U.S. Route 19 - History

History

Prior to US Highway Numbering System, US 19 was West Virginia Route 4.

In North Carolina, U.S. 19 was N.C. 10 from the Georgia line to Asheville, N.C. Highway 29 from Asheville to Madison County, N.C. Highway 69 to a point near the Tennessee line, and either N.C. 194 or N.C. 694 for a short distance south of the Tennessee line.

The original U.S. 19 in Yancey, Mitchell and Avery Counties mostly followed the route now designated 19E. U.S. 19W in Yancey County was U.S. 19-23 in 1935, and what is now U.S. 19E was U.S. 19A. The 19E and 19W designations have been used since 1930.

US 19 first entered Florida in 1929. It underwent two route shifts, the first in 1933 and the second in 1946, which adjusted it to its current alignment. US 19 was extended to its southern terminus of Memphis in September 1954, when the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge opened to traffic.

Prior to 1948, U.S. 19 between Ela and Waynesville essentially followed the route of present-day U.S. 74. Then this road was called U.S. 19 Alternate (U.S. 19-A) and the section of N.C. 28 From Ela to Cherokee and the section of N.C. 293 from Cherokee to near Waynesville became U.S. 19. Improvements were made, including a new section of highway west of Lake Junaluska.

Around 1956, U.S. 19-23 was widened to four lanes from Lake Junaluska to Canton.

By 1970, a section of U.S. 19 west of Murphy, also designated U.S. 64 (and later U.S. 74), was widened to four lanes.

In January 1983, after improvements to U.S. 19-A had made it similar to an interstate highway, the state proposed designating U.S. 19-A as U.S. 19 Bypass. At one point changing U.S. 19-A to U.S. 19 was considered, but businesses in Maggie Valley opposed the idea of their highway being changed to U.S. 19-A. U.S. 19-A became the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway.

The planned St. Petersburg-Clearwater Expressway, or Pinellas Beltway, would have followed the current alignment of "Alt 19" from I-275 to Clearwater, Florida. The intersection of Seminole Boulevard and Bay Pines Boulevard is a remnant of this proposed road. The beltway road was proposed in 1974, but dead by 1980.