NC 801 is a north–south state highway

State highway

State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 that traverses three counties in the central Piedmont

Piedmont (United States)

The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...

 region of the state. It is mainly a rural route, linking small towns and communities like Bermuda Run

Bermuda Run, North Carolina

Bermuda Run is a town in Davie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,431 at the 2000 census. It was incorporated in 1999 as a fully gated residential community near country clubs and golf courses like the Bermuda Run Country Club, Oak Valley Golf Club, and Tanglewood Park. In...

, Hillsdale, North Carolina

Hillsdale, North Carolina

Hillsdale is an unincorporated community in Davie County, North Carolina, United States. It neighbors Bermunda Run to the northwest and is located along US 158 near its intersection with NC 801. Interstate 40 runs through Hillsdale and is accessed by the NC 801 interchange . The community is often...

, Advance

Advance, North Carolina

Advance is an unincorporated community located in Davie County, North Carolina. It has a total land area of and is located along NC 801 and US 158 just south of Bermuda Run near the western bank of the Yadkin River. Advance is a part of the Piedmont Triad and is home to Shady Grove Elementary School...

, Cooleemee

Cooleemee, North Carolina

Cooleemee is a town in Davie County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 905 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Cooleemee is located at ....

, and eastern Mooresville

Mooresville, North Carolina

Mooresville is a large suburban town in southern Iredell County, North Carolina, USA. It is in the Metrolina metro area. The population was 32,133 at the 2010 United States Census...

. It is two-lanes for its entire length, with the exception of a concurrency with U.S. Highway 70 between Cleveland

Cleveland, North Carolina

Cleveland is a town in the Cleveland Township of Rowan County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 808 at the 2000 census.It is named after Cleveland, England, but it is rumored that the town is actually named after Grover Cleveland after he visited the town during his presidential...

 and Salisbury

Salisbury, North Carolina

Salisbury is a city in Rowan County in North Carolina, a state of the United States of America. The population was 33,663 in the 2010 Census . It is the county seat of Rowan County...

.

History

NC 801 was first commissioned in 1927-28 as a short route traveling east–west from to NC 65 (now U.S. Highway 158) at Hillsdale. The route was extended south from its eastern terminus to connect with NC 90 (now U.S. Highway 64) by 1930, becoming a north–south route. In 1933, the route was extended again, from NC 90 southewest to Mooresville, replacing all of NC 803, which ran from U.S. Highway 601 south of Mocksville

Mocksville, North Carolina

Mocksville is a town in Davie County, North Carolina, USA. The population was 4,178 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Davie County.-Geography:Mocksville is located at ....

 to NC 26(now U.S. Highway 29) in Mooresville

Mooresville, North Carolina

Mooresville is a large suburban town in southern Iredell County, North Carolina, USA. It is in the Metrolina metro area. The population was 32,133 at the 2010 United States Census...

. Between 1934 and 1936, NC 801 was rerouted in the Hillsdale area, elminating a concurrency with US 158. In the early 1950s, another short concurrency, with US 64, was replaced with a continuous alignment. When US 70 was shifted onto a new alignment, so did the NC 801 concurrency in 1956-58.

Trivia

• NC 801 is the only surviving 800 series route in North Carolina and has held that title since 1941.