US 301 and and

Many photos on this page are from the colored-shield era in the 1970's and 1980's, though some were taken with black and white film. Those above were taken in 1974 and 1973, respectively, by Michael Summa.


Main St. EB in downtown Sarasota, courtesy Costa Ioannidis. Costa speculates that this shield dates back to when Main St. was FL 780, which was the original road to Longboat Key before FL 789 took that job over. Except he's not sure if Main St. actually was ever 780. The million dollar question is, how would it have connected to its current alignment to the east?


Still in Sarasota, courtesy Lou Corsaro. Yes, that's an all-white I-301 shield. Yes, Boulevard just got abbreviated Bv.


Wow, must be in Jersey again! Not only can they not get the background right, FDOT can't even get the shield size right. Incidentally, this is after US 301 begins at US 41, then comes back to duplex for a little stretch.

1975, courtesy Michael Summa, NB or SB.


US 301 (secret FL 41) SB at I-75, with which it does not junction here, taken in 1983 by Michael Summa.


US 301 NB in Zephyrhills, courtesy J.P. Nasiatka. Various legislation over time, especially the turnbacks of the 1980's, has destroyed pieces of FL 54, created FL 56 thanks to the extra miles of state roadway freed, and turned the remaining pieces into county routes. Unlike in NJ, though, the county routes here remain the same number as their former state designation, so there is in fact one continuous Route 54. It just has three county pieces and two state pieces. Well, and there's a gap between Polk County 54 at US 27 and FL 54 at US 98, which either route could fill in but neither is likely to.


A short multiplex on either side of Dade City but not through it. Although both routes are signed both ways, US 301 goes left and US 98 goes right. When they get back together, they forget to take off the caps lock. These are courtesy J.P. Nasiatka.


US 301 NB in Bushnell where CR 48 (to the right) transitions into FL 48 (to the left), courtesy Costa Ioannidis, except apparently you can't turn left. I'm entirely unconvinced of this, and I don't see what advantage there is to taking traffic north presumably to Belt Ave. instead of following 48 on Noble Ave. and West St. I'm also entirely unconvinced of the quality of this assembly, especially regarding the county route overhead that's a complete mismatch (sign shape, border, arrow, positioning) from the other overheads. Maybe it was designed by the county, but then the county probably knows how to draw a CR shield, and this isn't it.


There are two ways C-bannered county routes on state shields came about. One way is when the old secondary state route system (S-bannered state-shielded routes) was turned over to counties, and the S's were patched with C's. The other way is when a state route would be downloaded to the county in exchange for new state mileage on a different route. This appears to be the latter case, because this shield sure never carried an S. I like the extra COUNTY tag, just to make sure. This, courtesy Lou Corsaro, is among the oldest route shields, or for that matter signs of any kind, you'll see in Florida, and is just east of the previous photo. It's also an error, because CR 48 EB multiplexes with US 301 NB, not SB.


South of the US 27/301/441 triplex, on US 301 alone, taken in 1973 by Michael Summa.


SB heading toward Belleview, taken in 1984 by Michael Summa. Um, rule #1, practice what you preach.


In Ocala on FL 200 EB, courtesy J.P. Nasiatka, this is a bit awkward with the supplementary banners sticking out - why no dual arrow? FL 200 secretly follows 301 north to Callahan and then springs back to life as a signed concurrency with FL A1A. You'll see an A1A shield below with no 200 - this is a more recent development because FL A1A has to head east-west to go between US 1/23/301 and the shore.


Now FL 40 heads west to US 41, but in 1973 it didn't. The photo taker, Michael Summa, adds that the little sign on the right is orange. I don't know how he remembers that after 30+ years, but I have to admire the man. Note that all of the US shields are 2-digit width; all of Florida's three-digit US routes have a "1" in them, so they can get away with it.


NB north of Ocala on US 301/441 at Gainesville Rd. US 441 gains 6 or 7 miles of alone time with US 301, after having spent so long with that third wheel US 27, by bypassing Reddick. This shield, taken in 1973 by Michael Summa, is brown on white instead of US 441's white on brown.


Button-copy shields, even, when the two lovers part, same year and same photo taker. Overhead signs didn't get colored shields.


SB in Waldo, courtesy Lou Corsaro. The sign should be in pieces and black on white.


Still northbound, still 1973, still Michael Summa.

SB in Waldo, courtesy Costa Ioannidis; button copy is now very rare in Florida.


Costa thinks this photo of his is on Bradford CR 18 (former FL 18) eastbound near Hampton.


Colored shields in Baldwin, back to Michael Summa's 1973 black-and-white collection.


Back to another J.P. Nasiatka photo, FL A1A begins here in Callahan, heading eastward from US 301 NB to Fernandina Beach. The reason it's not signed as SOUTH A1A is because after going east, it then turns north through the oceanfront town before finally looping around and heading southward. Also, those going straight on US 301 NB would suddenly be on FL A1A SB.


The Michael Summa 1973 version of the photo, with more information and a little less color (though it had more color in person).


The colored-shield era was over by 1989, when Michael Summa took this photo in Callahan.


US 1, 23, and 301 all together here, NB courtesy Lou Corsaro and then SB. Hint to Nassau: "COUNTY" and "C-" mean the same thing. Very likelily (hey, it SHOULD be a word), this replaced a C-bannered state route shield. If the SB side is any indication, the CR C- shields are gone now, but the new shields are equally ugly with the over-large county name.

Hey! You two! Get back here with 301 where you belong!


Near Georgia on US 1/23/301, and then just onto that other route (now a CR), taken in 1974 and 1973 respectively by Michael Summa.

Onto US 1 and US 1/23
Onto US 27 and 27/441
Onto US 441 alone

Into Georgia on US 301 and 301/1/23
Onto US 41
Onto I-4
Onto US 92
To I-75
Onto US 98
Onto FL 40
Onto US 90
Onto FL A1A
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