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[Mapmikey]

Some maps have shown US 211 going into DC in the 1930s-40s.

Was it ever posted?

DDOT has a nice historical photo gallery where I found two different US 211 Truck signs...

Click on photos for a larger and clearer view of the postings...

This is Constitution Ave WB at Virginia Ave, where there is a US 29-211-240 TRUCK posting.  Note that it appears all truck routes in DC were signed in this way...saw numerous examples of US 240 Truck plus some US 1-50 Truck signs.



This is Constitution Ave WB at 10th NW.  The US 29-211 Truck sign is right under the signals set for 25 mph sign



But searching a little longer turns up this photo of M St EB at Wisconsin.  I darkened the photo to make seeing the 211 shield a little clearer.  The original photo is here which is also a DDOT photo.

[1995hoo]

Great photos, especially the first one showing those wartime buildings that used to be where Constitution Gardens are today. I've seen aerial images showing those buildings, but this is the first time I can recall seeing a ground-level view.

[ixnay]

Great photos, especially the first one showing those wartime buildings that used to be where Constitution Gardens are today. I've seen aerial images showing those buildings, but this is the first time I can recall seeing a ground-level view.

Notice the four-sided street signs, which Baltimore had back in that era too.

ixnay

[AlexandriaVA]

Great photos, especially the first one showing those wartime buildings that used to be where Constitution Gardens are today. I've seen aerial images showing those buildings, but this is the first time I can recall seeing a ground-level view.

The infamous "tempos" i.e. "temporary" which lasted into the Nixon administration

[cpzilliacus]

It was never clear to me where U.S. 211 officially ended in the District of Columbia.

I have personally seen U.S. 211 shields on M Street, N.W. approaching the signals at Key Bridge, N.W.

Added:  I saw those U.S. 211 shields many years after Whitehurst Freeway, N.W. (not actually a freeway) was open to traffic (and presumably U.S. 29 was moved to the "freeway" when it opened to traffic, so those U.S. 211 shields could have been long forgotten sign that were not removed by a predecessor agency to DDOT).

[usends]

It was never clear to me where U.S. 211 officially ended in the District of Columbia.

FWIW: after M Street, the 1942 map on this page shows US 211 going southeast on Penn, then east on K, ending at 17th (jct. US 1).

[Mapmikey]

It was never clear to me where U.S. 211 officially ended in the District of Columbia.

FWIW: after M Street, the 1942 map on this page shows US 211 going southeast on Penn, then east on K, ending at 17th (jct. US 1).

Virginia State Officials 1937-41 also explicitly show this...

From 1937:


The earliest Official Maryland map I can find online that shows level of detail in DC is 1946 and US 211 is not shown in DC.  The 1940 map doesn't show detail at all.

Esso Maps from around the same time also show this.  Don't know how late exactly.  A 1950 issue does NOT show it in DC anymore.

The 1932 Esso map shows that it ended at either US 240 (Pennsylvania at 22nd) or at the US Capitol which is where US 1-50 was running at the time.  This map (matched by a late 20s issue) also shows US 240 coming south on 22nd then southeast on Virginia then east on E St to at least the White House.  So US 211 may have ended at US 240 and US 240 carried over to the Capitol.

[Beltway]

So did US-29 and US-211 cross the river over Key Bridge?

[Mapmikey]

So did US-29 and US-211 cross the river over Key Bridge?

yes

[mrsman]

So did US-29 and US-211 cross the river over Key Bridge?

yes

I could easily see that many of the highways that were routed to DC would be ending at the Capitol.  For many reasons it to Mark the center town and a place where all roadways would emanate from.  Even today we still see some US highways that could be truncated at the edges of towns be brought as a multiplex into the city centre.  Case in point Cleveland public square.  Another example state capitol complex in Sacramento but that's no longer currently true but it was true during the heyday of US highways.

so for routing purposes and directional purposes it made sense to extend us-211 and US 242 the capital even though they multiplexed other routes to get there.  Overtime they cleaned up the US system to first avoid any multiplexes and then to eventually get rid of 211 and 240 from the DC area all together. 

Nexus 5X

[froggie]

I could easily see that many of the highways that were routed to DC would be ending at the Capitol Zero Milestone behind the White House on E Street NW.

I think this would be the more appropriate location.  And, pending any evidence to the contrary, might have been the endpoint for US 211 in the beginning, given what Mapmikey posted above.

[sparker]

so for routing purposes and directional purposes it made sense to extend us-211 and US 242 the capital even though they multiplexed other routes to get there.  Overtime they cleaned up the US system to first avoid any multiplexes and then to eventually get rid of 211 and 240 from the DC area all together. 

Nexus 5X

The advent of the Interstate system in all likelihood sealed the fate of US 211 east of Manassas and the entirety of US 240, with much of their functions replaced by, respectively, I-66 and, first, I-70S and then I-270.  Ironically, I-66, like its predecessor, did make it into DC, but was truncated to its present terminus (at US 29) for reasons well-known to most of us, while I-70S/270 never made it inside the Beltway. 

[Beltway]

The advent of the Interstate system in all likelihood sealed the fate of US 211 east of Manassas

East of Gainesville.

and the entirety of US 240, with much of their functions replaced by, respectively, I-66 and, first, I-70S and then I-270.  Ironically, I-66, like its predecessor, did make it into DC, but was truncated to its present terminus (at US 29) for reasons well-known to most of us, while I-70S/270 never made it inside the Beltway. 

Is I-66 no longer signed into D.C.?

[vdeane]

and the entirety of US 240, with much of their functions replaced by, respectively, I-66 and, first, I-70S and then I-270.  Ironically, I-66, like its predecessor, did make it into DC, but was truncated to its present terminus (at US 29) for reasons well-known to most of us, while I-70S/270 never made it inside the Beltway. 

Is I-66 no longer signed into D.C.?

Is this not US 29?

[Beltway]

and the entirety of US 240, with much of their functions replaced by, respectively, I-66 and, first, I-70S and then I-270.  Ironically, I-66, like its predecessor, did make it into DC, but was truncated to its present terminus (at US 29) for reasons well-known to most of us, while I-70S/270 never made it inside the Beltway. 

Is I-66 no longer signed into D.C.?

Is this not US 29?

I would have called that K Street.

I figured that he was talking about US-29 in Rosslyn.

[1995hoo]

The advent of the Interstate system in all likelihood sealed the fate of US 211 east of Manassas

East of Gainesville.

....

And, of course, it now ends in Warrenton.

[sparker]

and the entirety of US 240, with much of their functions replaced by, respectively, I-66 and, first, I-70S and then I-270.  Ironically, I-66, like its predecessor, did make it into DC, but was truncated to its present terminus (at US 29) for reasons well-known to most of us, while I-70S/270 never made it inside the Beltway. 

Is I-66 no longer signed into D.C.?

Is this not US 29?

I would have called that K Street.

I figured that he was talking about US-29 in Rosslyn.

I wasn't; I was referring to that section of 29 indeed running along K Street.  Sorry, I'm not a local, so local designation idioms aren't always apparent to me.  But a secondary point I was making was that I-66 actually ended at a US highway rather than at a random location within DC. 

[Beltway]

I would have called that K Street.
I figured that he was talking about US-29 in Rosslyn.

I wasn't; I was referring to that section of 29 indeed running along K Street.  Sorry, I'm not a local, so local designation idioms aren't always apparent to me.  But a secondary point I was making was that I-66 actually ended at a US highway rather than at a random location within DC. 

I'm not sure how many people in the area even think about US-29 being there, or following US-29 thru the city.

They would know where major thoroughfares are such as K Street, Connecticut Avenue, Wisconsin Avenue, 14th Street, etc.

I-66 ending there was an accident based on that being the point where further construction was blocked by RE/T groups.

[Alps]

and the entirety of US 240, with much of their functions replaced by, respectively, I-66 and, first, I-70S and then I-270.  Ironically, I-66, like its predecessor, did make it into DC, but was truncated to its present terminus (at US 29) for reasons well-known to most of us, while I-70S/270 never made it inside the Beltway. 

Is I-66 no longer signed into D.C.?

Is this not US 29?

I would have called that K Street.

I figured that he was talking about US-29 in Rosslyn.

I wasn't; I was referring to that section of 29 indeed running along K Street.  Sorry, I'm not a local, so local designation idioms aren't always apparent to me.  But a secondary point I was making was that I-66 actually ended at a US highway rather than at a random location within DC. 

I'm pretty sure I-66 never extended farther than it does now.

[epzik8]

Good information to know.

[cpzilliacus]

I'm pretty sure I-66 never extended farther than it does now.

I think that is correct.