On April 7, 1807, the state of Pennsylvania chartered the Gap and Newport Turnpike to run from the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike in Gap southeast towards Delaware, where it was to continue to the Christina River in Newport, Delaware. The continuation into Delaware was chartered on January 30, 1808. Construction of the Gap and Newport Turnpike began in 1809 and was completed in 1818. The turnpike was created to improve trade between Lancaster County and Wilmington, Delaware. When Pennsylvania first legislated routes in 1911, the Gap Newport Pike along with the road running from Gap west to Lancaster were designated as Legislative Route 215. PA 41 was first designated in 1926 to run from US 22/PA 3/PA 13 in Harrisburg to US 22/PA 3 and US 120/PA 13 in Reading, heading southeast through Middletown, Elizabethtown, and Mount Joy to Lancaster, where it turned northeast and passed through Ephrata on its way to Reading. PA 41 ran concurrent with US 230 between Harrisburg and Lancaster and US 222 between Lancaster and Reading.