Did US 630 ever exist?

[usends]

Its claim to fame is the shortest-ever mainline US route, three miles in length.  But did it exist long enough that it was ever signposted?  Despite what my US 630 page says currently, I'm starting to rethink this question.  Here's what I now suspect was the most likely scenario; let me know if you disagree with any of the following:

*US 630 was definitely approved in Nov. 1926, because it shows up on this map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1926us.jpg
*But already within five months, several changes had taken place.  Most of these changes were in the east, but US 630 was not on this list: https://web.archive.org/web/20150929073535/http://www.us-highways.com/1927us.htm
*Instead, between Fruitland ID and Weiser Jct. OR, US 30 was split into US 30N and US 30S.  US 630 was no longer necessary because it had become part of US 30N.  Several maps illustrating this can be viewed here: https://www.usends.com/630.html
*Mapmakers were a bit slow to catch up, and US 630 still showed up on some maps dated 1927-1928.  But I suspect those were in error.
*So depending how early Oregon and Idaho began to signpost their US routes, US 630 may have never seen the light of day.

Anyone ever seen an actual photo of a US 630 shield?  What's the latest reliable map that showed US 630?

[usends]

Update: I've created a new page about four US routes that were approved in Nov. 1926, but that were deleted within the next few months, meaning they were probably never signposted.  US 630 was one of them (the others were US 109, US 711, and US 622).
https://www.usends.com/1926-almost-routes.html

[CNGL-Leudimin]

So now I have a question: If US 630 never actually existed, which was actually the shortest US route ever? I remember seeing a list, but I don't remember which one was second to US 630 which now would take the title. It may be the first US 189 at just 30 miles, but I believe there was one which only was 24.

Regardless of that, I'm continuing to campaign to get Spur US 95 redesignated as US 630, and thus break the record for the shortest US route ever .

Edit: The shortest US route to ever see the light was another child of US 30, US 530 which only ran between Park City and Echo, Utah, at just 23 miles. It was replaced by the second US 189 by 1939, and its route is now part of I-80. It connected only to US 30S, but not to US 30N or "plain" US 30, so IMO it should have been US 530S .

[usends]

The shortest US route to ever see the light was another child of US 30, US 530 which only ran between Park City and Echo, Utah, at just 23 miles.

I think that's correct; here is the thread where we discussed it previously.

[bzakharin]

How would 630 be a main line US route? It was a child of US 30, right?

[usends]

How would 630 be a main line US route? It was a child of US 30, right?

What I mean by "mainline" is "unbannered".  In other words, 630 would not have been signed as an "Alternate" or "Spur" or "Business" route; it would have been signed simply as a regular US route.

[ftballfan]

Apparently, US 630 did exist long enough for US 730 and US 830 to be assigned

[usends]

Apparently, US 630 did exist long enough for US 730 and US 830 to be assigned

Yes, all eight of US 30's "child" routes were approved in Nov. 1926.  But US 630 was already gone by Apr. 1927.

[bugo]

It's likely that a lot of early US routes were never signed. It sometimes was several years until even major routes were signed. It's not like every highway in the country was immediately signed on 11-11-26.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

Related to the "1926 almost-routes", I wonder if the 1925 preliminary list included a US 401 that wasn't approved in the 1926 plan. That would be the only way for the first US 401 to have been the very first US route to have been created after the initial approval, which included 201, 301, 501 and 601 but no 401.

[Mapmikey]

Related to the "1926 almost-routes", I wonder if the 1925 preliminary list included a US 401 that wasn't approved in the 1926 plan. That would be the only way for the first US 401 to have been the very first US route to have been created after the initial approval, which included 201, 301, 501 and 601 but no 401.

401 was on the 1925 list...see page 59 at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021099604;view=1up;seq=119

[noelbotevera]

I'm curious as to why these routes that would get cut in 1927 were planned. I know that at least in PA, there was a lot of protest over highway routing and such, but some of the non-PA routes mystify me.

Heck, even this designation confuses me...they essentially gave a US route designation for a bridge, and a few miles of road.

Were the states ever kicking around an idea similar to the US Highway system prior to this, and AASHTO told them to scrap everything? Or did AASHTO (or whatever its predecessor was) randomly meet in 1925 and say "hey, let's make a highway system without telling the states!"? Perhaps I'm asking the wrong questions, but it could explain some of the protests states had and why some US Routes never got signage for a few years.

[Mapmikey]

Were the states ever kicking around an idea similar to the US Highway system prior to this, and AASHTO told them to scrap everything? Or did AASHTO (or whatever its predecessor was) randomly meet in 1925 and say "hey, let's make a highway system without telling the states!"? Perhaps I'm asking the wrong questions, but it could explain some of the protests states had and why some US Routes never got signage for a few years.

The proliferation of National Trails and what that system turned into by 1924 is a major factor behind the creation of the US route system, which was requested by states via their organization AASHO which dates back to IIRC 1914.

Start reading from the page at this link - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021099604;view=1up;seq=11

[usends]

It's likely that a lot of early US routes were never signed. It sometimes was several years until even major routes were signed. It's not like every highway in the country was immediately signed on 11-11-26.

Unlike US 630, I think (but cannot prove) that most routes lasted long enough that they were signposted eventually.  Here are the earliest routes to be decommissioned:

Deleted in:
1927: 622, 711 (Certainly not signed, since PA did not post their US routes until 1928.)
1927: 109, 630 (Very likely these were never signed.)
1928: 102 (Probably was signed, because in Sep. 1927 Michigan reported that its US routes were 100% posted.)
1929: 241(i), 270(i), 511 (Certainly not signed in TN, which held out until AASHO changed these designations to split routes of US 41, US 70, and US 11, respectively.  On the other hand it seems likely that KY did sign its short segment of US 241.)
1930: 164(i)
1931: 48(i), 401(i)
1931: 485 (Almost certainly signed, because in Sep. 1927 NM reported its US routes were 100% posted.)
1931: 38 (Definitely was signed: more than one photo exists, and Nebraska was one of the states that actually signposted their US routes prior to the Nov. 1926 final approval.)
1932: 17-1, 170, 217, 411(i)
1932: 366(i), 470, 566 (Almost certainly signed, because in Sep. 1927 NM reported its US routes were 100% posted.  But the portion of 366 in TX is uncertain.)

[usends]

I'm curious as to why these routes that would get cut in 1927 were planned. I know that at least in PA, there was a lot of protest over highway routing and such, but some of the non-PA routes mystify me.

In most (if not all) of these cases, it's not that the roads themselves were deleted from the system, it's just that they ended up being assigned different numbers.  For example, the route that was to be designated US 630 ended up being a part of the longer US 30N.

[usends]

Updating this thread because Mapmikey found some documents in the AASHO database proving that Tennessee never signed US 241, US 270, or US 511.  Post #14 contains a list which I have updated and will continue to update when more info is uncovered.

[Avalanchez71]

I'm curious as to why these routes that would get cut in 1927 were planned. I know that at least in PA, there was a lot of protest over highway routing and such, but some of the non-PA routes mystify me.

Heck, even this designation confuses me...they essentially gave a US route designation for a bridge, and a few miles of road.

Were the states ever kicking around an idea similar to the US Highway system prior to this, and AASHTO told them to scrap everything? Or did AASHTO (or whatever its predecessor was) randomly meet in 1925 and say "hey, let's make a highway system without telling the states!"? Perhaps I'm asking the wrong questions, but it could explain some of the protests states had and why some US Routes never got signage for a few years.

Bribes maybe?

[CNGL-Leudimin]

I've found the document signalling the birth of Spur US 95 over this route (1979). I wonder why they didn't apply to restore (and sign) the US 630 designation instead. Maybe because that would have been shot down by AASHTO as too short and not connecting anything.

[Mapmikey]

I'm curious as to why these routes that would get cut in 1927 were planned. I know that at least in PA, there was a lot of protest over highway routing and such, but some of the non-PA routes mystify me.

Heck, even this designation confuses me...they essentially gave a US route designation for a bridge, and a few miles of road.

Were the states ever kicking around an idea similar to the US Highway system prior to this, and AASHTO told them to scrap everything? Or did AASHTO (or whatever its predecessor was) randomly meet in 1925 and say "hey, let's make a highway system without telling the states!"? Perhaps I'm asking the wrong questions, but it could explain some of the protests states had and why some US Routes never got signage for a few years.

Bribes maybe?

Or maybe the response to the post you quoted has the answer?

The proliferation of National Trails and what that system turned into by 1924 is a major factor behind the creation of the US route system, which was requested by states via their organization AASHO which dates back to IIRC 1914.

Start reading from the page at this link - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021099604;view=1up;seq=11

[Avalanchez71]

I am almost certain that bribes exchanged hands and palms were greased at that time.

[Scott5114]

I am almost certain that bribes exchanged hands and palms were greased at that time.

Well, you have no evidence for that, so I am almost certain you're talking out of your ass.

[usends]

Updating this thread because of a US 630 shield that turned up on eBay.  It looks legit to me, and assuming it is, that proves US 630 signs were at least manufactured, even if not actually field-posted.

[JayhawkCO]

Eh, there's also a Colorado US560 from the same seller, which, to my knowledge, has never existed.

[usends]

Eh, there's also a Colorado US560 from the same seller, which, to my knowledge, has never existed.

^That is is good info.  In the 1925 preliminary plan, US 560 was to run from Cortez to Gallup.  But yeah, I'd be amazed if signs were ever made for that (it became US 666 in the final plan).

[3467]

Thanks for the 1925 document . The US has 2.8 million miles of roads by then . Not that they were great. Still most roads existed by then . Illinois went up to about 125000 miles and has almost the same mileage of US routes.