North Carolina Highway 561

NC Highway 561 marker

NC Highway 561
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length: 99.5 mi[1] (160.1 km)
Existed: 1925 – present
Major junctions
East end: US 401 / NC 39 in Louisburg
 
West end: NC 45 near Harrellsville
Location
Counties: Franklin, Nash, Halifax, Northampton, Hertford
Highway system
← NC 540NC 581 →

NC 561 is a 101-mile (163 km) North Carolina state highway and a rural traffic artery connecting Louisburg and Ahoskie with many small-to-medium-sized towns in the "Down East" and Coastal Plain regions within minutes from the Virginia state line. NC 561 is a spur of NC 56, although the two highways never actually intersect.

Route description

The eastern terminus of NC 561 begins at NC 45 in Harrellsville and proceeds west to Ahoskie where it meets with US 13 and NC 42 just outside town. All three are concurrent (Memorial Drive) upon entering Ahoskie until reaching Academy Street. From there, NC 42 turns left and the other two highways turn right...bypassing downtown Ahoskie to the west. NC 561 will turn left onto West 1st Street, continuing westward towards Rich Square. There are two junctions along the way (NC 11 and NC 461) before merging with NC 305 near the Hertford/Northampton County line. The two highways run concurrent into Rich Square, passing NC 35 to junction with US 258. As NC 305 continues straight towards Jackson, NC 561 turns left and joins US 258 at it passes through Rich Square heading south towards Scotland Neck.

The two highways pass NC 308 south of Rich Square on its way into Halifax County, where NC 561 turns right and proceeds towards Halifax...meeting NC 481 in Tillery. NC 561 will turn right onto US 301, NC 903 and NC 125 just south of Halifax and then turn left a short ways up and continue west towards Brinkleyville. The highway will make a right at Beaver Dam, just before its junction with I-95 (Exit #160 off the interstate). NC 561 will meet NC 4 and NC 48 at Brinkleyville, where NC 4 will run concurrent with NC 561 past Medoc Mountain State Park. The highway will eventually break off heading north to Littleton as NC 561 continues west to Hollister. NC 43 will join the highway past Hollister for a short distance before NC 561 breaks off and travels to Centerville, crossing NC 58 in town. NC 561 will continue southwest into Louisburg where it meets its western terminus at US 401 and NC 39, just a little ways north of NC 56.

History

NC 561 was established in 1925 as a new primary route between NC 56, in Louisburg, and NC 58, in Centerville. Around 1928, NC 561 was extended east as new routing to US 17-1/NC 40, near Halifax.[2] In 1932, another extension east on new routing to US 258/NC 12, near Spring Hill.[3] Between 1959-1963, NC 561 was extended north along US 258 to Rich Square and then east along NC 305 till past Mintons Store, where it split on new primary routing to Ahoskie. After a short concurrency with both US 13 and NC 45, it goes east on new primary routing to end at NC 45, near Harrellsville. By 1963, NC 561 discontinued going to Main Street in Louisburg, truncated at the current western terminus at US 401/NC 39.[4]

Junction list

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
FranklinLouisburg0.00.0 US 401 / NC 39 (Bickett Boulevard) – Henderson, Raleigh
Centerville11.919.2 NC 58 – Nashville, Warrenton
Nash
 No major junctions
Halifax 20.232.5 NC 43 south – Rocky MountSouth end of NC 43 overlap
Essex22.335.9 NC 43 north – WarrentonNorth end of NC 43 overlap
 26.041.8 NC 4 north – LittletonNorth end of NC 4 overlap
Brinkleyvillle29.247.0 NC 4 south / NC 48 – Rocky Mount, Roanoke RapidsSouth end of NC 4 overlap
 37.059.5 I‑95 – Rocky Mount, Roanoke Rapids, WeldonExit 160 (I-95)
 45.372.9 US 301 / NC 125 / NC 903 north – HalifaxNorth end of US 301 / NC 125 / NC 903 overlap
Pender45.773.5 US 301 / NC 125 / NC 903 south – Rocky MountSouth end of US 301 / NC 125 / NC 903 overlap
Tillery51.282.4 NC 481 west – Enfield
 60.998.0 US 258 south – Scotland NeckSouth end of US 258 overlap
Northampton 68.1109.6 NC 308 east – Roxobel
Rich Square69.7112.2 US 258 / NC 305 north – Murfreesboro, JacksonNorth end of US 258 / NC 305 overlap
Mintons Store75.2121.0 NC 35 north – Woodland
Hertford 75.9122.1 NC 305 south – AulanderSouth end of NC 305 overlap
St. John81.3130.8 NC 461 east – Winton
 85.4137.4 NC 11 – Aulander, Murfreesboro
Ahoskie87.3140.5 US 13 north (Academy Street) – WintonNorth end of US 13 overlap
87.8141.3 NC 42 west (Academy Street) – AulanderWest end of NC 42 overlap
89.4143.9 US 13 south / NC 42 east – PowellsvilleSouth end of US 13 and east end of NC 42 overlap
 99.5160.1 NC 45 – Harrellsville, Winton
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Attractions along the way

References

  1. 1 2 Google (March 20, 2016). "North Carolina Highway 561" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ North Carolina County Road Survey 1930 (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCSHC / NCSTC / U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. North Carolina State Tax Commission. 1930. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ North Carolina County Road Survey 1936 (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCSHC / NCSTC / U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. North Carolina State Tax Commission. 1936. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  4. ↑ North Carolina County Road Survey 1968 (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCSHC / USDOT / FHWA. North Carolina State Highway Commission – Planning and Research Department. 1968. Retrieved March 21, 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 21, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.