End of US highway 72
View a map showing this route.
Photo credits: "CDog420"; Richard Montgomery; Steven Nelson; Kevin Redding; Ed
Wilson; me
Additional research: Adam
Froehlig
| Approx. time period | East terminus | West terminus |
|---|---|---|
| 1926-1932 | Kimball, TN | (near Memphis, TN) |
| 1932-1935 | Kimball, TN | Selmer, TN |
| 1935-present | Chattanooga, TN | Memphis, TN |
US 72 was around in the beginning (1926). The east terminus was at US 41 in Kimball TN... but back then US 41 used a different routing through the area than it does today. Originally, from Jasper, US 41 went southwest along today's US 72. Just off I-24's exit 152, US 41 went northwest on what is now TN hwy. 2. US 72 began by continuing southwest from that junction. The shot below is looking southeast on TN 2:
CDog420,
Aug. 2008
That was once southbound US 41, which continued to the left, towards Jasper on what today is US 64/72. But originally US 72 began to the right.
Although US 72 had essentially the same termini as it does today, the route was different. From Kimball US 72 followed its current route through northern Alabama, but at Corinth MS it went north with US 45 to Selmer TN. Then it continued west on modern US 64, ending at US 70 in Bartlett TN (just outside Memphis):
Nelson,
July 2006
Today that's US 64, which continues to the left. But that was once the west end of US 72. Below we're looking northeast on US 64/70/79:
Nelson,
July 2006
To the right was the west beginning of US 72.
In 1932, when US 64 was extended east to Chattanooga, the west end of US 72 was truncated to Selmer. The shot below was taken looking southeast on Court Avenue (which is the main road through town):
Redding, June 2008
Originally this was southbound US 45 / eastbound US 72. The two routes split at this fork, with US 72 following Poplar Avenue to the left, and US 45 taking Mulberry Street to the right. But in 1932, US 64 was extended through here, so US 72 was truncated in order to avoid a long duplex between here and Memphis. So after that time, it was US 64 that followed Poplar to the left. To the right was still US 45, but also the east beginning of US 72.
Then in 1935, US 72 was truncated at Corinth MS and instead extended via its modern corridor back into Memphis. The photo below is looking west on Union Avenue, and it shows the last US 72 marker:
me, Oct.
2007
At this point, Union is not only US 64-72, but also US 70-79; for some reason those routes are not marked on that assembly. The traffic signal in the distance is at Bellevue Boulevard - modern TN DoT maps indicate that US 72 ends there at its junction with US 51:
me, Oct. 2007
Today US 72 ends there; ahead is northbound US 51 (as well as US 64-70-79). However, a 1941 map indicates that US 72 once extended further ahead on Union, ending at 3rd Street (which carried US 51 at the time):
me,
Oct. 2007
That's a former endpoint of US 72 (west on Union at 3rd). Today 3rd is one-way northbound; if we continue ahead to 2nd (the southbound counterpart), we see the signage below:
me,
Oct. 2007
Strange again how only US 64 is mentioned, even though US 70 and 79 are included on other assemblies in this area. Stranger still is that 64-70-79 are still signed along 2nd and 3rd at all, since all of those routes now follow Danny Thomas Boulevard. Anyway, that would be the modern equivalent of US 72's historic endpoint. Just to the left from that intersection is the scene shown below:
me,
Oct. 2007
I ate lunch there (how could I not?) The shot below is from the opposite direction:
me,
Oct. 2007
That's looking north on 2nd at Union. The photo below is looking north on 3rd at Union:
me,
Oct. 2007
That was once US 51, and to the right on Union was the west beginning of US 72. If we turn that direction today, the first US 72 sign appears just after crossing I-240...
me,
Oct. 2007
...although I don't think US 72 has actually begun at that point. Rather, it begins a couple blocks further east, where southbound US 51 splits off onto Bellevue:
me, Oct.
2007
Just ahead is a zero mile-marker for TN 23, and I think that's the official beginning of US 72 as well. Just beyond that is the first eastbound US 72 sign that's actually on US 72:
me, Oct.
2007
One final shot: below we're looking north on Bellevue:
me, Oct.
2007
That's northbound US 51, which continues to the left on Union. To the right on Union is the west beginning of US 72.
Also in 1935, the east end of US 72 was extended to Chattanooga (you can view photos from there on this page).