I found this map a few days ago. It is similar to the 1925 proposal but there are some oddities. Here are some highlights:
US 73 ends in Dallas
US 75 ends in Checotah Henryetta
US 77 ends in Galveston
US 85 ends in Bowie
US 570 south of Albuquerque
US 25 from Chattanooga to Naples
US 125 from Perry to Brunswick
US 225 from Ocala to Orlando
US 184 from Dothan to Cottondale
US 66 west of Springfield. All eventual x66 routes are shown as x60 routes. This proposal is well-known
US 66 northeast of Springfield is shown as US 62
US 265 from Owatonna to US 30
US 380 from Ashfork to Phoenix
US 280 from Tucson to Nogales
I hadn't heard of any of these except for the US 60->66 change, and I also saw a map that showed US 77 ending in Galveston. I have no idea where the mapmaker got the numbers for the system. Does anybody have any ideas?
Here's the map:
https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~302637~90073408:Good-roads-everywhere---Four-fold-s?sort=pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_list_no%2Cseries_no&qvq=q:date%3D"1926";sort:pub_list_no_initialsort%2Cpub_date%2Cpub_list_no%2Cseries_no;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=0&trs=125
A few things I noticed:
They have US 40 routed differently between Duchesne and Salt Lake City. Instead of going through Heber, the map shows it going through Thistle and Provo, basically using today’s US 191, US 6, and US 89 to get to SLC. I feel like I had heard of that plan at some point, but it was never signed as such.
The original Lincoln Highway from Tooele to Ibapah, UT features prominently on that map, though it isn’t marked with a US number. Today, that route is no longer drivable, as it is within the Dugway Proving Grounds for the US Army.
US 89 appears to end in Flagstaff, rather than Nogales. The route that became 89 is marked as US 380, 80, and 280.
US 85 was routed out to Texas instead of south to El Paso. The route that became 85 is marked as US 285, 60, 570, 70, and 370.
They actually have US 50 marked along the corridor from Ely to Provo via Delta UT (basically today’s US 6). While that did become US 50, it didn’t happen for another 30 years because the condition of that road was so bad. Until the 1950s, between those two cities US 50 was routed up to Wendover on today’s US 93 and 93 Alternate, east to Salt Lake on US 40, and south to Provo on US 91.
Also, didn’t the original US 66 go through Searchlight, NV? Or maybe it was US 91?
US 66 never entered Nevada.
It shows US 25 ending in Naples instead of US 41. For some reason US 41 is shown ending at the split for modern M-26/US 41 rather than Copper Harbor. US 99 didn't have any suffixed splits on this version of the grid either.
Quote from: roadguy2 on March 12, 2018, 01:34:36 AM
US 89 appears to end in Flagstaff, rather than Nogales. The route that became 89 is marked as US 380, 80, and 280.
US 89 did original end in Flagstaff, 280 and 380 ended up reverse of what appears on the map in the OP.
https://www.arizonaroads.com/maps/1926-1.jpg
Notice US (blank) on what would become US 220 in PA, and US 220 on what would become another section of US 6. There is another US (blank) North of Cheyenne on what would become US 185 (and later a rerouted US 87).
Quote from: roadguy2 on March 12, 2018, 01:34:36 AM
Also, didn't the original US 66 go through Searchlight, NV? Or maybe it was US 91?
It was US 91. I remember seeing a list with it ending in Bannock CA, which would have it through Searchlight (as shown on that AZ map Max has linked). At any rate US 91 wouldn't go on that route but to Barstow. Instead the route through Searchlight became part of US 95 in 1940.
Quote from: bugo on March 12, 2018, 12:48:46 AM
US 66 northeast of Springfield is shown as US 62
That's a bit of a surprise. I know about US 60 being proposed until Kentucky had a conniption fit.
71 never went through Natchitoches. Proposed, maybe, but never did.
Y City is called Chant?
Looks like 75 ended an Henryetta since it's south of Okmulgee.
Checotah is US 73 which followed modern 69 to Denison.
I'll have to look at it again, later. It's starting to make my head hurt.
US 7 is aligned further west into NY state, and pretty much along the borders with CT and MA, instead of through Norwalk/Danbury/western Mass.
Seems somewhat odd that both US 25 and US 31 would enter Chattanooga from the north and 25 would be the one selected to continue to Florida instead of 31.
US 19 here is shown on an interesting eastern alignment north of Atlanta, following what looks like perhaps modern GA 60 from Dahlonega to Gainesville, then via Buford and Lawrenceville to Atlanta. This looks like it matches with the official 1929 Georgia map (the 1926 map has no US 19 at all, only US 270 north of Gainesville; 1932 has the familiar routing via Cumming and Alpharetta). What neither the '26 nor '29 maps have is US 19 heading southwest from Atlanta; that is shown as US 29 on both (as it is today).
Gainesville to Athens looks like it's shown here as US 178; both the '26 and '29 officials have it as US 129 (as it is today).
Some things I noticed:
US 52 only running in Indiana and Ohio
US 87 being split for most of its route and not getting south of Wyoming
US 95 existing only in Idaho
Very few 3dus's
The Michigan routes matching up almost exactly with what actually happened
US 1 and US 2 are swapped in part of Maine via Alt US 1
US 20 follows US 20A in NY
US 2 appears to follow US 302 to an overlap with US 5 in VT, and also appears to be missing the connection to NY
PA 61 appears to be a US route in this plan
There are two branches of US 68 in Kentucky:
US 168: Mount Vernon to Bardstown
US 268: Bardstown to Louisville
Seriously, what source the mapmakers used for this?
Quote from: ftballfan on March 12, 2018, 12:05:57 PM
Some things I noticed:
US 52 only running in Indiana and Ohio
US 87 being split for most of its route and not getting south of Wyoming
US 95 existing only in Idaho
Very few 3dus's
The Michigan routes matching up almost exactly with what actually happened
Most of this is what actually happened. We are pointing out things that weren't.
A minor musing just for my own interests is the inland jog along US 61 near Lake Superior (which approximately correlates to modern Lake County Road 3 and possibly short pieces of County 4 and 5). I don't think 61 ever took that route, as the then-MN 1 along the lakeshore had already been completed before 1926 and all MN state maps from the era show US 61 along the lake.
I never knew the original proposal for US 53 had it continuing all the way to Dubuque.
I also believe regarding US 8's east end that Dale reported that the original proposal for US 8 to connect to US 2/41 in Powers rather than taking the left turn to go to Norway is still technically an "active" proposal even though neither WI nor MI are inclined to build it.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 12, 2018, 01:36:11 PM
There are two branches of US 68 in Kentucky:
US 168: Mount Vernon to Bardstown
US 268: Bardstown to Louisville
Seriously, what source the mapmakers used for this?
Quote from: ftballfan on March 12, 2018, 12:05:57 PM
Some things I noticed:
US 52 only running in Indiana and Ohio
US 87 being split for most of its route and not getting south of Wyoming
US 95 existing only in Idaho
Very few 3dus's
The Michigan routes matching up almost exactly with what actually happened
Most of this is what actually happened. We are pointing out things that weren't.
US 168 was signed...
QuoteUS 2 appears to follow US 302 to an overlap with US 5 in VT
This actually was the case until the early '30s. I haven't narrowed down exactly when US 2 was shifted to the then-VT 18 corridor to Montpelier, but it's on my to-do list.
There's a lot to like about this system relative to where we ended up, though some states (like Kansas) are a complete mess.
Quote from: Mapmikey on March 12, 2018, 02:29:37 PM
US 168 was signed...
Wow, I thought US 68 didn't have any children of its own, and I didn't knew about US 168 (which in the map is split into two routes). So it got swallowed by US 150 soon after the establishment of US routes...
Some of things noted above correspond to how the routings were drawn on the United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg), the actual map released in November 1926.
What I would love to see is the map that would have accompanied the Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Report_of_Joint_Board_on_Interstate_Highways_October_30,_1925) from October 30, 1925. (The map wasn't included in the base scans used to generate that copy on Wikisource. (As a side note, the initial transcription of the various AASHO/AASHTO committee minutes from 1967 through 1988 is done on Wikisource and available for viewing from the portal (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Portal:American_Association_of_State_Highway_and_Transportation_Officials) there.)
Quote from: bulldog1979 on March 12, 2018, 05:56:17 PM
What I would love to see is the map that would have accompanied the Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Report_of_Joint_Board_on_Interstate_Highways_October_30,_1925) from October 30, 1925. (The map wasn't included in the base scans used to generate that copy on Wikisource. (As a side note, the initial transcription of the various AASHO/AASHTO committee minutes from 1967 through 1988 is done on Wikisource and available for viewing from the portal (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Portal:American_Association_of_State_Highway_and_Transportation_Officials) there.)
This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but here's the actual 1925 plan from Wikipedia:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/1925us.jpg)
Quote from: roadguy2 on March 12, 2018, 06:00:42 PM
This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but here's the actual 1925 plan from Wikipedia:
That, is most certainly,
not it. That's a hand-drawn map made in the last 15 years. No, I'm looking for the original 1925 map that should have accompanied the report as alluded to in the first page of the document.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 12, 2018, 09:07:14 AM
Notice US (blank) on what would become US 220 in PA, and US 220 on what would become another section of US 6. There is another US (blank) North of Cheyenne on what would become US 185 (and later a rerouted US 87).
Quote from: roadguy2 on March 12, 2018, 01:34:36 AM
Also, didn't the original US 66 go through Searchlight, NV? Or maybe it was US 91?
It was US 91. I remember seeing a list with it ending in Bannock CA, which would have it through Searchlight (as shown on that AZ map Max has linked). At any rate US 91 wouldn't go on that route but to Barstow. Instead the route through Searchlight became part of US 95 in 1940.
There is a map from California Highways Magazine that shows US 91 well east of where it ended up, scroll down a little ways...
https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/the-lost-us-highways-of-southern-california-history
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 12, 2018, 01:39:07 PM
I never knew the original proposal for US 53 had it continuing all the way to Dubuque.
That's the first thing I noticed. Curiously, it's mostly along a route that hasn't ever been maintained by the state. I know this map lists it as a "Transcontinental Highway", but none of the DOT maps from the 20s showed that it belonged to them.
Also, it looks like in addition to bugo's observation of US 25 going down to Naples, US 41 and 31 had swapped designations south of Nashville. Does anyone know why the final version ignored the grid with these routes?
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on March 12, 2018, 09:07:14 AM
Notice US (blank) on what would become US 220 in PA, and US 220 on what would become another section of US 6. There is another US (blank) North of Cheyenne on what would become US 185 (and later a rerouted US 87).
Quote from: roadguy2 on March 12, 2018, 01:34:36 AM
Also, didn't the original US 66 go through Searchlight, NV? Or maybe it was US 91?
It was US 91. I remember seeing a list with it ending in Bannock CA, which would have it through Searchlight (as shown on that AZ map Max has linked). At any rate US 91 wouldn't go on that route but to Barstow. Instead the route through Searchlight became part of US 95 in 1940.
Apparently there was also a planned terminus at Daggett also but that appears to never have been signed.
I can't get over the use of the word Interstate in a document that existed back in 1925! Maybe they were on to something 40 years before that freeway system with the red, white and blue shields was created?
Quote from: Henry on March 13, 2018, 08:53:04 AM
I can't get over the use of the word Interstate in a document that existed back in 1925! Maybe they were on to something 40 years before that freeway system with the red, white and blue shields was created?
Interstate as an adjective just means that it's in more than one state.
US-54 jogging up to Dodge City instead of heading to Tucumcari via Liberal and Dalhart
US-77 ending at Omaha
No split US-31 in KY and TN (proposed US-31 follows 31E from Nashville to Glasgow then uses KY 90 to Cave City and then 31W to Louisville)
US-25 going toward GA and FL instead of into the Carolinas
US-40 in NJ being US-140
US-1 running north into Bangor (and US-1 and US-2 swapping routes between Bangor and Houlton)
US-25 going to Pt. Huron via today's M-29 instead of going up Gratiot Ave.
Quote from: vdeane on March 12, 2018, 12:53:42 PM
US 1 and US 2 are swapped in part of Maine via Alt US 1
US 20 follows US 20A in NY
US 2 appears to follow US 302 to an overlap with US 5 in VT, and also appears to be missing the connection to NY
PA 61 appears to be a US route in this plan
Re: PA 61
I believe that was US 122 and/or US 120 at various points in time?
Nexus 6P
US 72 west of Corinth, Mississippi heads north on US 45 and then jogs along what later became US 64.
US 96 made more sense in the planning stages as an even-numbered route, taking over the diagonal parts of US 59/77 and US 281.
Quote from: BamaZeus on March 12, 2018, 11:36:24 AM
US 7 is aligned further west into NY state, and pretty much along the borders with CT and MA, instead of through Norwalk/Danbury/western Mass.
And from 1926 to 1928 this is, officially, how it was routed - via what is now NY 22, CT 41, and US 44.
Unlikely it was ever signed in New York, though.
Quote from: formulanone on March 13, 2018, 08:29:52 PM
US 72 west of Corinth, Mississippi heads north on US 45 and then jogs along what later became US 64.
I'm pretty sure it was actually routed that way.
Quote from: bugo on March 14, 2018, 12:35:57 AM
Quote from: formulanone on March 13, 2018, 08:29:52 PM
US 72 west of Corinth, Mississippi heads north on US 45 and then jogs along what later became US 64.
I'm pretty sure it was actually routed that way.
Presumably until 1934. The 1935 map is the first MDOT map to show US 72 remaining in Mississippi west of Corinth.
Quote from: froggie on March 14, 2018, 09:09:37 AM
Quote from: bugo on March 14, 2018, 12:35:57 AM
Quote from: formulanone on March 13, 2018, 08:29:52 PM
US 72 west of Corinth, Mississippi heads north on US 45 and then jogs along what later became US 64.
I'm pretty sure it was actually routed that way.
Presumably until 1934. The 1935 map is the first MDOT map to show US 72 remaining in Mississippi west of Corinth.
That's quite a realignment!
What a great find! Thank you for sharing it with us.
I notice on the map that US 41 in western Indiana largely follows the present Ind 63 corridor, a previously debated subject on this board. Please take notice of the distinct north-south section of the US 41/52 multiplex between Lafayette and Kentland. My theory is that the plan was to use the most improved road in that region, which would have been the Adeway, an Indianapolis-to-Chicago auto trail. The southern junction of US 41 and 52 on this map would be on present-day Ind 352 between Boswell and Oxford, going north through Fowler, and then joining US 24 at Goodland and continuing west to Kentland, where the northern junction of the US 41/52 multiplex remains.
I remember seeing reference material indicating that in the 1920s, US 52's northern terminus was at Oxford, Indiana. Because I grew up near Oxford, I took particular notice of that point. Until I saw this map, it always struck me as odd that since present US 52 is not routed through Oxford, that it would ever have terminated at Oxford, where there are no other US highways. However, if US 52 was once planned to go through Oxford, it makes much more sense that it would temporarily terminate there, rather than a larger nearby town like Fowler through which US 52 is routed, while northwest extensions were under construction.
I spent many years of my life living near the present-day Adeway, which today is a county-maintained road through southern Benton County from Fowler to the Warren County line. Now that I'm a member of the daily metropolitan rat-race, I greatly miss the tranquil solitude of living out on the prairies of Benton County, which is perhaps the most sparsely populated (and friendliest) area of Indiana.
I see that US 10 merges with 53 and then follows 12 to get into Minnesota, in a similar path to I-94, instead of continuing west into Minnesota and going up the Mississippi River before going into St. Paul like it does today. I also noticed that 41 in Michigan goes straight north to Marquette instead of turning onto US 2 and making a detour into Escanaba and Gladstone before turning north again.
It looks like US 99 makes a bit of a detour from its final routing (present CA 99) in the San Joaquin Valley; it utilizes CA 63 from Tulare to Visalia, and what looks like a road paralleling but somewhat north of CA 198 west from Visalia back to Goshen, where it resumes along the historic alignment adjacent to the old SP main line. Not surprising; Visalia was always the largest town between Bakersfield and Fresno, and the assemblers of this initial national system took that into account.
I would love to print this and laminate it and put it on my wall
Quote from: sparker on May 05, 2018, 04:16:47 PM
It looks like US 99 makes a bit of a detour from its final routing (present CA 99) in the San Joaquin Valley; it utilizes CA 63 from Tulare to Visalia, and what looks like a road paralleling but somewhat north of CA 198 west from Visalia back to Goshen, where it resumes along the historic alignment adjacent to the old SP main line. Not surprising; Visalia was always the largest town between Bakersfield and Fresno, and the assemblers of this initial national system took that into account.
Looks like it swung east on LRN 10 from Goshen to Visalia which eventually became CA 198.
Quote from: TheHighwayMan394 on March 12, 2018, 01:39:07 PM
A minor musing just for my own interests is the inland jog along US 61 near Lake Superior (which approximately correlates to modern Lake County Road 3 and possibly short pieces of County 4 and 5). I don't think 61 ever took that route, as the then-MN 1 along the lakeshore had already been completed before 1926 and all MN state maps from the era show US 61 along the lake.
I never knew the original proposal for US 53 had it continuing all the way to Dubuque.
I also believe regarding US 8's east end that Dale reported that the original proposal for US 8 to connect to US 2/41 in Powers rather than taking the left turn to go to Norway is still technically an "active" proposal even though neither WI nor MI are inclined to build it.
Notice the western end of 8 drops down to Stillwater
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 07, 2018, 10:25:07 AM
Quote from: sparker on May 05, 2018, 04:16:47 PM
It looks like US 99 makes a bit of a detour from its final routing (present CA 99) in the San Joaquin Valley; it utilizes CA 63 from Tulare to Visalia, and what looks like a road paralleling but somewhat north of CA 198 west from Visalia back to Goshen, where it resumes along the historic alignment adjacent to the old SP main line. Not surprising; Visalia was always the largest town between Bakersfield and Fresno, and the assemblers of this initial national system took that into account.
Looks like it swung east on LRN 10 from Goshen to Visalia which eventually became CA 198.
At first glance (w/squint) at the '26 US system map, it looked like the E-W portion of proposed US 99 swung a bit north of the present CA 198/former LRN 10 alignment and proceeded along what looks like Goshen Ave. (paralleled by the old SP Exeter-Coalinga cross-valley RR line) -- but comparing it with the Rumsey maps from both 1926 and 1928, it looks like a facility along that present 198 alignment was indeed intact in both cartographic years. At this point, I'd take the national map more as a rough indication as to where the initial batch of US highways would go rather than a precise indicator of actual alignment.
Quote from: sparker on May 07, 2018, 06:54:34 PM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on May 07, 2018, 10:25:07 AM
Quote from: sparker on May 05, 2018, 04:16:47 PM
It looks like US 99 makes a bit of a detour from its final routing (present CA 99) in the San Joaquin Valley; it utilizes CA 63 from Tulare to Visalia, and what looks like a road paralleling but somewhat north of CA 198 west from Visalia back to Goshen, where it resumes along the historic alignment adjacent to the old SP main line. Not surprising; Visalia was always the largest town between Bakersfield and Fresno, and the assemblers of this initial national system took that into account.
Looks like it swung east on LRN 10 from Goshen to Visalia which eventually became CA 198.
At first glance (w/squint) at the '26 US system map, it looked like the E-W portion of proposed US 99 swung a bit north of the present CA 198/former LRN 10 alignment and proceeded along what looks like Goshen Ave. (paralleled by the old SP Exeter-Coalinga cross-valley RR line) -- but comparing it with the Rumsey maps from both 1926 and 1928, it looks like a facility along that present 198 alignment was indeed intact in both cartographic years. At this point, I'd take the national map more as a rough indication as to where the initial batch of US highways would go rather than a precise indicator of actual alignment.
If anything it has me curious about the hyper early US 99 routing in Tulare, it looks like it was 1st street west of the tracks.
Whoa. Just, whoa.
This is the ONLY map I have ever seen labeling US 218 as US 265 - the most logical # to use and whose non-use remains a mystery. There was nothing, nothing in the Iowa DOT archive that showed that. This is the ONLY map I have ever seen labeling an extension of US 53 from La Crosse to Marquette and using 53 instead of 55 to Dubuque - but there was a variant.
AASHO met in San Francisco 11/17-20/24 around the time I have a note "system as approved to March 1, 1924" but not the map. The first map I have is late October 1925, showing 53 running from Dubuque to McGregor and then following what is now IA 76 through Waukon. But there's no 55 at all. That changes by April 1926, when 53 goes through Decorah instead. 218 is 218 in both. The map posted in this thread splits the difference and has 55 where 52 is now, but 53 on the Great River Road. US 18's end at US 75 was that way right up until the final approval Nov. 11, 1926.
Ignoring the eventualities of the future in Kansas, there should have been some easy moves made in the Plains: US 32 extends from Council Bluffs to Lincoln and supersedes US 38 (not sure if 38 ends in Lincoln or Omaha); US 36 takes over US 40N and US 40 is on US 40S, OR, to maintain 40 through Denver, 36 still stops at Colby, 40N becomes 40, and 40S becomes 44.
I don't seem to be able to save a full-size version of the map.
Quote from: MantyMadTown on May 04, 2018, 06:50:41 PM
I see that US 10 merges with 53 and then follows 12 to get into Minnesota, in a similar path to I-94, instead of continuing west into Minnesota and going up the Mississippi River before going into St. Paul like it does today. I also noticed that 41 in Michigan goes straight north to Marquette instead of turning onto US 2 and making a detour into Escanaba and Gladstone before turning north again.
41 should follow the lake on M-35 but because of the original unbuilt plan it has that reroute.
I noticed that south of Nashville, US 41 follows the current US 31 route through Birmingham to Mobile, while US 31 stays east of US 41, going to Chattanooga, where US 25 takes the current US 41 route through Georgia to Naples.
I always thought it made more sense for US 41 to take this alignment, and stay to the west of US 31. I never knew it was the original routing. My guess, as with US 66, Chicago carried a lot of weight in those days, and someone wanted to make sure Chicago had a single route to Florida.