South Carolina Highway 56 (SC 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

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The highway provides a back country alternative to Interstate 26 (I-26) from Clinton to

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

Route description

SC 56 is generally a two-lane rural highway that expands to a four-lane urban highway in Clinton and Spartanburg. It travels in a north-south direction, though it is signed east-west; to make it more confusing, signage in

reverse the directions. SC 56 has a

roundabout interchange A roundabout interchange is a type of interchange between a controlled access highway, such as a motorway or freeway, and a minor road. The slip roads to and from the motorway carriageways converge at a single roundabout, which is grade-separate ...

, known as Hearon Circle, with I-85 Business. In Clinton, signage that bypasses the downtown area use "TRUCK" instead of normal or bypass banners; though SC 56 Business is signed through the downtown area.

History

SC 56 was established in 1928 as a new primary route from SC 392 (today SC 39) to U.S. Route 176 (US 176) in Pauline. In 1949, SC 56 was extended north, replacing US 176 to

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 Spartanburg. In 1959, SC 56 was extended north, replacing US 176 along Asheville Highway to its current terminus at US 176. Sometime after 1990, SC 56 was bypassed southeast of downtown Clinton, leaving a business loop.

Major intersections

Special routes

Clinton business loop

South Carolina Highway 56 Business (SC 56 Bus.) is a

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city or ...

that traverses through downtown Clinton, in concurrency with SC 72 Bus. along Broad Street and Willard Road.

Spartanburg connector route

South Carolina Highway 56 Connector (SC 56 Conn.) is a

connector route A connector is a highway or freeway road that connects to another highway or freeway. It can be part of an interchange such as the MacArthur Maze or a longer roadway such as the Interstate 635. A connector route is a type of special route or su ...

between SC 56 and US 176/ SC 9 in the central part of

and the east-central part of

. The entire length is known as East Henry Street and is an

unsigned highway Road sign along Aurora_to_exit_the_freeway._The_road_at_this_exit_is_officially_designated_Sigurd_and_Aurora,_Utah">Aurora_to_exit_the_freeway._The_road_at_this_exit_is_officially_designated_Utah_State_Route_259">SR 259,_a_short_connector;_h ...

. It begins at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...

with the SC 56 mainline (known as Union Street east of here and also as East Henry Street west of here). It travels to the east-northeast and curves to the northeast, before reaching its eastern terminus, an intersection with US 176/SC 9 (South Pine Street). Here, the roadway continues as Glendalyn Avenue.

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline
SC 56 at Virginia Highways' South Carolina Highways Annex
056 Transportation in Newberry County, South Carolina Transportation in Laurens County, South Carolina Transportation in Union County, South Carolina Transportation in Spartanburg County, South Carolina