South Carolina Highway 51


South Carolina Highway 51 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It is unique for having two segments, which are separated by over from each other. The first segment, traveling north-south, connects the cities of Georgetown and Florence, via the towns of Hemingway, Johnsonville and Pamplico. The second segment, near Fort Mill, is a reciprocated continuation of North Carolina Highway 51 from the North Carolina state line to U.S. Route 21.

Route description

The main segment of SC 51 begins at US 701, just north of Georgetown. Traveling at a northwesterly direction, along Browns Ferry Road, it merges onto SC 41 in Rhems. For the next, SC 41/SC 51 straddle the county line between Georgetown and Williamsburg counties, before breaking off towards Hemingway, near Rome Crossroads. Connecting with SC 261 in Hemingway, it soon enters Florence County and Johnsonville. Continuing north, it changes from traveling along SC 41 to US 378 in Kingsburg and continues west. After, it splits from US 378 in Salem, traveling northwest along Pamplico Highway towards Pamplico and finally Florence. In Florence, SC 51 connects with US 301 and US 52 ; it then travels west along Second Loop Road to US 76 where it ends. The majority of the route is a two-lane rural road through mostly swamp and farmland. Around Hemingway and Florence, the route expands to four lanes and has a median.
The York County segment of SC 51 is a short road that starts at US 21 near Fort Mill and ends at the North Carolina state line, where it continues on as NC 51 through Pineville. The route is entirely two-lane, expanding to four lanes at the state line.

History

Established as a new primary routing in 1926; the original routing ran from SC 40 along Choppee Road and Hemingway Highway to Hemingway then onto Florence, ending at SC 41. The route was fully paved by 1939. In the early 1960s, the SC 51 was rerouted as a concurrency with SC 41 from Hemingway to Rhems, then to US 701 near Georgetown. In 1978, SC 51 was extended along Second Loop Road, in Florence, to US 76.
The York County segment of SC 51 was established in 1969. In the prior year, US 21 was rerouted northwest onto a new freeway route into North Carolina and its old alignment through Pineville was replaced by an extension of NC 51 to the state line. South Carolina reciprocated with SC 51, keeping the route number consistent across the border.

Junction list