U.S. Route 601 (US 601) is a north–south

United States highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

that runs for from U.S. Route 321, near

Tarboro Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. It is the county seat of Edgecombe County. The town is o ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, to

U.S. Route 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major U.S. Highway in the Central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a north ...

, in Mount Airy,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. In North Carolina, it is one of the main north-south corridors connecting the cities of

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

, Mocksville, and Mount Airy.

Route description

South Carolina

US 601 begins at US 321 near Tarboro, SC and intersects with such highways as US 278 in

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia * Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria ** Hampton railway station, Melbour ...

. Beginning in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

US 601 has an overlap with US 301, then intersects US 78. Within the vicinity of Orangeburg, the overlap with US 301 ends at US 21, then it encounters

Interstate 26 Interstate 26 (I-26) is a main route of the Interstate Highway System in the Southeastern United States. Nominally east–west, as indicated by its even number, I-26 runs from the junction of U.S. Route 11W, US Route 11W (US 11W) ...

at Exit 145. In the vicinity of Lugoff, US 601 encounters

Interstate 20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Reeves County, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. B ...

at exit 92 near then begins another short overlap with its parent, US 1, which lasts until Camden where that concurrency is replaced by US 521 which last slightly longer than the previous one, ending in Kershaw. The route joins SC 9 three miles west of Pageland, then leaves SC 9 when it arrives in downtown Pageland before eventually crossing the North Carolina border.

North Carolina

After crossing the north–South Carolina border, US 601 intersects with such highways as US 74 in

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

, which it shares a short concurrency with until the interchange with the northern terminus of NC 207. At the northern city limits of Monroe, it interchanges with the Monroe Expressway. Traveling north along what is now known as "Concord Highway" it encounters another intersection with the NC 24/ NC 27 overlap in Midland and later an interchange with NC 49 south of

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

. Also in Concord, it joins

US 29 U.S. Route 29 or U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs for from Pensacola, Florida, to Ellicott City, Maryland, just west of Baltimore, Maryland, in the Eastern United States, connect ...

which it overlaps until

Interstate 85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, ...

at Exit 58 and runs along the interstate until it reaches

, at exit 75, then joins a brief concurrency with US 70. In Mocksville, the road has a short concurrency with US 64 beginning at the western terminus of US 158, and after leaving that overlap encounters

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States, southeastern and Southwestern United States, southwestern portions of the United States. At a leng ...

at exit 170. Further north it has an interchange with US 421 in

Yadkinville Yadkinville is a town in Yadkin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,997 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located in the Piedmont Triad, it is the county seat and most populous city of Yadkin County. History T ...

Interstate 74 Interstate 74 (I-74) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Its western end is at an interchange with I-80 in Davenport, Iowa; the eastern end of its Midwest segment is at an interchange with I-75 in ...

at exit 11 near White Plains, and finally terminates at US 52 in Mount Airy.

History

Established in 1927 as an original US Highway; the original routing was from US 1, in

Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...

, to US 17/ US 76, in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. In 1932, US 601 was extended north into North Carolina, replacing SC 96. In North Carolina US 601 was placed on concurrency with almost all of NC 80, from the South Carolina state line, near McFarlan, to downtown Mount Airy. In 1934, NC 80 was expunged from US 601. In 1935, most of US 601 was replaced by the arrival of US 52. From

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury ( ) is a city in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County, North Carolina, Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. ...

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropol ...

, the route was converted to US 52; which marked its departure from South Carolina. Around 1952, US 601 was extended south from

. Starting with a concurrency with

Kannapolis Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. ...

, from there it followed US 29A to downtown

. Replacing NC 151, it continues south through

and to the state line. In South Carolina, US 601 returns by replacing SC 151 from the border to Pageland. From there it replaced SC 902 and part of SC 265 to Kershaw. Between Kershaw and Camden, it overlaps with US 521, replacing SC 26 ( SC 52 before 1935) from Camden to Orangeburg, then in concurrency with US 301 to

. Then finally replacing SC 36 to US 321, where it continues and ends with US 321 in Hardeeville. In 1965, US 601 was realigned on new road bypassing west of downtown

, leaving a business loop. In 1970, US 601 was realigned on new road bypassing east of Dobson, leaving a business loop. In 1974, US 601 was extended to

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 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

in Hardeeville; however, by 1977, US 601 was truncated to its current southern terminus at US 321, near

. In 1979, US 601 was rerouted west of

, with concurrency with US 70; Innis Street was downgraded to secondary status. In the late 1980s, US 601 was rerouted onto

, in

from exit 68 to exit 74; which was extended in the late 1990s, going south to exit 58 in

. In 1999, US 601 was truncated to its current northern terminus at US 52 in Mount Airy.

South Carolina Highway 26

South Carolina Highway 26 (SC 26) was an original

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 Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

that was established in 1935 as a renumbering of SC 52 from U.S. Route 21 (US 21; now US 21/ US 176) in St. Matthews to US 76 near the Wateree River. In July 1936, it was extended north to the

Kershaw County Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest community is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, Fa ...

line, east of Fort Jackson. In May 1937, SC 26 was extended again to US 1 in Lugoff. In November of that year, its path from the Eastover area to Lugoff was re-routed on new roadway. Its former path through Eastover was redesignated as SC 26 Alternate (US 26 Alt.) In 1940, its path in Richland County was straightened instead of a

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

shape. Approximately 1948, its crossing of the

Congaree River The Congaree River is a short but wide river in South Carolina in the United States; It flows for approximately 53 miles (85 km). The river serves an important role as the final outlet channel for the entire Lower Saluda and Lower Broad wa ...

was shifted slightly to the east. In 1950, it was extended south to replace US 21 and ended at US 301 (now SC 33 in Orangeburg. The next year, SC 26 was decommissioned and redesignated as part of US 601.

Eastover alternate route

South Carolina Highway 26 Alternate (SC 26 Alt.) was an

alternate route An official alternate route is a special route in the United States that provides an alternate alignment for a highway. They are loop roads and found in many road systems in the United States including the U.S. Highway system and various stat ...

that was established in November 1937 as a renumbering of SC 26 through Eastover. Around 1942, it was decommissioned. It was redesignated as SC 764 east outside of the town and SC 263 north outside of it.

South Carolina Highway 52

South Carolina Highway 52 (SC 52) was a

that was established around 1926 from SC 31 / SC 45 (now US 601 and SC 6) in St. Matthews, through Wateree and Eastover, to SC 3 (now US 76/ US 378) northwest of Eastover. In 1935, it was decommissioned and redesignated as SC 26. Today, most of its path is known as US 601 and SC 764.

South Carolina Highway 96

South Carolina Highway 96 (SC 96) was a

that was established in 1926 on a path from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and SC 9 in

to the

state line, where the roadway continued as North Carolina Highway 80. In 1933, it was decommissioned, and its entire length became part of the original routing of US 601. Today, most of its path is part of US 52.

Junction list

References

External links