NCRoads.com: The Highways of North Carolina
U.S. 1
All U.S. Highways | Home

 
U.S. 1  about 172 miles
The Road: Enters Richmond County from South Carolina. 
Heads into Virginia from Warren County. 
Nationally, U.S. 1 runs from Key West to Fort Kent (but originally only went as far south as Miami).
Towns and Attractions: Richmond Co.: Rockingham (Fayetteville Road) 
Moore Co.: Pinebluff (Walnut Street); Aberdeen; Southern Pines 
Lee Co.: Sanford 
Wake Co.: Apex; Cary; Raleigh (Cliff Benson Beltline; Capital Boulevard) 
Franklin Co.: Franklinton 
Vance Co.: Henderson 
Warren Co.: Norlina
Multilane Segments: Four lanes through most of Moore County, and a freeway through Southern Pines. 
Four lanes where co-signed with U.S. 15/501 in southern Lee County, and a freeway through Sanford. 
Freeway from Sanford to north of Raleigh. As many as eight lanes while signed over the Raleigh Beltline; generally four lanes everywhere else. 
North of the Beltline: Eight lanes between the Beltline and the U.S. 401 split (Louisburg Road). Six lanes from the 1/401 split north to the Raleigh city limits. 
Four lanes north of the city limits all the way to Henderson, and a freeway around Henderson.
History: U.S. 1 was an original 1926-27 U.S. highway, and was signed over the original N.C. 50. The N.C. 50 designation was removed in the first phase of the great renumbering of 1933-34. 
It's easiest to discuss 1's history in three segments: south of Raleigh, through Raleigh and north of Raleigh. 

U.S. 1 south of Raleigh 
 
Four-lane widening of U.S. 1 through southern Moore County took place in stages during the late 1950s. Widening was done from the Moore/Richmond line (the Lumber River) to Aberdeen in 1955. By 1960, four-laning was finished north of Aberdeen, and a new bypass was opened around Southern Pines. This road, around the west side of Southern Pines, was upgraded to a freeway in 1982. Map #1 at the right shows all these upgrades. 

Immediately north of Southern Pines, a four-mile stretch of 1 was widened to four lanes in 1970. 

U.S. 1 from the 15/501 junction north to Sanford was widened to four lanes in 1965. 

Sanford was bypassed to the west in the late 1950s, originally with a two-lane road. The bypass was upgraded to four lanes around 1979, and to a freeway by the end of 1982. 

The freeway through Chatham and southern Wake counties started life as a bypass of the Haywood/Merry Oaks area around 1960. It was completely opened as a Super 2 freeway between Apex (N.C. 55) and Sanford in 1965. The road remained a Super 2 for many years before it was widened to a four-lane freeway during the 1990s. The freeway upgrade was completed in 1997. (And see the comment below.)

   U.S. 1 in 1986 
1. 1986 AAA map
U.S. 1 through Raleigh 

Originally, U.S. 1 was signed (west to east from Cary) over Apex Road, Old Apex Road, Chatham Street, Hillsboro[ugh] Street, Edenton Street past the Capitol, Person Street and that era's Wake Forest Road. 

In 1947 or 1948, U.S 1 north of downtown was rerouted. It still ran over Edenton, Person and part of Wake Forest Road, but then veered further east, along Louisburg Road (later called North Boulevard; now part of Capital Boulevard). A big chunk of Wake Forest Road became U.S. 1A as a result; U.S. 1 met back up with W.F. Road well north of town. Eventually the demoted stretch of W.F. road would be renamed to Old W.F. Road, its current name. 

Map #2 at right shows how 1 and 1A were routed through Raleigh during the late 1940s and early 1950s. 
 

   U.S. 1 through Raleigh, 1952 
2. 1952 General Drafting map 
 
In 1953, another rerouting took place, causing 1 not to run in front of the Capitol anymore. From Hillsboro it ran over McDowell/Dawson Streets and along newly-built Downtown (now Capital) Boulevard to Louisburg Road, continuing north from there along its 1947-48 rerouting. This became, in 1957, the alignment of U.S. 401 as well. The upshot of all this is that 1 was no longer routed along any portion of the original Wake Forest Road within the city. 

The U.S. 1 freeway southwest of Raleigh, between Apex and Western Boulevard, was completed in 1962. The oldest part of the Beltline, from Western Boulevard clockwise to Louisburg Road (Louisburg Road was co-signed 1/401 by now), was done in 1963. U.S. 1 was signed over both these freeways, and the original 1 through downtown (Hillsborough Street et al.) became Business U.S. 1. 

Business 1 through downtown Raleigh was decomissioned in 1975 or 1976. That's what the state maps say; other commercial maps kept it around longer. Mainline 1's routing around Raleigh has not changed since 1962. 

U.S. 1 north of Raleigh 
 
Wake Forest, Youngsville and Franklinton were bypassed in 1953. The original routes through these towns became 1As. See Map #3 at right. 
The bypasses were originally only two lanes wide. By 1960, however, the short stretch of 1 between the 1As was widened to four lanes. Around 1979, 1 was widened to four lanes completely between the Raleigh Beltline and the 1A divergence south of Wake Forest. 

The eastern bypass of Henderson was opened by 1960 as a two-lane road. The bypass was upgraded to four lanes in 1991-92, and to a freeway by the end of 1993. 

In the mid-1990s, the remaining 2-lane portions of 1 between Wake Forest and Henderson were widened, so that 4-laning was finished as far north as Franklinton by 1995 and entirely by 1997.

   1953 official state map 
3. 1953 official state map
 
Comments: Like I-95, U.S. 1 doesn't have quite the importance it has in the Northeast, where it's Main Street U.S.A. It has, however, become the de facto means of getting to the North from Raleigh. Now that 1 is four lanes all the way to I-85, it's much faster than going through Rocky Mount or Durham. 

When the The Super 2 portion of U.S. 1 between Sanford and Apex was built in the mid-1960s, it was designed to be easily upgradable to a four-lane freeway. All traffic originally used what are now the southbound lanes. The roadbed for the northbound roadway was graded when the freeway was first designed, even though the two present northbound lanes wouldn't exist for another 30 years. Also, the overpasses over the freeway were built to accommodate the two separate roadways. When it came time to widen the road, all that was needed was to clear away the pine trees that had been growing in the northbound lanes in the meantime and pour the concrete. An all-too-rare example of foresight in roadbuilding.

 
U.S. 1A  dead
Formerly: Former designation of Old Wake Forest Road in north Raleigh from about 1947 to 1956. Before this time, the road was called plain-old Wake Forest Road and was mainline U.S. 1. This 1A was gone by 1960; Old Wake Forest Road remains unnumbered today.

 
U.S. 1A  10 miles
The Road: Main Street through Wake Forest, Wake County; also goes through Youngsville, Franklin County.
Comments: Was originally mainline 1; bypassed in 1953.

 
U.S. 1A  3 miles
The Road: Main Street through Franklinton, Franklin County.
Comments: Was originally mainline 1; bypassed in 1953. Both this 1A and the one through Wake Forest should really be called Business 1.

 
Business U.S. 1  5 miles
The Road: Wicker Street and Hawkins Avenue through Sanford, Lee County.
Comments: Was bypassed in the late 1950s (between 1957 and 1960).

 
Business U.S. 1  dead
Formerly: Signed over Hillsborough Street, McDowell and Dawson Streets and Capitol Boulevard (back then, Downtown Boulevard) through Raleigh. 
Existed between 1963 and the mid-1970s. Was mainline 1 before this time; nowadays there's no Business 1 in Raleigh anymore.

 
Business U.S. 1 10 miles
The Road: Granite Street and Garnett Street through Henderson, Vance County.
Comments: Was originally mainline 1; bypassed around 1959. Garnett Street also carries Business U.S. 158.
 
Credits: Bob Goudreau, for info on 1 north of the Beltline; Goudreau and James Kilbourne, for info on the freeway between Sanford and Apex 


Last Update: 18 April 1999

Previous: U.S. 178  |  Next: U.S. 301  |  All U.S. Routes
Top  |  NCRoads.com Home