In the Mountains (God's Country map): 

U.S. 64 enters the state at Angellico Gap (2020 feet). It's a four-lane, divided highway between the Tennessee line and Murphy. In Clay County, it passes south of Hayesville, and stays north of Chatuge Lake. The road traverses Chunky Gal Mountain (great name, huh?) in eastern Clay County, passing through 3679-foot Glade Gap. In western Macon County, 64 climbs Nantahala Mountain and crosses the Appalachian Trail upon passing through Winding Stair Gap (c. 3860 feet). Through this stretch there are intermittent hillclimb lanes. After descending the mountains, 64 widens to four lanes in the Franklin area. 

East of Franklin (2100 feet), two-lane 64 ascends along the Cullasaja River towards Highlands (advertised at 4118 feet; downtown is closer to 3820 feet). For about 7 miles the road runs through the Cullasaja Gorge, and is quite twisty. 64 passes three large waterfalls on its way to Highlands: Cullasaja Falls, Dry Falls and Bridal Veil Falls, west to east. 

From Highlands, 64 descends east towards the Jackson/Macon line and crosses the ECD. Near the county line, 4930-foot Whiteside Mountain is visible to the south. The road runs through Cashiers (3486 feet) and Sapphire Valley (3200 feet) and crosses into Transylvania County. Near Lake Toxaway, it crosses the ECD a second time (2694 feet) and passes just south of the lake. The bridge over the Toxaway River offers open views to the south. 

U.S. 64 runs through Rosman, then follows the French Broad Valley, opening up to four lanes east of Rosman. Through Brevard, 64 runs along Broad Street, and joins up with U.S. 276. 64/276 keeps its four lanes to the 276/N.C. 280 junction near the entrance to the Pisgah National Forest. 

In Henderson County, 64 goes through Hendersonville along Sixth Avenue, and crosses I-26 at exit 16. After crossing the ECD a final time, the road descends along the Reedypatch Creek toward U.S. 74A and N.C. 9, then heads east along the Rocky Broad River into Rutherford County towards Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. 

In the Foothills: 

Near Rutherfordton, a diamond interchange connects 64 (and 74A) to U.S. 221; then 64 heads northeast to Morganton. 

In Burke County, 64 hits I-40 at exit 103 and loops around the west side of Morganton on Fleming Drive and Sanford Drive. 

After crossing into Caldwell County, 64 widens to four lanes and runs through Lenoir on Morganton Boulevard and Wilkesboro Boulevard. 64 passes south of Taylorsville in Alexander County, crosses into Iredell County and hits I-40 again at exit 148. 

In the Piedmont: 

Through Statesville, 64 runs over West Front Street, Center Street and Davie Avenue. 64 has no interchange with I-77, but hits I-40 twice more in Iredell: at exits 153 ("kissing", but not crossing, the Interstate) and 162. 

64 crosses I-40 again at exit 168 in Davie County, then runs through Mocksville and over the Yadkin River into Davidson County. It's four lanes around the north of Lexington, hitting I-85 at exit 96. Between Asheboro and Cary, 64 has intermittent four-lane stretches. 

In Cary, 64 joins the U.S. 1 freeway east into Raleigh. 64 runs along the southern half of the Raleigh Beltline (I say it does; more below). It joins the Beltline at I-40 exit 293, which is also I-440 exit 1, and leaves the Beltline at I-440 exit 13. 

Along the Coastal Plain: 

64 continues east along the four-lane Wendell Highway, which after a few miles becomes a 65-mph freeway. The freeway continues through Zebulon and Rocky Mount, all the way to Tarboro in Edgecombe County. From Tarboro east to Williamston, a new four-lane freeway is under construction (late 1999), but for now, 64 remains a two-lane road through much of Edgecombe, Pitt and Martin counties. 

64 skirts the south side of Williamston along a four-lane road, then continues with four lanes through Plymouth in Washington County. East of Plymouth, two-lane 64 runs through mostly pine barrens and swamplands broken up by occasional villages such as Creswell or Columbia. 64 passes from Tyrrell County into Dare County while crossing the Alligator River on a 3-mile-long, 2-lane causeway. The highway joins U.S. 264 near the settlement of Manns Harbor. 

U.S. 64 crosses the Croatan Sound via the 2.5-mile, 2-lane Washington Baum Bridge. On Roanoake Island it passes the entrance to Fort Raleigh and runs though the settlement of Manteo. 

64's final act is to leave Roanoake Island on the 4-lane, elevated William B. Umstead Bridge and "land" on Bodie Island within the town limits of Nags Head. A turn-off for N.C. 12 exists immediately before a traffic light, where 64/264 turns into U.S. 158 and heads north. 
 

By 1934, the N.C. designations along U.S. 64 were removed, as part of the great renumbering. 
 

The westermost segment of U.S. 64 in the state was widened to four lanes in stages, starting in the 1960s. A four-lane stretch was open from N.C. 294 halfway west to the Tennessee line (near Sunny Point) by 1969. By 1970, 64 was completely four-laned between the state line and the Hiwassee River near Murphy. Around 1980, the four-laning was extended slightly east over the Hiwassee to where 64 breaks off from U.S. 19/129. This short widening was actually part of a longer project to widen 19/129. 

The bypass to the south of Hayesville was probably built around 1960. Before that, 64 followed the rather circuitous business route through the center of town. 

Over the Mountains to Franklin 

A 4-mile stretch of 64 up the west side of Chunky Gal Mountain (in eastern Clay County, near Standing Indian Mountain) was rerouted around 1971. The new alignment lies south of the original road, which is now known as SR 1349. A fair amount of grading was undertaken, and the new 64 is much less twisty than the older alignment. 

A longer realignment of 64 took place in western Macon County in the mid-1970s. From the settlement of Rainbow Springs, near where 64 crosses the Nantahala River, the old 64 ran due east, and crossed the Appalachian Trail at Wallace Gap. The old road then tacked due north and eventually hit modern Wayah Road (SR 1310), then continued east along SR 1442 into Franklin. Through Franklin, 64 ran through town along Palmer Street and Main Street. 

The new route was completed east to west. By 1974, the 64 freeway was finished around the south of Franklin, and about 5 miles to the west of town. By 1979, the new two-plus-lane 64 was opened from the end of the freeway west over Winding Stair Gap all the way to Rainbow Springs. The modern 64 traverses the Nantahala Mountains over a more northerly route than the old road ("Old U.S. 64" or "Old Murphy Road", or numerically, SR 1448) does. The 1974 official map at right (Map #1) shows the newer road partially completed. 

U.S. 64 through the Cullasaja Gorge remains largely unchanged since 1923, with one noteworthy exception. Through at least the 1950s, 64 used to pass under Bridal Veil Falls. Today, the highway runs right alongside the falls instead (photo at top). The old alignment of 64 remains as a turnout from the modern road, and is one of the few roads on the planet that pass behind a waterfall. 

Around 1980, 64 was rerouted to the north of Rosman. (Rosman is where U.S. 176 breaks off to the south). The new road completely misses Rosman, whereas the old road went through it. For a few years the old 64 was renumbered as a Business route, but is now known as SR 1388. 

Brevard and Hendersonville 

From the center of Brevard, 64 originally ran east along Everett Road (SR 1533) and Old U.S. 64 (SR 1504), through the villages of Pisgah Forest and Davidson River. Around 1957, 64 was given its current alignment -- north along U.S. 276, then east along a new road at the junction of 276 and 280. The road between downtown Brevard and the 276/280 intersection was widened to four lanes soon after, around 1958. (This road had long been 276, but wasn't part of 64 until the mid-1950s). 

The four-laning of 64 west of Brevard was finished in the early 1980s. 

Bat Cave/ Chimney Rock Area 

U.S. 64 used to follow a very different route out of Bat Cave than it does today. From the modern 64/74A/9 intersection in Bat Cave, 64 originally ran north over modern N.C. 9 into Buncombe County. It then left 9 and ran northeast to Old Fort. In Buncombe, 64 followed Old U.S. 64 (SR 2791); in McDowell County, it followed Catawba Avenue (SR 1103). Upon reaching Old Fort, 64 was signed over U.S. 70, all the way east to Statesville. 

The modern 64 through Lake Lure and Rutherfordton was first signed as U.S. 64A around 1940. Before 1940, modern 64 was signed only as U.S. 74 (between Bat Cave and Rutherfordton) or N.C. 181 (between Rutherfordton and Morganton). See Map #2 below. In 1947 or '48, mainline 64 was given its current routing through Lake Lure and Rutherfordton, superseding 64A. 
 

In 1989, U.S. 64 was taken off 70 through Burke, Catawba and Iredell counties. This was done in preparation to build a bypass around Taylorsville. In 1989, 64 was sent north over N.C. 18 from Morganton to Lenoir, then east over N.C. 90 through Taylorsville to Statesville. By 1991, 64/18 west of Lenoir was widened to four lanes. By 1996, the new, two-lane 64 south of Taylorsville was finished. 

The Central Piedmont 

Between 1952 and 1953, several changes to U.S. 64 were made in Davidson and Randolph counties. The old 64 ran over SR 1192 from the Yadkin River through Reeds Crossroads into Lexington. Through Lexington, 64 ran over Fifth Avenue and Raleigh Road, then east over modern "Old U.S. 64" (SR 2205) into Randolph County. Exit 94 off I-85 is signed for this "Old U S 64", evincing the original routing. 

Around 1953, a new 64 was opened on both sides of Lexington. The new alignment runs north of the old alignment throughout Davidson County. 

Also by 1953, 64 was rerouted in the vicinity of Asheboro. The original 64 approached town along from the northwest along Old Lexington Road (SR 1416 and 1004), further north than the modern route does. By 1953, a new 64 was built that skirted the center of town to the south, along Dixie Drive. 

East of Asheboro, Franklinville was bypassed to the south around 1941, and Siler City was bypassed to the north around 1950. 64 was widened to four lanes a short distance east from Asheboro in the mid-1970s, and to Ramseur in the late 1980s. 

A four-lane bypass around Pittsboro is under construction as of late 1999. 64 in the vicinity of Jordan Lake was widened to four lanes in the early 1970s, about a decade before the New Hope River was dammed to create the lake. 

In the mid-1990s, 64 was widened between Jordan Lake and the 1/64 freeway near Cary. Work progressed east to west, and was finished by 1997. 

Cary and Raleigh 

U.S. 64 originally approached Cary from the west along Apex Street. Along with U.S. 1, 64 ran over Apex, Chatham Street and Hillsborough Road. It remained signed along Hillsborough Road and Hillsborough Street all the way into downtown Raleigh, then ran over Edenton Street and New Bern Avenue further east. (Old maps leave off the "ugh" in Hillsborough, calling the road Hillsboro instead.) 

In the late 1950s, U.S. 64 approaching Raleigh was rerouted over Western Boulevard, Boylan Avenue, South Street and East Street before continuing east along New Bern Avenue. (64 would still run over Hillsborough Street through eastern Cary for a few years.) 

In 1964, the 1/64 freeway between Apex and the Raleigh Beltline was finished, and 64 was routed along it, instead of through Cary. A year or two later, the top half of the Beltline was completed from Western Boulevard all the way counter-clockwise to New Bern Avenue. 64 was signed along the new freeway, and its former routing through downtown was demoted to Business status. 

By 1984, the bottom half of the Raleigh Beltline was finished, and U.S. 64 was moved onto it. (The top half remained signed as U.S. 1, 70 or 401, as appropriate.) 64 has arguably remained along the bottom of the Beltline since then. 
 

U.S. 64 east of the Beltline -- the Wendell Highway -- was widened to four lanes in 1964 or '65. 

In eastern Wake County, 64 originally ran south of today's freeway, through the centers of Wendell and Zebulon. In 1959 or early '60, Wendell was bypassed to the north, over what is now N.C. 97, and the original 64 through Wendell became Business 64. 

From the center of Zebulon, the original 64 ran over SR 2406 through Wake County, SR 1770 through Franklin County and U.S. 64A through Nash County. Starting in the mid-1970s, a new freeway bypassing all the old routes from Wendell all the way east to Rocky Mount was built. By 1975 the freeway was finished from the four-lane Wendell Highway east to N.C. 231 in Nash County. The previous 64 which bypassed Wendell to the north became N.C. 97, and the older 64 northeast of Zebulon was demoted to SR status. By 1980 the 64 freeway was extended to the junction with N.C. 58 in Nash County, and by 1984 the freeway was finished through Rocky Mount and into Edgecombe County. Compare Maps #3 and #4 above. 

From Nashville to Rocky Mount, the old 64 (since demoted to Business 64) was widened to four lanes on the west side of Rocky Mount in the late 1960s and 1970s -- this was back when it was part of mainline 64. 

Rocky Mount to Plymouth 

The freeway from Rocky Mount to Tarboro was completed as a new road by 1990. It runs south of the original 64, which is now denoted U.S. 64A. 

A bypass to the south of Williamston was opened around 1954. Previously, the highway ran straight into town along Main Street. In the mid-1960s this bypass was widened to four lanes. 

Starting in the late 1980s, 64 was widened to four lanes between Williamston and N.C. 45 on the east side of Plymouth. Parts of the four-laning were completed by 1990; it was all done by 1994. In the process, Jamesville in Martin County was bypassed. 

To the Beach 

U.S. 64 originally ended in Fort Landing, on the Alligator River in Tyrrell County. From Columbia, 64 ran north over modern SR 1214 and east over SR 1209. 
 

This changed in 1949 or early '50, when 64 was given its current alignment from Columbia due east to the river. 64 was also signed on the east side of the Alligator, over a previously existing (but never before numbered) road to Manns Harbor. Furthermore, 64 replaced parts of N.C. 345 on Roanoke Island, and parts of U.S. 158 on Roanoake and on the Outer Banks.  BUT... in 1950 there was still no bridge over the Alligator, nor over the Croatan Sound to Manteo. Ferries were in service over these two waterways, until the Croatan Sound bridge (the Washington Baum bridge) was built in 1956, and the Alligator bridge was opened in 1962.

5. 1946 official map 6. 1953 official map

An older two-lane bridge that connected Roanoke Island to the Outer Banks was replaced with the William B. Umstead Bridge in the late 1980s. The older bridge had been signed with five different route numbers over its lifetime: N.C. 344, N.C. 34, U.S. 158, U.S. 64 and U.S. 264. 

Compare Map #5 with Map #6 at right. 
 

As befits a road of its length, 64 in North Carolina traverses every type of territory the state has, and is signed over every type of road imaginable: freeways, busy city streets, twisty mountain roads, desolate dragstrips... and more. 

A sign at the Tennessee line (right) gives the mileage to Manteo. As recently as 1992 a similar sign on Roanoke Island gave the mileage to Murphy (543 miles). Unfortunately, the sign was removed by 1998. Bummer. 

In recent years signing for U.S. 64 in the Raleigh area has been equivocal. Different signs indicate 64 runs either over the top of the Beltline, the bottom of the Beltline, or over Western Boulevard. Over the years, in fact, it has done all of these. But immediately before the Beltline was signed as I-440 in 1991, and for a few years afterward, 64 was indisputably signed over the southern half of the Beltline. In the mid-1990s there were plans to return 64 to its "classic" routing of Western and New Bern, and this routing was shown on many maps, but 64 signs were never removed from the bottom of the Beltline. Even today, more 64 signs are located along the bottom of the Beltline than anywhere else. Generally, the NCDOT routes U.S. highways through cities along the fastest route possible, which would affirm that 64 belongs on the bottom of the Beltline. 

Traffic on the Wendell Highway east of Raleigh has outgrown the road's capacity, and long-range plans are in the works to build a freeway between the Beltline and the existing 64 freeway near Wendell. The Wendell Highway will probably remain as U.S. 264 when the new freeway is finished. 

In Nags Head, U.S. 64, 264 and 158 all have eastern termini at the same traffic light.