South Carolina Highway 39

South Carolina Highway 39
South Carolina Highway 39
	Route of SC 39 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by SCDOT
Length	100.7 mi (162.1 km)
Existed	1922–present
Major junctions
South end	Savannah River Site
	US 278 near Williston; US 78 in Williston; I-20 near Jones Crossroads; US 1 in Monetta; US 178 near Saluda; US 378 in Saluda;
North end	US 221 near Laurens
Location
Country	United States
State	South Carolina
Counties	Barnwell, Orangeburg, Aiken, Saluda, Newberry, Laurens
Highway system
	South Carolina State Highway System; Interstate; US; State; Scenic;

South Carolina Highway 39 (SC 39) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The highway connects various rural communities and towns from the southwest to the northwest sections of the state.

Route description

SC 39 is a two-lane rural highway that travels 100.7 miles (162.1 km) from the Savannah River Site to U.S. Route 221 (US 221) south of Laurens.

History

Established in 1922 as an original state highway, traveling from SC 12, in Monetta, to SC 21, in Edgefield. In 1923, SC 39 was extended in both directions: west to SC 20, in Modoc, and southeast to SC 4, in Springfield. By 1926, it was extended south again to SC 27, in Williston. The first section of SC 39 to be paved was from Johnston to Edgefield, in 1030.

In 1936, SC 39 was rerouted at Ridge Spring north through Saluda and Cross Hill, before ending at US 221, south of Laurens; it replaced a majority of SC 392, while the old alignment became an extension of SC 23. By 1938, SC 39 was extended in both directions again: north to Ware Shoals then west to US 178, in Shoals Junction; and southwest from Williston to SC 64, in Dunbarton.

In 1940, SC 39 was extended south to SC 28/SC 282 (today's SC 125, near Millett. By 1942, SC 39 reached its apex with an extension into Millett, giving it a length of over 145 miles (233 km). By 1946, all of SC 39 was paved, with its last section between SC 391 and US 1.

In 1948, SC 39 was truncated at SC 64, in Dunbarton, leaving behind existing Furse Mill Road (S-30-17) and Rolling Hills Road (S-30-24). Between US 221 and Ware Shoals, that section of SC 39 was downgraded to secondary roads: Indian Mound Road (S-30-6) and Power House Road (S-30-47); this also created a gap as SC 39 was still between Ware Shoals and Shoals Junction. In 1951 or 1952, the discontinuous piece of SC 39 between Ware Shoals and Shoals Junction was renumbered as SC 420. Also in same period, SC 39 was truncated to its current southern terminus at the Savannah River Site boundary near a realigned routing of SC 28 (today's US 278); a majority of its former route now within the Savannah River Site still exist, though sections have been removed or submerge under Par Pond.^[2]^[3]

Junction list

County	Location	mi^[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Barnwell	Savannah River Site	0.0	0.0	Savannah Drive	Gate entrance, restricted access
		0.3	0.48	US 278 – Barnwell, Augusta
	Williston	4.9	7.9	US 78 west (Church Street) – Aiken, Augusta	West end of US 78 overlap
	Williston	5.2	8.4	US 78 east (Main Street) – Blackville, Charleston	East end of US 78 overlap
		5.2	8.4	SC 37 south – Elko, Barnwell
Orangeburg	Springfield	15.8	25.4	SC 4 west (Surrey Race Road) – Augusta	West end of SC 4 overlap
Orangeburg	Springfield	15.9	25.6	SC 4 east (Springfield Road) – Neeses, Orangeburg	East end of SC 4 overlap
Aiken	Salley	20.9	33.6	SC 394 (Walnut Street) – North, Orangeburg, Aiken
	Perry	26.0	41.8	SC 389 east (Walker Street) – Orangeburg
	Wagener	28.7	46.2	SC 113 / SC 302 (Main Street) – Columbia, Batesburg-Leesville, Aiken
		41.0	66.0	I-20 – Columbia, Augusta
	Jones Crossroads	42.3	68.1	SC 391 north (Wire Road) – Batesburg-Leesville
	Monetta	48.9	78.7	US 1 (Columbia Highway) – Aiken, Batesburg-Leesville
Saluda	Monetta	49.7	80.0	SC 23 east – Batesburg-Leesville	East end of SC 23 overlap
	Ridge Spring	52.6	84.7	SC 392 south (Green Street) – Aiken
	Ridge Spring	43.4	69.8	SC 23 west – Johnston	West end of SC 23 overlap
		64.3	103.5	US 178 east – Batesburg-Leesville	East end of US 178 overlap
	Saluda	65.8	105.9	SC 121 south (Main Street) – Johnston	South end of SC 121 overlap
		66.0	106.2	US 378 (Church Street) – Columbia, McCormick
		66.4	106.9	SC 121 north (Main Street) – Newberry	North end of SC 121 overlap
		66.5	107.0	US 178 west (Greenwood Highway) – Greenwood	West end of US 178 overlap
		70.3	113.1	SC 702 west – Ninety Six	To Greenwood State Park
Newberry	Chappells	80.0	128.7	SC 34 – Ninety Six, Newberry	To Ninety Six National Historic Site
Newberry		81.9	131.8	SC 56 east – Clinton
Laurens	Cross Hill	91.3	146.9	SC 560 east – Kinards
	Cross Hill	92.3	148.5	SC 72 – Clinton, Greenwood
		100.7	162.1	US 221 – Laurens, Waterloo, Greenwood, Abbeville
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus