I've uploaded a scan of the Automobile Blue Book map from 1925 showing NY's state routes of the time (the original system). This map was copyrighted in 1925 and to my knowledge the copyright has not been renewed, so here it is:
http://empirestateroads.com/maps/NY1925.jpg (full resolution, 11.2 Mb)
http://empirestateroads.com/maps/NY1925low.jpg (lower quality, same size, 2.7 Mb)
ADDED:
The other side of this map shows most of New England (northern Maine and the Canadian Maritimes are on the NY side but I didn't include them; I'll fix that later):
http://empirestateroads.com/maps/NE1925.jpg (full res, 7.3 Mb)
http://empirestateroads.com/maps/NE1925low.jpg (lower quality, 1.8 Mb)
Very neat! I like that New York had odd-numbered routes going east-west, rather than north-south, as seems to be the norm.
Quote from: Quillz on November 15, 2011, 08:15:13 PM
Very neat! I like that New York had odd-numbered routes going east-west, rather than north-south, as seems to be the norm.
Odd east-west was the norm in New England (Pennsylvania also did this).
It appears that 27 and 34 were the highest numbers used in 1925.
The following changes were made in New York ca. 1926 when the U.S. Routes arrived:
*1 -> US 1
*2 -> US 11
*4 -> 2
*5 -> US 20 (west of Buffalo), 35 (Buffalo to Avon?), US 20 (Auburn to MA)
*5-A -> 5
*6 -> US 9
*7 -> 45
*9 -> 7
*10 -> US 9W (south of Albany)
*11 -> 69
*20 -> 31-57
Judging by the new numbers (31, 45, 57, 69), it's likely that a lot more routes were defined at that time.
Quote from: NE2 on November 15, 2011, 08:52:11 PM
Quote from: Quillz on November 15, 2011, 08:15:13 PM
Very neat! I like that New York had odd-numbered routes going east-west, rather than north-south, as seems to be the norm.
Odd east-west was the norm in New England (Pennsylvania also did this).
It appears that 27 and 34 were the highest numbers used in 1925.
36 is in there too (and it's the current NY 36, more or less).
Most of the modern routes were created in the 1930s renumbering and then re-routed/modified into their current form over time (I linked to wikipedia in another thread on that). It's interesting to see how many routes have changed very little since the 20's.