Current and historic US Highway ends at Port of Piegan MT
(that is, north of St. Mary and Babb)
Photo credits: Alan
Hamilton
| Highway | Approx. time period |
|---|---|
| US 87 | 1926-1934 |
| US 89 | 1934 -present |
The highway running along the east side of Glacier National Park has been a US route since the beginning, in 1926. However, back then it was designated as US 87. At the time, the US 89 designation went only as far north as Spanish Fork UT. But then in 1934 US 89 was extended northward along its current path: through the rest of Utah, plus Wyoming and Montana (via an implied route through Yellowstone). It met US 87 at Armington MT (southeast of Great Falls), and replaced that route up to its present terminus on the Canada border, at a port of entry called Piegan. US 87 ended at Armington for a few years, but then was extended through Great Falls and up to Havre in the 1940s.
This first photo is looking northward at Piegan:
Hamilton, July 2004
Until 1934 that was the north end of US 87. Since then it's been the north end of US 89. Just ahead the road becomes Alberta provincial hwy. 2. Below we're looking south at the north beginning:
Hamilton, July 2004
The mountains in the distance are in Glacier National Park. Best I can tell, the mileage sign makes reference to Babb, Browning, and Great Falls.