In the 19th century, modern Route 101 was a
toll road that was administered by the
Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike corporation. The former turnpike route was not assigned a route number in 1923 when the state first designated route numbers. At the time, the Route 101 designation was assigned to what is now
US 44. In 1934, US 44 was designated by
AASHO along its current alignment. Connecticut and Rhode Island reassigned the Route 101 designation by the following year to the Rhode Island and Connecticut Turnpike route and its continuation in Connecticut. Until 2003, eastbound signage clearly showed Route 101 beginning concurrent with the US 6 Bypass, from the eastern split of US 6 Business (Danielson Pike) and US 6 Bypass in Scituate. Signage westbound at that intersection has now been changed to say "TO Route 101", leading to the belief that the western terminus is now the split between Hartford Pike and the US 6 Bypass, where the concurrency ended. ==Major intersections==