North Carolina Highway 210 (NC 210) 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 ...

that connects settlements in the

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

region. Due to its meandering route NC 210 changes directional orientation twice, changing from east-west to north-south at Old Stage Road east of Angier, then changing from north-south to west-east at the Bladen– Pender county line. The route traverses through central Fayetteville and the

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

Army installation and crosses both Topsail Island access bridges over the

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following t ...

. Owing primarily to its meandering route, NC 210 is the sixth longest state highway in North Carolina.

Route description

Sneads Ferry to Bladen County

NC 210 begins in

Onslow County Onslow County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 204,576. Its county seat is Jacksonville. The county was created in 1734 as Onslow Precinct and gained county status in 1739. Onslo ...

, northwest of the unincorporated community of Sneads Ferry, at

US 17 U.S. Route 17 or U.S. Highway 17 (US 17), also known as the Coastal Highway, is a north–south United States Highway that spans in the southeastern United States. It runs close to the Atlantic Coast for much of its length, with ...

. Signed west here, the road actually heads in a southeasterly direction through a commercial district west of Sneads Ferry, crossing NC 172. The route become Island Drive as it crosses a bridge over the

and turns southwest along

Topsail Island Topsail Island (, TOP-sill) is a 26-mile (41.8 km) long barrier island off the coast of North Carolina, roughly equidistant between the barrier islands of the Crystal Coast and the beaches of the Cape Fear (region), Cape Fear region, lying ...

, forming the main road along the narrow

barrier island Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of Dune, dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything fro ...

and passing through several resort communities. In Surf City, it merges with

NC 50 North Carolina Highway 50 (NC 50) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It goes from Topsail Beach, North Carolina, Topsail Beach in the south to Creedmoor, North Carolina, Creedmoor in the north, connecting the ...

to cross the Intracoastal Waterway again, traveling northward though Surf City before splitting off to the west. Near the Holly Shelter Game Preserve it merges with US 17 and travels southwest towards the unincorporated community of

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, where it leaves to the west and takes a winding path towards an interchange with

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 ...

in the Pender County community of Rocky Point. Following a winding path eastwards through several rural, unincorporated communities, it crosses

US 421 U.S. Route 421 (also U.S. Highway 421, US 421) is a diagonal northwest–southeast United States Numbered Highway in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. The highway runs for from Fort Fisher, North Caro ...

and has a brief concurrency with

NC 53 North Carolina Highway 53 (NC 53) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina that mainly runs west–east in the eastern part of the state. Route description The highway begins near Fayetteville in Cumberland Coun ...

before turning due north and changing designations from east-west to north-south before entering

Bladen County Bladen County ()
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Bladen County to Johnston County

NC 210 continues as a primarily rural route northbound through Bladen County, turning to the northwest as it enters Sampson County near the unincorporated community of

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' () by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. Set in England in the Middle Ages, this novel marked a shift away from Scott’s prior practice of setting st ...

. After it crosses US 701 south of the town of

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

it passes to the east of

Bladen Lakes State Forest Bladen Lakes State Forest (BLSF) is a North Carolina state forest near Elizabethtown, North Carolina, USA. It is managed by the North Carolina Forest Service. Covering about , it is the largest state owned forest in North Carolina. Bladen Lake ...

and continues northeast towards Fayetteville, merging with NC 53 just outside of the unincorporated community of Judson. Upon entering Fayetteville, NC 53 ends, and NC 210 joins with

NC 24 North Carolina Highway 24 (NC 24) is the longest primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Traveling east–west between the Charlotte metropolitan area and the Crystal Coast, connecting the cities of Charlotte, Fay ...

to form a concurrency along Grove Street. In Downtown Fayetteville, NC 210 leaves along Murchison Road to the northwest, merges again with NC 24 after crossing the NC 295 freeway, and the two routes continue on northwards into the town of Spring Lake along Bragg Boulevard. At the center of Spring Lake, NC 210 splits off to the northeast and crosses into Harnett County near the community of Anderson Creek. After merging with

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 Sum ...

in the community of Shawtown, the two routes merge with

to cross the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...

in Lillington. In the north of Lillington, both US routes leave in opposite directions and NC 210 continues northwards towards Angier. In Angier, the route turns again, this time changing designation to west-east.

Johnston County

Continuing into Johnston County heading eastbound, NC 210 forms the primary road through the community of McGee's Crossroads, located between

and I-40 along NC 210. After leaving the McGee's Crossroads area, the route continues eastbound through a mostly rural area, before reaching its terminus in

West Smithfield Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England. Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartho ...

at US 70 Business.

History

Previous designations

NC 210 first appeared on North Carolina state transportation maps in 1924, running from NC 20 south of Paint Rock to the North Carolina-Tennessee state line. From NC 20, the highway continued to the northeast along modern-day Paint Rock Road, passing through the community. It crossed the

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville form ...

at Paint Rock and intersected another road on its northern bank. At the intersection, NC 210 turned to the northwest and followed the road to the Tennessee state line. For the duration of its existence, NC 210 was an unimproved road. The highway continued to appear on maps until 1926 when the designation was removed. The route continued as secondary roads, however, Paint Rock Road no longer crosses the French Broad River. The second designation of NC 210 first appeared on North Carolina state transportation maps in 1929. NC 210 ran from NC 60 in

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to NC 21 in Cardenas. From its southern terminus, the highway ran in a northerly and northwesterly direction through Coats and Angier until reaching NC 21 in Cardenas, located northeast of Fuquay Varina. By 1931, NC 210 was renumbered as an extension of NC 55.

Current designation

The current designation of NC 210 first appeared on North Carolina state transportation maps in 1931, running from NC 53 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

to US 70 west of Smithfield. NC 210 connected Fort Bragg to Lillington, Angier, and Smithfield in Cumberland County, Harnett County, and Johnston County. At the time of designation, the route between Manchester and the Harnett County-Johnston County line was a

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

, sand, or

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...

road. NC 210 in Johnston County was a graded road. By 1935, a section of NC 210 between Manchester and Angier was paved. The remaining route between Angier and US 70 was classified as a gravel, sand-clay, or topsoil road. A portion of the route in Johnston County, along the eastern segment of the highway was paved by 1936. The remaining route east of Angier was paved by 1940. In 1942, NC 210 was extended south from Manchester to Fayetteville. The highway ran concurrently with NC 87 for before proceeding southeast toward Fayetteville. By 1946, NC 210 was routed south of Manchester along the modern-day Lillington Highway. The rerouted shortened the concurrency with NC 87 north of Fayetteville. The former route is now a secondary road known as Manchester Road. NC 210 was extended southeast from Fayetteville to US 421 near Currie in 1952. From Fayetteville, NC 210 ran concurrently with US 301/NC 24 to NC 53. NC 210 and NC 53 ran concurrently to the southeast for until diverged to the east along its own routing. The new routing closely followed the South River until once again reaching NC 53 east of

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

. NC 210 and NC 53 followed a concurrency to the east, before NC 210 diverged to the southeast to US 421. US 421 was placed onto its current routing between NC 210 and Wilmington in 1954. NC 210 was extended to follow the former routing, extending the highway southeast to US 117 in Castle Hayne. By 1957, NC 210 was rerouted beginning at Bells Crossroads, following its current routing through Rocky Point to Hampstead. In Hampstead, NC 210 turned to run concurrently with US 17 for until turning to the southeast toward Surf City. NC 210 met NC 50 to the southeast where it ran concurrently with NC 50 to Surf City. In Surf City, NC 210 was routed to run northeast to the New River

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In marine geogra ...

. In September 1969, NC 210 was rerouted north of Surf City to cross the Intracoastal Waterway and ran northwest to US 17 in Dixon. NC 210 was placed along a realignment roadway near Anderson Creek in Harnett County in November 1971. The former alignment became Anderson Creek School Road. In 1975, NC 210 was rerouted in Fayetteville to continue along Grove Street along a new bridge crossing the Cape Fear River until reaching NC 53. The realignment ended the US 301 concurrency in Fayetteville. NC 210 was realigned near Currie on January 29, 1988, removing NC 210 from Brinson Road. NC 210 was extended northeast along Malpass Crossroads Road to an intersection with Bell Williams Road, where it turned to follow Bell Williams Road to the east.

Junction list

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline
NCRoads.com: N.C. 210
210 Transportation in Onslow County, North Carolina Transportation in Pender County, North Carolina Transportation in Bladen County, North Carolina Transportation in Cumberland County, North Carolina Transportation in Harnett County, North Carolina Transportation in Johnston County, North Carolina