Originally, this section of road (except for the quarter-mile in Lambertville between the river bridge and River Road) was part of NJ 29, which was soon designated US 202. When US 202 was rerouted to a freeway leading to a new toll bridge crossing the Delaware just north of New Hope and Lambertville, this highway was orphaned and later became NJ 179.
The earliest plans had NJ 29 continuing up Old York Road all the way to Somerville, but this was seen as an unnecessary duplication of NJ 12, which was also legislated between Flemington and Somerville along a new highway. When that road was built in the early 1930s, NJ 29 was then relocated onto the new highway and NJ 12 was truncated to Flemington. As a result, NJ 29 (now US 202) and NJ 30 (now NJ 31) became concurrent between Ringoes and the Flemington circle.
West of SR 579, NJ 179 has been dedicated as the Thomas Paine Highway, which to me shows a lack of common sense. The highway is still Old York Road and ought to be identified by its historic name.
| Mile | Street Name | Feature | ||
Road continues eastward as  Old York Rd |
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| 7.46 | Eastern terminus of , East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co |
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| 7.46 | Old York Rd |   |
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| 6.51 | Old York Rd |  John Ringo Rd |
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| 6.48 | Old York Rd | Wertsville Rd |
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| 6.41 | Old York Rd | Linvale-Harbourton Rd |
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| 6.16 | Old York Rd | Back Brook | culvert | Back Brook |
| 6.14 | Old York Rd | East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co West Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co |
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| 5.79 | |
West Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co |
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| 5.58 | Old York Rd | |
underpass | |
| 5.44 | Old York Rd | East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co West Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co |
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| 4.47 | Old York Rd | East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co West Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co |
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| 3.75 | Old York Rd | Alexauken Creek | bridge | Alexauken Creek |
| 3.69 | Old York Rd |  Queen Rd |
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| 3.67 | Old York Rd | Mount Airy Village Rd |
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| 2.83 | Old York Rd | Mount Airy Village Rd |
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| 0.90 | Old York Rd | West Amwell Twp, Hunterdon Co Lambertville City, Hunterdon Co |
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| 0.37 | Old York Rd | |
River Rd  |
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| 0.32 | Bridge St | Main St |
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Main St |
| 0.15 | Bridge St | Delaware & Raritan Canal | bridge | Delaware & Raritan Canal |
| 0.14 | Bridge St | Black River & Western Railroad | at grade | Black River & Western Railroad |
| 0.00 | Bridge | Delaware River | bridge | Delaware River |
| 0.00 | Western terminus of , Lambertville City, Hunterdon Co |
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| Lambertville City, Hunterdon Co New Hope Boro, Bucks Co |
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Road continues westward as  Bridge St |
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