North Carolina Highway 226A

NC 226A
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	12 mi (19 km)
Existed:	1959 – present
Major junctions
South end:	NC 226 near Marion, NC NC 80 near Bandana, NC
North end:	NC 226 near Spruce Pine, NC
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System ← NC 226 NC 231 →

NC 226A is an alternate state route in the U.S. state of North Carolina that passes through Pisgah National Forest. NC 226A is the only remaining alternate state route in North Carolina, as all the other state routes with an "A" have been phased out. A curving and mountainous two-lane road, it travels generally north–south and is entirely within McDowell and Mitchell counties. NC 226A provides access to the small community of Little Switzerland and essentially parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway along its northern segment. The entire route is about 12 miles (19.3 km) in length.

Route description

NC 226A travels west (signed north) after splitting from its parent route, North Carolina Highway 226, near NC 226's junction with U.S. Route 221 in the Pisgah National Forest. Curving along the Blue Ridge Mountains, NC 226A heads northwest toward Little Switzerland. Paralleling the Blue Ridge Parkway, the route turns westward to go through Little Switzerland and rejoin NC 226 just south of Spruce Pine, North Carolina.

History

The road was originally built by Little Switzerland as a toll road from the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Railroad train station to the development. It was called Etchoe (pronounced Et-cho) Pass Road. The tolls were quickly lifted although the booths are still visible.^[1]

In 1928, the road which 226A now follows used to be signed as NC 19. Around 1932, US 221 joined the NC 19 route from NC 28, north to the town of Spruce Pine. By 1934, US 221 was routed to the south and NC 19 was renumbered as NC 26. In the late 1940s, following World War II, a faster NC 26 route through the mountains was constructed; the old route was given the designation: Alternate NC 26 or NC 26A. When Interstate 26 was routed through North Carolina in 1959, NC 26 was renumbered as NC 226 to avoid confusion with the Interstate Highway. NC 26A followed the trend of its parent state route and became the NC 226A known today.

See also

• Blue Ridge Mountains
• CSX Transportation

References

1. ^ http://www.mountainx.com/blogwire/2010/little_switzerland_celebrates_100_years

External links

• NC Roads - NC 226A (poem)
• NC Roads - Grandfather Mountain: 1928-1934