End of US highway 15

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site. Photo credits: Justin Cozart; David Dawson; Doug Kerr; Alex Nitzman; Mac Watkins

US 15 was an original 1926 route, commissioned to run from Rockingham NC to Harrisburg PA. (The Rockingham endpoint later became the terminus of US 220, so you can view a photo from there on that page. The Harrisburg endpoint is shown on my US 422 page). In 1936 the north end was extended to Lawrenceville PA, at the New York state line south of Corning (there's a photo from there on Tim Reichard's page).

In 1935 the south end of US 15 was extended to Walterboro SC... but for the first 16 years, it ended two blocks south of its current terminus. That's because US 17 came in on Hampton Street, not Wichman Street (as it does today). Hampton is now SC hwy. 63, and signage where it meets Jefferies Boulevard looks like this:

Watkins, Jan. 2008

Originally, this was southbound US 17, which continued to the left on Jefferies. To the right was the south beginning of US 15. Below we're looking north on Jefferies:

Watkins, Jan. 2008

US 17 turned right here on Hampton, and straight ahead was US 15. The sign assembly on the corner is shown close-up below:

Watkins, Jan. 2008

US 17 traffic (now Alt 17) was rerouted through town in 1951, so now the beginning of US 15 is two blocks ahead. The photo below shows the signage there:

Cozart/Nitzman, Oct. 2006

That's still north on Jefferies. Northbound US 17A takes a right here on Wichman, while straight ahead is the beginning of US 15. The photo below was taken just ahead, showing the first northbound sign:

Cozart/Nitzman, Oct. 2006

Heading the opposite direction (south on Jefferies), the photo below shows the last southbound sign:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

The US 15 designation ends at the intersection ahead; the signage there is shown below:

Dawson, Dec. 2001

At Wichman Street, US 15 ends, and it's southbound US 17A that continues ahead on Jefferies. Northbound US 17A is left on Wichman. Below is the perspective from westbound Wichman (southbound US 17A):

Dawson, Dec. 2001

The assembly in the distance (on the far side of Jefferies) is shown close-up below:

Cozart/Nitzman, Oct. 2006

The south beginning of US 15 is to the right (at far right you can see the same assembly shown two photos above).

In 1939, US 15 was extended north from the Corning area, all the way to Rochester (you can view photos from there on this page). That lasted until 1974, when the north end of US 15 was truncated to its present terminus in Painted Post NY (outside Corning). The photos below were taken just west of Corning, heading east on the Southern Tier Expressway:

Nitzman, 1994

Painted Post is just off to the right; US 15 began by exiting here and going left over the freeway. The control cities on the straight-ahead sign are Corning and Elmira. The right-hand exit sign lists Gang Mills and Williamsport PA. That was before I-86 had been designated with NY 17 through here; within a few years that sign had been updated to include an interstate shield:

Nitzman, 2000

A few years later, construction was underway to replace this diamond interchange with a tri-level stack interchange, in order to accomodate a new limited-access freeway for US 15 traffic (which may become an extension of I-99 in the future). Temporary signage looked like this:

Nitzman, May 2005

The shot below shows signage heading the opposite direction on NY 17...

Nitzman, 1994

...and the photo below shows the same interchange after I-86 had been designated:

Nitzman, July 2005

The next shot was approaching the north end of US 15, at its interchange with I-86:

Kerr, Oct. 2002

A few years later, that view was beginning to look quite a bit different:

Nitzman, May 2005

Technically, the true end of US 15 is at the stoplight ahead; below is a shot from there:

Nitzman, May 2005

The road straight ahead used to be US 15, back when the designation continued up to Rochester. Below is the beginning of US 15 as seen from the opposite direction (on Hamilton Street, heading out of Painted Post):

Kerr, Mar. 2001