County Seats That Never Had A US Highway

[Road Hog]

Hey where are the County Seats in Connecticut?  I noticed that there are no lists on any maps or any record, and rumor has it that they once did exist, but  the state did rid themselves of them.  How can a county operate without a court house or government building?

I assume in Connecticut, the state took over the role of the county in unincorporated areas, of which there isn't much. Also assume that incorporated areas (cities, towns, etc.) have more autonomy. The counties remain as geographical entities but not governmental.

[getemngo]

Hey where are the County Seats in Connecticut?  I noticed that there are no lists on any maps or any record, and rumor has it that they once did exist, but  the state did rid themselves of them.  How can a county operate without a court house or government building?

Well... the counties don't operate. There hasn't been any county-level government in Connecticut since 1960. Everything is handled on either the town/city level, or by the state. You can pretend the whole state is one county now, if you want.

As for what the county seats were, it's on Wikipedia.

[Dougtone]

Continuing east and north in NY:

Oswego (Oswego) - old US104
Jefferson (Watertown) - US11
St. Lawrence (Canton) - US11
Franklin (Malone) - US11
Clinton (Plattsburgh) - US9
Hamilton (Lake Pleasant) - no (Hamilton County as a whole has never had a US route run though it)
Essex (Elizabethtown) - US9
Herkimer (Herkimer) - no
Oneida (Utica) - no
Madison (Wampsville) - no
Warren (Queensbury) - US9
Saratoga (Ballston Spa) - no
Washington (Fort Edward) - US4
Montgomery (Fonda) - no
Fulton (Johnstown) - no
Schenectady (Schenectady) - no
Albany (Albany) - US9, US20
Rensselaer (Troy[let]) - US4

At one time, Oswego County had two county seats simultaneously, Oswego (to serve the western part of the county) and Pulaski (to serve the eastern part of the county).  Of course, US 11 runs through Pulaski to this day and Oswego has a former US route.

[roadman65]

Three of NYC boroughs (Kings, Richmond, Queens) never had US routes in them.  Remember each of the five boroughs are counties in the State of New York.  Some do not know that as this is one rare case where a city is larger than a county and actually has multiple ones at that!

[hbelkins]

Whitesburg currently has US 119;

Only through recent annexations.

Actually, not really. US 119 has been relocated in that area. The existing US 119/KY 15 intersection is south of the old intersection. Back when I was a kid, northbound 119 continued straight through what is now the existing 119/15 intersection and then came to a T intersection. US 119 north turned right and KY 15 north turned left. We traveled that route several times in the 1960s and 1970s en route to vacation destinations and that intersection was in the city of Whitesburg.

[NE2]

Actually, yes really. A 1978-modified topo shows new and old intersections and city limits.

[bugo]

Oklahoma 2.6% (2/77): Hobart, Stigler

Hobart is served by US 183.

[bugo]

Huntsville, AR (Madison County) was not until 1982 when US 412 usurped AR 68

Was it that early?  I thought US 412 ended at Walnut Ridge until the late '80s.

Perryville (Perry)

A proposed US 366 from 1956 would have run through Perryville.

Paris (Logan)

Logan County has two county seats, Booneville and Paris, neither of which has ever been on a US highway.

Lake City has never been on a US highway, but the other county seat of Craighead County, Jonesboro, has US 49 and 63.

[NE2]

Hobart is served by US 183.

Only through recent annexations. US 183 has always followed its current route 2 miles east of downtown.

[nyratk1]

Three of NYC boroughs (Kings, Richmond, Queens) never had US routes in them.  Remember each of the five boroughs are counties in the State of New York.  Some do not know that as this is one rare case where a city is larger than a county and actually has multiple ones at that!

Richmond/Staten Island had US 9 along Hylan Blvd. from 1931-34.

[NE2]

Richmond/Staten Island had US 9 along Hylan Blvd. from 1931-34.

Yes and no. It was planned by the city, and may have been posted to the Outerbridge Crossing on the New Jersey side, but there were never any US 9 signs on Staten Island.

[DTComposer]

Full list according to my data (using rather strict criteria, including recent annexations not counting):
...
California 25.9% (15/58): Colusa, Downieville, Hanford, Hollister, Jackson, Lakeport, Mariposa, Markleeville, Napa, Nevada City, San Andreas, Santa Cruz, Sonora, Susanville, Visalia

Add Martinez to this list.

[NE2]

The 1927 log is explicit about Martinez being on the original US 40 routing, which presumably crossed the ferry to Benicia. Between the opening of the Carky in May of that year and the construction of the direct route through American Canyon (the canyon, not the city), I think US 40 went via Jameson Canyon (the 1928 Lincoln Highway alignment definitely did).

[froggie]

Minnesota 16.1% (14/87): Baudette, Buffalo, Caledonia, Cambridge, Foley, Gaylord, Glenwood, Le Center, Mantorville, Mora, Red Lake Falls, Roseau, St. James, Stillwater

US 65 briefly existed north of Minneapolis ca. 1934-35, so you can take Cambridge and Mora off the list.

[NE2]

US 65 briefly existed north of Minneapolis ca. 1934-35, so you can take Cambridge and Mora off the list.

Did it actually exist, or was it merely proposed?

[Scott5114]

Hobart is served by US 183.

Only through recent annexations. US 183 has always followed its current route 2 miles east of downtown.

Still enough to take it off the list–the original question was "How many county seats have never had a US highway running through them?" Since Hobart has had US 183 running through city limits since at least 2004 (according to ODOT control section maps), "Has Hobart ever had a US highway running through it" resolves to "yes" because it currently has a US highway running through it.

[NE2]

I asked myself a different (and IMO more interesting) question. Look at the city limits of some larger Texas or Oklahoma cities if you want to be turned off from using city limits forever.

[WichitaRoads]

Paola-Miami County once had U.S. 169 passing through it. Then it was moved to a new routing east of the city and it became served directly by a K-xxx route (I tried finding it on route56.com but I couldn't; I remember it being K-2xx).

http://www.ksdot.org/burtransplan/maps/HistoricStateMaps.asp

That's not Scott's Job, that's my job. The reason he couldn't find in on my Kansas Highways page was because I didn't put it in. That has been rectified.

Kansas Highway 263, AKA Baptiste Drive
http://www.route56.com/highways/highways.php?hwy=263

As for the original topic: Since the thread is about county seats that NEVER had a US highway, three cities can be removed from Scott's list.
Ellsworth - as Scott noted, it was originally adjacent to US 40 and US 156.
Marion  - US 50N/56 went directly through Ellsworth until ~ 1991.
Minneapolis - US 81 went through Minneapolis until ~ 1950.

I'd also consider Fredonia to be served by US 400, despite the fact that 400 does not enter the city limits. Also, 400 would have entered the city limits prior to the opening of the new bypass alignment.

The original route through Erie was K-6. US 59 may have replaced K-6 through town prior to the new alignment on the west side of Erie. (In any case, I'd would consider Erie as having US 59 for the same reason as Fredonia having US 400.

There are two that Scott Missed:

Tribune - Greeley County: K-27 and K-96
Lincoln - Lincoln County: K-14 and K-18

And US 77 used to go through Marion too, long ago...

[froggie]

US 65 briefly existed north of Minneapolis ca. 1934-35, so you can take Cambridge and Mora off the list.

Did it actually exist, or was it merely proposed?

It actually existed, but only during that 2-year timespan.

[NE2]

US 65 briefly existed north of Minneapolis ca. 1934-35, so you can take Cambridge and Mora off the list.

Did it actually exist, or was it merely proposed?

It actually existed, but only during that 2-year timespan.

So it's different from the other supposed changes at that time, such as US 208? Are there any other 1930s extensions like 65 that were soon undone?

[froggie]

Some of those supposed changes were never actually implemented, namely 208 as well as 218 north of St. Paul.  218 briefly made it to St. Paul during the same 1934-35 timeframe...one of those "other 1930s extensions", as was the short-lived US 216 in SD/WY.  There was also a short-lived US 401 (no relation to the current US 401) that existed from Raleigh, NC to Walterboro, SC before it was effectively replaced by a US 15 extension ca. 1934.  RVDroz's US highways website suggests several such short-lived routings in the 1930s.

The story with 208 is that, when the 1934 proposal was to extend US 218 to Moorhead along what was then US 10N, US 210 would no longer connect to its parent.  Why Minnesota chose 208 is anyones guess, since it wouldn't have connected to its parent either.  The whole idea was rendered moot when US 52 was extended into Minnesota in 1934 and routed along the old US 10S, with US 10 along its current corridor (old US 10N) between St. Cloud and Moorhead.  But a US 218 extension to St. Paul (along the then-old US 65 corridor north of Farmington, as US 65 was relocated to Minneapolis in 1934 along US 55's old routing) was briefly signed for a year or so before being downgraded to MN 218.