In 1911, after the Sproul Road Bill was signed, a large segment of PA 171 was designated as Legislative Route 10.

At an intersection with Spencer Street, the highway leaves downtown Carbondale and enters Fell Township, a nearby community.

There, PA 171 changes names to Main Street, passing more residential homes and local businesses, until entering the community of Simpson.

After an intersection with Clinton Street, PA 171 leaves Vandling and crosses into Susquehanna County, where the highway enters the borough of Forest City.

The route intersects and parallels Mausoleum Road, which heads through a cemetery in southern Union Dale.

After an intersection with Asley Drive, Stillwater Lake ends, and the community enters the center of Union Dale.

[3] A short distance later, PA 171 becomes slightly developed, entering the small community of Herrick Center.

The route leaves Herrick Center and heads northward through rural parts of Susquehanna County.

After a break in a patch of trees, PA 171 intersects with Township Road 592, beginning a wind along the Wayne County border.

North of Burnwood, the route continues northward, entering the community of East Ararat, where PA 370's western terminus is located.

The forests quickly ends, and the surroundings become highly developed as the community enters the borough of Lanesboro.

After entering Lanesboro, PA 171 becomes highly developed and continues as Belmont Turnpike until the intersection with Main Street, where the highway turns to the southwest.

In Susquehanna Depot, PA 171 runs along East Main Street through the eastern segment of the community.

After the intersection with Towner Road, PA 171 enters the small community of Hickory Grove, where the route and river makes a curve to the southwest, still paralleling each other.

PA 171 quickly leaves Hickory Grove and enters another set of deep forests which separate the highway and the river.

through many of the communities in the area: Dickson City, Jermyn, and Carbondale, before turning onto current day PA 171.

There, the turnpike followed the alignment through Carbondale, Fell Township, Vandling and into Forest City, where it ended, 20 miles (32 km) from Scranton.

This tolled turnpike provided the main highway through many of the communities, including the towns along PA 171, until on December 7, 1889, when local citizens tore down the abandoned tollbooths in Blakely.

[5] Originally, the turnpike was chartered by the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1851, and remained strong until 1889, the year the tollbooths were torn down.

The project to pave the main highway cost $10,000 (equivalent to $366,240 in 2025) with funds split equally between the borough of Susquehanna Depot, the local businesses, and the nearby Erie Railroad.