End of US highway 210

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Steven Nelson; Bob Otterson
Additional research: Monte Castleman

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1926-1972 Carlton, MN Motley, MN

The function of US 210 was to connect US 10 to US 61 in Minnesota - that is, to provide a connection between Duluth and Fargo. I'm guessing the only reason it was decommissioned is because it was a rather short intrastate route. The highway is now signed as MN hwy. 210, and that designation continues both farther east and west of the endpoints of historic US 210. The photo below was taken in Motley, looking west on MN 210:

Otterson, June 2005

Just ahead is the junction with US 10, and the historic endpoint of US 210 (although, as I've said, you can see how the 210 designation continues further west today). Below we're looking east on US 10/MN 210:

Otterson, June 2005

The two routes split here: US 10 curves to the south through Motley towards Little Falls, while MN 210 turns north, crosses the Crow Wing River, junctions with MN 64, and then resumes eastward towards Brainerd and Duluth. But until 1972, that left turn marked the west beginning of US 210. The corresponding USGS 1:24k maps were made back when that was the case:

About 125 miles to the east, MN 210 crosses under I-35 at interchange 235, and then almost immediately comes to the junction shown below:

Otterson, June 2005

Historic maps will show that northbound US 61 used to come in from the right in this area, and then continued straight ahead into Carlton. So it would be easy to assume that US 210 ended at the intersection ahead, where its successor (MN 210) meets historic US 61 (now County Highway 61). However - while that intersection is the modern equivalent of the historic junction - it turns out that CSAH 61 had to be moved a ways to the east when I-35 was built through here, in order to make room for the offramps. It's a little easier to explain looking the opposite direction:

Otterson, June 2005

At far left is CSAH 61: today northbound traffic comes towards the camera, curves off the left edge of the photo, and joins MN 210 behind the camera. But that's all a new alignment. Originally, US 61 came down the hill right about where the northbound offramp is now, and then came towards the camera via today's MN 210. So the east beginning of US 210 was straight ahead, right about where the overpass is today.

Monte points out that, until sometime in the 1930s, US 210 originally ended in Carlton, not at the point shown above, which is to the west: "US 210 originally kept to the north of US 61, following the route of today's County 3, 107, and 110. Since US 61 originally took a sharp jog north following today's MN 45, the originally terminus would probably be on County 3 at MN 45":

Nelson, May 2008

That's looking east on CR 3 at the original endpoint of US 210. Below we're looking south on MN 45:

Nelson, May 2008

Originally that was southbound US 61, and the black car in the foreground is heading west at the beginning of US 210.