North Carolina Highway 53 (NC 53) 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 mainly runs west–east in the eastern part of the state.

Route description

The highway begins near Fayetteville in

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

. It runs through mostly rural areas in

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

...

, Pender County, and

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 ...

before emerging near

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. The NCDOT extended the highway in August 2010 along the NC 24 bypass around the southern side of the city, then continuing onto Western Boulevard. This thoroughfare consists of the most commercially used area in the city. It was done to facilitate ease of obtaining future funding to maintain the roadway there.

History

NC 53 was created in 1923 as a new state route. It ran from NC 50 (where the old US 1,

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 ...

/ US 501/ NC 87 split is) to Pittsboro. In 1924 NC 53 was extended to Sanford then replaced NC 241 then went down current NC 24 into Fayetteville. In 1928 NC 53 was truncated to Sanford. In 1933 NC 53 was extended to US 701, NC 41, NC 201 in Elizabethtown. In 1934 NC 53 was extended along the entire routing of NC 201 to Jacksonville. Also in 1934 NC 53 was truncated to NC 24 in Fayetteville. In 2010 NC 53 was extended around the NC 24 bypass in Jacksonville to Gum Branch Road where its current terminus is.

North Carolina Highway 601

NC 601 originally ran from NC 60 (current US 421) to NC 40 in

Burgaw Burgaw is a town in, and the county seat of, Pender County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,872 at the 2010 census. Burgaw is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The town most likely derives its nam ...

. In 1930 NC 601 was extended west to

Atkinson Atkinson may refer to: Places *Atkinson, Nova Scotia, Canada * Atkinson, Dominica, a village in Dominica *Atkinson, Illinois, U.S. * Atkinson, Indiana, U.S. *Atkinson, Maine, U.S. *Atkinson Lake, a lake in Minnesota, U.S. *Atkinson, Nebraska, U. ...

. The same year NC 601 was extended to NC 24 in

. In 1932 NC 601 was renumbered as part of NC 201. Today it is part of NC 53.http://www.vahighways.com/ncannex/route-log/nc601.html

Major intersections

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline
NCRoads.com: N.C. 53

053 53 may refer to: * 53 (number) * one of the years 53 BC, AD 53, 1953, 2053 * FiftyThree, an American privately held technology company that specializes in tools for mobile creation and visual thinking * 53rd Regiment Alabama Cavalry * 53rd Regiment ...