New Features on NC Maps

The North Carolina Maps digital project has recently uploaded a collection of North Carolina State Highway Maps, dating from 1916-2000.

From the NC Maps website:

The first North Carolina State Highway map was issued in 1916, showing proposed highways connecting major cities across the state. This map was printed after the Federal-Aid Highway Act was passed in June of 1916, resulting in federal money to subsidize the cost of highway construction in individual states.

The highway maps can be browsed by date, and provide two views of each map – one view shows the map, and the other view presents the images on the back of the map.  The maps and their versos are interesting visual commentary on “car culture” and state identity.

2 thoughts on “New Features on NC Maps”

  1. Thanks for sharing this. It’s amazing how route21 was the main connection between Charlotte and Statesville before 77 was built.

  2. NC 10 (Central Highway) was the first highway to cross the state. Its route followed the ridge between the Neuse River and Cape Fear River basins (from Beaufort to Murphy). Folks said you could walk along NC 10 and never get your feet wet. In Durham, NC 10 followed West Main, turned up Ninth Street and went out Hillsboro Road — towards other cotton mills in Hillsborough, Haw River, and Salisbury.

    When the US started designating national highways in 1927, the “magnificent state route number 10” became US 70. Sections of NC 10 can still be found in western Durham County (near Route 751 and Duke Forest).

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