on an eastward track into the town of Marathon, where it descends into the Tioughnioga River valley and enters the village of Marathon. Within the village, the route gains the West Main Street moniker and heads through a mix of residential and commercial areas. NY 221 crosses intersections with CR 134A and CR 134B and passes the former Marathon railroad depot before crossing the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway and the Tioughnioga River in the center of the community. After crossing the river, the renamed Main Street heads northeast through the village, intersecting with US 11 (Cortland Street) just ahead of an interchange with Interstate 81 (I-81) at the latter's exit 9. After the exit from I-81, NY 221 reenters another rural area and turns eastward past Dean Pond. After intersecting with CR 161B (Texas Valley Road) and CR 161C (Merrill Creek Road), NY 221 crosses Merrill Creek and winds through farmland. Entering the town of Willet, NY 221 crosses the southern terminus of CR 167 (Bloody Pond Road) and makes a gradual curve to the north while intersecting with CR 169 (Landers Corners Road). NY 221 continues north to the hamlet of Willet, where it ends at an intersection with NY 26 and NY 41. History The state of New York assumed maintenance of two highways linking the hamlets of Harford and Harford Mills—one directly connecting the two and a second, more circuitous route to the east—in the early 20th century. The direct route and most of the loop road were improved to state highway standards as part of a project contracted out on October 16, 1914, and were added to the state highway system on December 10, 1915, as State Highway 1075 (SH 1075). Each end of SH 1075 connected to the segment of the loop route between modern NY 38 and Owego Hill Road, which was rebuilt as part of an earlier project awarded on September 19, 1906, and included in the state highway system on July 5, 1908, as SH 379. Both designations are unsigned and used only for inventory purposes. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, the south half of the loop road became part of NY 221, a new route extending from NY 38 at Harford Mills to US 11 in the village of Marathon. NY 221 was extended east to its current eastern terminus in Willet by the