North Carolina Highway 561 (NC 561) is a

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 ...

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 ...

and a rural traffic artery connecting Louisburg and Ahoskie with many small-to-medium-sized towns in the

Down East "Down East", also "Downeast", is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada's Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. Th ...

and Coastal Plain regions within minutes from the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

state line. NC 561 is a spur of

NC 56 North Carolina Highway 56 (NC 56) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The primarily rural route travels east from Butner to NC 58 north of Castalia. The route connects several major towns in both Granv ...

, although the two highways never actually intersect.

Route description

The eastern terminus of NC 561 is at NC 45 in

Harrellsville Harrellsville is a town in Hertford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 106 at the 2010 census. Geography Harrellsville is located in southeastern Hertford County at (36.303895, -76.790083). North Carolina Highway 45 runs ...

and proceeds west to Ahoskie where it meets with

U.S. Route 13 U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. ...

(US 13) and

NC 42 North Carolina Highway 42 (NC 42) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina and a semi-urban traffic artery connecting Asheboro, Sanford, Clayton, Wilson and Ahoskie as well as many small- to medium-sized towns ...

just outside town. All three are

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

along 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 turns left onto West 1st Street, continuing westward towards Rich Square. There are two junctions along the way (

NC 11 North Carolina Highway 11 (NC 11) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Traveling in a north–south alignment through Eastern North Carolina, it connects the towns and cities of Wallace, North Carolina, W ...

and

NC 461 North Carolina Highway 461 (NC 461) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its western terminus is at North Carolina Highway 561, NC 561, passes through Winton, North Carolina, Winton and Cofield, North Carolina ...

) before merging with

NC 305 North Carolina Highway 305 (NC 305) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. NC 305 runs from US 13 north of Windsor to NC 186 in Seaboard. NC 305 is an original state highway and appeared on ...

near the

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

county line. The two highways run concurrent into Rich Square, passing

NC 35 North Carolina Highway 35 (NC 35) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Route description Starting from its southern terminus at NC 305/ NC 561 near Tri-County Airport in Mintons Store of western H ...

to junction with

US 258 U.S. Route 258 (US 258) is a spur of U.S. Route 58, US 58 in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Virginia. The United States Numbered Highways, U.S. Highway runs from U.S. Route 17 Business (Jacksonville, North Carolina), US 17 Business and N ...

. 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 North Carolina Highway 481 (NC 481) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina, connecting Enfield to nearby Interstate 95 (I-95) and the surrounding farmlands of southern Halifax County. Description NC 481 i ...

in Tillery. NC 561 turns right onto US 301,

NC 903 North Carolina Highway 903 (NC 903) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It serves as predominantly rural highway in the Inner Banks region and arterial road in and around Greenville. The road covers a total o ...

and NC 125 just south of Halifax and then turn left a short ways up and continue west towards Brinkleyville. The highway makes a right at Beaver Dam, just before its junction with

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

(exit 160 off the Interstate). NC 561 meets NC 4 and NC 48 at Brinkleyville, where NC 4 runs concurrent with NC 561 past

Medoc Mountain State Park Medoc Mountain State Park is a North Carolina state park in Halifax County, North Carolina in the United States. It is near Hollister, North Carolina in eastern North Carolina and includes the 325 foot (99 m) peak Medoc Mountain. History Medo ...

. The highway breaks off heading north to Littleton as NC 561 continues west to Hollister. NC 43 joins the highway past Hollister for a short distance before NC 561 breaks off and travels to Centerville, crossing NC 58 in town. NC 561 continues southwest into Louisburg where it meets its western terminus at

US 401 U.S. Route 401 (US 401) is a north–south United States highway, a spur of U.S. Route 1, that travels along the Fall Line from Sumter, South Carolina to Interstate 85 near Wise, North Carolina. Route description Starting in Sumt ...

and NC 39, about 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. In 1932, another extension east on new routing to US 258/ NC 12 near Spring Hill. Between 1959–1963, NC 561 was extended north along US 258 to Rich Square and then east along NC 305 until past Mintons Store where it split on new primary routing to Ahoskie. After a short concurrency with both US 13 and NC 45, it traveled east on new primary routing to end at NC 45, near Harrellsville. By 1963, NC 561 discontinued going to Main Street in Louisburg and was truncated at the current western terminus at US 401/NC 39.

Junction list

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline
NCRoads.com: N.C. 561

561 __NOTOC__ Year 561 ( DLXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 561 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

Historic Albemarle Tour Transportation in Franklin County, North Carolina Transportation in Nash County, North Carolina Transportation in Halifax County, North Carolina Transportation in Northampton County, North Carolina Transportation in Hertford County, North Carolina