Local Sign Find - Wake Forest Road at Louisburg Road in Raleigh before Capital Blvd.

Two years ago, I shared some older North Carolina and Virginia photos that were sent to myself and Mike Roberson. I forgot that there was another photo from this collection that was from the intersection of Wake Forest Road and Louisburg Road just north of Downtown Raleigh prior to the construction of Capital Blvd.

Wake Forest Road at Louisburg Road sometime between 1948 and 1954. Louisburg Road (following the NC 59 arrow) runs north through the center of the photo and into the distance. The sign for US 1A is for traffic that would continue on Wake Forest Road.

It appears that this photo was most likely taken after 1948 but before Capital Boulevard was constructed in the early to mid 1950s. According to Mike Roberson's NCRoads website, US 1 had ran on Wake Forest Road and US 1A along Louisburg Road. However, in 1948, the two designations swapped with US 1 joining NC 59 north out of the city along Louisburg. US 1A was moved to Wake Forest Road.

A lot has changed since then - here's a Google Street View image from April 2017 that shows what the intersection looks like today. It appears that the White Truck Sales and Service building is still there today.

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