NCRoads.com: N.C. 95 to 99

		N.C. 95 to 99 < N.C. 91 to 94 \| Home \| N.C. 100 to 104 >

95 see I-95

N.C. 95 renumbered

Formerly:		Original designation of N.C. 97, from Zebulon east to Hobgood. N.C. 95 was first signed between today's U.S. 301 and 258 (that era's N.C. 40 and N.C. 12, in Edgecombe County) around 1930. By 1933 it ran all the way west to Zebulon. It was a spur from the original N.C. 90 (U.S. 64). By 1935 it ran all the way east to Hobgood. N.C. 95 was renumbered in 1958 or 1959 to accommodate I-95. Below is a 1958 General Drafting map.

N.C. 95A dead

Formerly:		N.C. 95A was a short connector between the center of Rocky Mount and old N.C. 95. It shows up on maps between 1935 and 1939, such as the 1939 General Drafting map at right. It was gone by 1940. It's gone unnumbered since. I'd guess it was signed over modern-day Leggett Road.

N.C. 96 112 miles

The Road:		Starts at N.C. 55 near the Johnston/Sampson county line. Crosses into Virginia from Granville County and continues northward as Virginia 96.

Towns and Attractions:		Johnston Co.: Smithfield; Selma Wake Co.: Zebulon (Arendell Avenue) Franklin Co.: Youngsville Granville Co.: Oxford (Linden Avenue, Williamsboro Street, College Street, Roxboro Road)

History:		There have been two different N.C. 96s. The first N.C. 96 was signed over today's N.C. 127; it spurred from the original N.C. 90. When it was born in 1930 (perhaps '29), it ran from Hickory north to N.C. 90 near Taylorsville. It was signed over a previously unnumbered road. During Phase II of the great renumbering of 1933-34, 96 was extended south to 127's current southern terminus, over what had been the original N.C. 17. What resulted was the alignment shown in the 1937 RMcN map at right. Around 1940, the original 96 was renumbered to N.C. 127 and today's 96 started to form. It was originally signed only from the Virginia state line south to N.C. 56 in Granville County. This road had previously been N.C. 562; the change was part of that era's Virginia renumbering. Virginia 96 had its number first. In 1952, N.C. 96 was extended south to its current terminus at N.C. 55. It was routed over: a previously unnumbered road between N.C. 56 and Youngsville; former N.C. 98 between Youngsville and U.S. 401 (401 was called N.C. 59 then); former N.C. 264 between U.S. 401 and Zebulon; an unnumbered or new road between Zebulon and Selma; U.S. 301, through Selma and Smithfield, and a previously unnumbered (perhaps new) road south to 55.

N.C. 97 65 miles

The Road:

Starts at Business U.S. 64 between Raleigh and Zebulon, in Wake County.
Ends at N.C. 125 in Hobgood, Halifax County.

Towns and Attractions:

Wake Co.: Zebulon (Gannon Avenue)
Nash Co.: Rocky Mount (Raleigh Road; Atlantic Avenue)
Halifax Co.: Hobgood

History:

There have been three different N.C. 97s.

The original N.C. 97 dates from the early 1920s, and spurred off the original N.C. 90 to run from Plymouth to Pantego on the coastal plain. (A 1930 map is here.) In 1938 or 1939, part of this route was renumbered as an extension of N.C. 32, but the southernmost few miles were demoted to a secondary road. The demoted segment remains unnumbered to this day; in fact the DeLorme Atlas of N.C. still calls it "Old 97 Road".

The second 97 popped up in 1939, and superseded the original N.C. 30 and 30A between Windsor and Murfeesboro. See Map #1. The red line at the bottom right is U.S. 17, and the one across the top is U.S. 158. In 1951, this second 97 was itself killed when U.S. 13 was extended southward along it.

Most of today's 97 got its designation around 1959, when the former N.C. 95 was renumbered to avoid conflicting with I-95. The old N.C. 26, 77, 40 and 85 suffered similar fates.

1. 1941 RMcN map

Until about 1975, N.C. 97's western terminus was at U.S. 64 (now Business 64) in Zebulon. When the U.S. 64 freeway was finished to the north of Zebulon and Wendell, 97 was extended several miles to the west, over the old two-lane U.S. 64. Map #2 shows 97 ending in Zebulon, with the 64 freeway under construction. This former 64 was itself a northern bypass of Wendell, built around 1960.

2. 1975 official state map

N.C. 98 45 miles

The Road:		Starts at U.S. 70 in Durham. Ends at U.S. 64A just inside Nash County.

Towns and Attractions:		Durham Co.: Durham (Holloway Street); Falls Lake Wake Co.: Wake Forest

History:		There have been two different N.C. 98s. Originally, N.C. 98 ran over today's N.C. 58 in Wilson and Greene counties. Its 1930 termini were U.S. 264 and U.S. 13, or that era's N.C. 91 and N.C. 102. In late 1931 or 1932, the first 98 was superseded when N.C. 58 was extended southward over it. For a few years afterward, 98 went unassigned. Today's 98 was born within a year of 1936. At first it ran from U.S. 1 in Wake Forest east to U.S. 64 near the Franklin/Nash line. It superseded the older N.C. 561. In 1940, the westernmost few miles of 98 were redirected, so that the route ended at U.S. 1 in Youngsville, rather than Wake Forest. This new routing was previously designated N.C. 500; the older 98 to Wake Forest became part of N.C. 264. See the 1948 General Drafting map at right. In 1952 or early 1953, the little piece of 98 southeast from Youngsville was renumbered to N.C.96, and 98 was extended to Durham over its current alignment.

N.C. 99 33 miles

The Road:		Starts at N.C. 306 near the Bayview Ferry on the north bank of the Pamlico River, in Beaufort County. N.C. 92 runs into it. Ends at N.C. 32 in Washington County.

Towns and Attractions:		Beaufort Co.: Crosses Pungo Creek and Pantego Creek where they're pretty wide for creeks; Belhaven (Main Street); Pantego

History:		N.C. 99 was born within a year of 1934. It was routed over a previously unnumbered road in Beaufort County, running north from U.S. 264 to a modern-day secondary road (but that era's N.C. 97). Around 1939, 99's current alignment started to take shape. The original 99 was renumbered as an extension of N.C. 32, and 99 was reassigned to its current route through Washington and Beaufort counties. Its southern terminus was originally at U.S. 264 in Pantego. In the mid-1980s, 99 was extended along U.S. 264 and the former N.C. 92 to its current southern terminus in Bayview. (By this time, N.C. 45 had been multiplexed with the northermost few miles of 99 for some time.)

Comments:		The number 99 makes for a cool-sounding highway designation. Too bad the country doesn't have more good ones. There's the old U.S. 99 on the West Coast, and the Interstate in Pennsylvania everyone picks on, but that's about it as far as famous ones go. North Carolina needs a better Route 99.

Ideas:		Extend 99 westward along N.C. 92 and kill the 92 designation. This might help. Renumbering all of N.C. 45 as 99 would help even more.

Last Update: 2 May 1999

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