Franklinville. In
Ramseur, the two routes split; NC 49 goes north through the towns of
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
and
Alamance
Alamance is a village in Alamance County, North Carolina, Alamance County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 951 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 cens ...
and into
Burlington
Burlington may refer to:
Places Canada Geography
* Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Burlington, Nova Scotia
* Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington"
* Burlington, Prince Edward Island
* Burlington Bay, no ...
, where it meets
I-40
Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...
/
I-85
Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65, I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with Interstate 95, I ...
. A concurrency of NC 49 and
US 70 winds through Burlington before the two routes diverge at
Haw River
The Haw River is a tributary of the Cape Fear River, approximately 110 mi (177 km) long, that is entirely contained in north central North Carolina in the United States. It was first documented as the "Hau River" by John Lawson, an E ...
, where NC 49 heads north. In northern Alamance County, NC 49 meets
NC 62 at a 4-way at-grade junction. The two routes switch directions at this point; NC 49 turns east toward
Roxboro. After passing through Roxboro and a short interval of concurrency with
US 158 and
US 501, NC 49 continues on toward the Virginia state line.
One unique fact about the route is that NC 49 is one of limited number of state highways that maintain their numbers in more than two contiguous states, in this case Virginia (
SR 49) and South Carolina (
SC 49), with an aggregate length in the three states of more than .
History
Established in late 1934 as a renumbering of NC 15, it traversed from Lake Wylie to Morehead and
Tryon Street Tryon may refer to:
* Tryon (surname)
Places
* Tryon Creek, tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon
* Tryon Street, major north-south street of Charlotte, North Carolina
* Tryon, Prince Edward Island, Canada, unincorporated area
* Settled ...
, in
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
, where it connected with
US 21/
US 29
U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington ...
/
US 74/
NC 27. In 1940, NC 49 was extended northeast from Charlotte to the Virginia state line, near
Virgilina, Virginia
Virgilina is a town in Halifax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 154 at the 2010 census. Virgilina was once a copper mining town. It was a stop on the Atlantic and Danville Railway as recently as the 1950s. It is named "Virgilin ...
; its routing went as follows: In Charlotte, it was overlapped with US 29 along Tryon Street and Old Concord Road. Traveling through
Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
, via Old Charlotte Road, it then overlaps with
NC 73 to
Mount Pleasant. Replacing NC 62, it travels northeast, through
Richfield and
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...
, to Asheboro. With a brief overlap with
US 220 (Fayetteville Street), it continues its northeasterly along Old Liberty road, replacing NC 62, through
Liberty
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
,
Graham
Graham and Graeme may refer to:
People
* Graham (given name), an English-language given name
* Graham (surname), an English-language surname
* Graeme (surname), an English-language surname
* Graham (musician) (born 1979), Burmese singer
* Clan ...
,
Haw River
The Haw River is a tributary of the Cape Fear River, approximately 110 mi (177 km) long, that is entirely contained in north central North Carolina in the United States. It was first documented as the "Hau River" by John Lawson, an E ...
, to
Pleasant Grove. Going east from Pleasant Grove, NC 49 replaced
NC 144, through
Roxboro, to the Virginia state line, near Virgilina.
In or by 1947, NC 49 was rerouted in Richfield, removing a concurrency with
US 52. And in Asheboro, NC 49 was rerouted onto
US 64 to
Ramseur, then northeast to Liberty; its old alignment becoming NC 49A.
In 1949, NC 49 was rerouted in Roxboro from Main Street onto newly constructed Madison Boulevard. In 1953, NC 49 was given its modern routing bypassing Concord and a concurrency with NC 73; that same year, in the Charlotte area, it was moved from Old Concord Road to University City Boulevard. Around 1960, NC 49 was given a new alignment south of Farmer, in
Randolph County Randolph County is the name of eight counties in the United States:
*Randolph County, Alabama
*Randolph County, Arkansas
*Randolph County, Georgia
*Randolph County, Illinois
*Randolph County, Indiana
*Randolph County, Missouri
*Randolph County, Nort ...
. By 1962, in Roxboro, NC 49 was removed along Morgan Street and Concord Road to an overlap with
US 158 on Leasburg Road.
In 1982, NC 49, in concurrency with US 29, was rerouted in
Uptown Charlotte
Uptown Charlotte, also called Center City, is the central business district of Charlotte, North Carolina. The area is split into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets, and bordered by Interstate 277 and Interstate 77. The a ...
from Tryon Street onto Morehead and Graham Streets, cutting back onto Tryon Street via Dalton Avenue. By 1993, NC 49 was adjusted in Pleasant Grove to intersect with NC 62; before it would turn nearby without connecting. In 2004, NC 49/
NC 57 was rerouted from a section of Leasburg Road onto Long Avenue, in Roxboro.
North Carolina Highway 15
North Carolina Highway 15 (NC 15) was an original state highway, established in 1921. It began at the intersection of Trade and
Tryon Street Tryon may refer to:
* Tryon (surname)
Places
* Tryon Creek, tributary of the Willamette River in Oregon
* Tryon Street, major north-south street of Charlotte, North Carolina
* Tryon, Prince Edward Island, Canada, unincorporated area
* Settled ...
in
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
, connecting with
NC 20/
NC 27, traversing northeast along Tryon Street and Old Concord Road to
Harrisburg
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...
and Concord. From Concord, it went north through
Kannapolis
Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. Th ...
and
Landis before ending in Salisbury at Main and Innes Street, connecting with
NC 10/
NC 80. In 1927,
US 170 was assigned on all of NC 15. By 1930, NC 15 was extended south on Tryon Street/York Road to
SC 163, at Lake Wylie. In 1932, US 170 was renumbered as an extension of
US 29
U.S. Route 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida to the western suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland in the Southern United States, connecting the Florida Panhandle to the Baltimore-Washington ...
. In 1934, because of
US 15
U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...
establishing in the state, NC 15 was removed on all sections overlapping with US 29 and the remaining section was renumbered to NC 49.
Major intersections
Special routes
New London alternate route
North Carolina Highway 49A (NC 49A) was established as a renumbering of NC 62A. A spur route of NC 49, it went south near the
Tuckertown Reservoir
The Tuckertown Reservoir is the reservoir formed by the Tuckertown Dam at the North end of Badin Lake and the High Rock Dam at the bottom of High Rock Lake in the Uwharrie Lakes Region in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
The reservoir is loca ...
to New London, connecting with
US 52/
NC 740 on Gold Street. In 1948, it was renumbered to
NC 6; it later became part of
NC 8 in 1953.
Asheboro–Liberty alternate route
North Carolina Highway 49A (NC 49A) was established after mainline NC 49 was rerouted onto
US 64 from Asheboro to
Ramseur, then northeast to Liberty; NC 49A continued the old alignment through Asheboro via Albemarle Avenue, Park Street, Salisbury Street, and Fayetteville Street. North of Asheboro it followed Old Liberty Road to Liberty. On November, 1967, NC 49A was decommissioned, most of which (except for Fayetteville Street) becoming secondary roads.
References
External links
*{{commons category-inline
NCRoads.com: N.C. 15
049
Transportation in Charlotte, North Carolina
Transportation in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Transportation in Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Transportation in Stanly County, North Carolina
Transportation in Rowan County, North Carolina
Transportation in Davidson County, North Carolina
Transportation in Randolph County, North Carolina
Transportation in Alamance County, North Carolina
Transportation in Orange County, North Carolina
Transportation in Caswell County, North Carolina
Transportation in Person County, North Carolina
Transportation in Granville County, North Carolina