North Carolina Highway 56 (NC 56) is a primary

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The primarily rural route travels east from

Butner Butner is a town in Granville County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,397 as of the 2020 census. Butner was managed by the state of North Carolina from 1947 through 2007. History A bill passed by the North Carolina General ...

to NC 58 north of

Castalia Castalia ( grc, Κασταλία), in Greek mythology, was a naiad-nymph, a daughter of Achelous who inhabited the Castalian spring in Delphi. In older traditions, Castalian spring already existed by the time Apollo came to Delphi searching f ...

. The route connects several major towns in both Granville and

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

Counties including Creedmoor, Franklinton and Louisburg. NC 56 was originally routed from NC 50 in Creedmoor to NC 90 in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. Between 1924 and 1930, NC 56 was truncated to NC 58 in Castalia and extended

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 ...

in Creedmoor after it was truncated to US 1 near Franklinton. In 1974 the route was extended west to its current terminus in Butner.

Route description

NC 56 is a predominantly two-lane rural highway connecting the three Counties of Granville, Franklin and Nash. Acting as a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

, it begins at the intersection of Central Avenue/C Street, in Butner, and goes northeast to connect with

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 ...

(exit 191). Going southeasterly, it enters Creedmoor and has two brief concurrencies with US 15 and NC 50. Going in an easterly direction, it crosses NC 96, in Wilton, halfway before reaching Franklinton, where it connects with both US 1 and US 1A. Continuing east for , it reaches Louisburg, where it has another short concurrency with US 401 and NC 39 along Bickett Boulevard. At the intersection of East Nash Street, NC 56 begin its concurrency with NC 581 to Mapleville. Continuing east for another , it reaches its eastern terminus at NC 58, just over the Franklin/Nash County line and north of Castalia.

Dedicated and memorial names

NC 56 features one dedicated stretch of highway. * Clifton L Benson Highway – Official North Carolina name of NC 56, from Louisburg to NC 58, north of Castalia (approved: December 7, 1972).

History

NC 56 is an original state highway that traversed from NC 50, in Franklinton, to NC 90, in Nashville. In 1923, it was extended west on new primary routing to Wilton, then northwest to NC 75, in

Hester Hester is both a female given name and a surname. As a given name Hester is a variant of Esther. As a surname it is of Germanic origin and uncertain meaning, possible roots being the Middle High German ''heister'' beech tree indicating residence ne ...

. Briefly from 1924-1925, NC 56 was truncated north of Castalia, replaced temporarily by NC 58. In 1929, NC 56 was truncated back to US 1/NC 50, in Franklinton; its routing west becoming secondary roads. In 1930, NC 56 was truncated again and its current eastern terminus at NC 58, north of Castalia; its old alignment was replaced again by NC 58 to Nashville. Also same year, NC 56 was extended west to US 15/NC 75, in Creedmoor. Between 1947-1949, NC 56 was rerouted onto new bypass east of downtown Louisburg (today Bickett Boulevard), its old alignment along South Main Street and East Nash Street was downgraded to secondary roads (SR 1229 and SR 1231 respectively). In 1974, NC 56 was extended to its current western terminus in Butner, an upgrade to Butner-Creedmoor Road (SR-1111). In 1975, NC 56 was rerouted back through downtown Louisburg, via South Main Street and East Nash Street; it is unknown when it was reverted onto Bickett Boulevard.

Major intersections

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, North Carolina Highway 56
NCRoads.com: N.C. 56
056 Transportation in Granville County, North Carolina Transportation in Franklin County, North Carolina Transportation in Nash County, North Carolina