 designation was extended northward to end at this junction... which means: if US 202 had really been signed all the way down to State Road, then between there and Farnhurst would have been a quadruple overlap involving US 13-40-202-301. But DelDOT's map from the same year did not show that. However, it was the first edition to show the extension of US 301 to Farnhurst... and also the first one to show US 202 extending south of Wilmington to the same junction. Five years later, in 1964, Delaware obtained AASHO's approval to truncate the US 202 designation between State Road and Farnhurst, but I suspect what actually happened is: back in 1959 they added US 202 signage between Farnhurst and Wilmington, and they were retroactively asking AASHO to legitimize that. Anyway, after that time US 301 began where US 202 ended (and vice-versa):
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c. 1967, USGS
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The first photo in this series shows both shields; these were all taken from southbound I-295/westbound US 40:
Summa, 1973
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Nitzman, Feb. 1999
Nitzman, Apr. 2004
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Starting in 1959, US 202 began to the north with US 13, and US 301 began to the south, overlapped with US 13-40. Here is a shot that was taken while approaching from northbound US 13/eastbound US 40:
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Nitzman, Apr. 2004
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US 13 continues straight ahead, while US 40 continues by exiting to the right. Historically US 301 ended there, and US 202 began straight ahead. In 1969, I-95 around Wilmington (between Farnhurst and Concord Pike) was opened to traffic. This was a much faster route than US 202 through Wilmington, and the following year DelDOT received AASHO's approval to truncate US 202 to I-95's interchange 8. (As of 2019, there was still an "End US 202" assembly there, even though that has not been true since 1984. It is possible that DelDOT has simply done in-kind replacements of that sign assembly for the past 30+ years; see the main US 202 page). In 1984 US 202 was extended around Wilmington to its current terminus at Basin Corner (which is between Farnhurst and State Road). In 1992 US 301 was rerouted such that it no longer goes into the Wilmington area.
Research and/or photo credits: Karin and Martin Karner; Alex Nitzman; Mike Roberson; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2004;
last updated Apr. 23, 2021.
last updated Apr. 23, 2021.
