page_title: U.S. Route 13 in Pennsylvania
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: U.S. Route 13 in Pennsylvania / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Frankford Ave. Bridge
context_page_description: U.S. Route 13 is a U.S. highway running from Fayetteville, North Carolina north to Morrisville, Pennsylvania. The route runs for 49.33 mi through the Philadelphia metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The route enters the state from Delaware in Marcus Hook, Delaware County. It continues in a northeasterly direction through Delaware County, passing through the city of Chester before heading through suburban areas along Chester Pike to Darby. US 13 enters the city of Philadelphia on Baltimore Avenue and runs through West Philadelphia to University City, where it turns north along several city streets before heading east across the Schuylkill River along Girard Avenue. The route turns north and heads to North Philadelphia, where it runs northeast along Hunting Park Avenue. US 13 becomes concurrent with US 1 on Roosevelt Boulevard, continuing into Northeast Philadelphia. US 13 splits southeast on one-way streets before heading northeast out of the city on Frankford Avenue. The route continues into Bucks County as Bristol Pike, heading northeast to Bristol, where it turns into a divided highway.
context_section_description: The roadway between Marcus Hook and Morrisville via Philadelphia was originally part of the King's Highway, a colonial road named in honor of King Charles II of England. The King's Highway bridge over the Pennypack Creek in what is now Northeast Philadelphia was built in 1697 and is the oldest bridge in continuous use in the United States. During the reign of Queen Anne, it was called the Queen's Highway. Published in 1940, the Pennsylvania Guide noted that, between Glenolden and Darby, "US-13 now occasionally coincides with the Queen's Highway, an important Colonial road. Impassibility was the rule rather than the exception on this link between the North and South, as it was on all early roads. As late as 1834, the mail coach had to be dragged through the mud by oxen." 
  After the British surrendered in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, the road between Marcus Hook and Darby became known as the Great Southern Post Road as it served as a post road. This section of road has also been known as the Darby-Chester Road and Plank Road. In 1851, the roadway between Chester and Darby was chartered by the state as the Darby and Ridley Turnpike or the Chester Pike, a privately owned turnpike. The turnpike was a plank road with tolls collected at multiple toll houses along the route. In 1921, the state and Delaware County took over the turnpike with each paying $50,000. Improvements to the road between Chester and Darby were completed on August 12, 1926. What is now Baltimore Pike and Baltimore Avenue was originally chartered as the Philadelphia, Brandywine, and New London Turnpike on March 24, 1808, later becoming known as the Delaware County Turnpike. On May 13, 1803, the Philadelphia, Frankford, and Bristol Turnpike was chartered. This turnpike ran between Front Street and Germantown Road in Northern Liberties and a ferry across the Delaware River in Morrisville via Frankford and Bristol. The Frankford and Bristol Turnpike was completed in July 1812. The Frankford and Bristol Turnpike was sold to the city of Philadelphia on July 1, 1892, with trolley service introduced in 1895. The trolley line along Frankford Avenue was replaced with trolleybuses in 1955, which is today SEPTA's Route 66 service. 
  When the Sproul Road Bill was passed in 1911, the road between Chester and Philadelphia was legislated as part of Legislative Route 180 and as Legislative Route 150 between Philadelphia and Morrisville. With the creation of the U.S. Highway System in 1926, US 13 was designated through Pennsylvania from the Delaware border in Marcus Hook northeast to US 1/PA 1 at Bridge Street in Morrisville. The route followed Post Road between Marcus Hook and Chester, Chester Pike between Chester and Darby, and Main Street through Darby before it reached Philadelphia. US 13 passed through Philadelphia along Woodland Avenue, Market Street, Broad Street, Diamond Street, Front Street, Kensington Avenue, and Frankford Avenue. The route continued into Bucks County and followed Bristol Pike to Morrisville, where it headed north on Philadelphia Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue to US 1. In Philadelphia, US 13 ran concurrent with US 1 on Woodland Avenue north of Baltimore Avenue, US 1 and US 30 on Market Street and Broad Street north to Vine and Race streets, and US 1 on Broad Street between Vine Street and Diamond Street. US 13 was originally designated concurrent with PA 91 between the Delaware border and Philadelphia and with PA 32 between Philadelphia and Morrisville, where that route continued north along the Delaware River. In 1928, the concurrent PA 91 and PA 32 designations were removed. 
  In the 1930s, US 13 was rerouted to a new alignment through Philadelphia. The route followed MacDade Boulevard between Darby and Yeadon, where it entered Philadelphia on Whitby Avenue and continued northeast to an intersection with US 1 (Baltimore Avenue). At this point, US 13 became concurrent with US 1 and the two routes followed Baltimore Avenue, 44th Street, Powelton Avenue, the one-way pair of 31st Street northbound and 32nd Street southbound, and Spring Garden Street 
caption: US 13 crosses the Pennypack Creek on the Frankford Avenue Bridge, the oldest bridge in the United States, built in 1697
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