Embedded Files
100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
US route endpoint in
1926-1932; 1956-2001
When the US route system was first implemented, the west end of US 117 [i] was at its junction with US 1 in Norlina...
c. 1930, NC DoT
...but that did not last long: US 117 soon became a part of the longer US 158, so there was no longer a US route terminus in Norlina.
However, when the third US 401 was commissioned in 1956, its north end was at its junction with its parent route (US 1) in Norlina. This map shows that endpoint, as well as the short segment of I-85 that had been completed at the time:
c. 1960, NC DoT
In this first photo, the north beginning of US 401 was to the right, as was the historic west beginning of US 117. However, in 2001, the US 401 designation was extended about seven miles ahead with US 1, to I-85's interchange 233, just shy of the Virginia line. So at that time the assembly was changed, as shown in the second photo:
Nitzman, 2000
Karners, Dec. 2016
Those were taken heading north on US 1-158. US 158 splits from US 1 at that intersection, and heads east towards Roanoke Rapids. In that direction, US 401 overlaps with US 158 for about the first mile, but then it splits off, heading south to Raleigh. This next shot shows the updated sign assembly that replaced the one visible at far left in the first Norlina photo above:
Karners, Dec. 2016
Historically that was the west end of US 117, and later the north end of US 401. That designation now continues to the right; see the main US 401 page for its current endpoint. Finally, here is a shot taken looking southbound on US 1 (and now southbound US 401 as well). Historically, US 401 (and prior to that, US 117) began to the left:
Karners, Dec. 2016
Research and/or image credits: Karin and Martin Karner; Alex Nitzman; Dale Sanderson
Page originally created 2000;last updated May 18, 2025.
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