End of US highway 191 |
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Summa
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Summa
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1926-1934
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1934-1937
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1937-1946
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1946-1962
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1962-1972
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1972-1979
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1979-1981
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1981-1992
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1992-1997
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1997-present
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US 191 was an original 1926 route, but it ran only about 125 miles: from US 91 in Idaho Falls to West Yellowstone, as shown in AASHO's Apr. 1927 route log below:
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At the time, US 191's parent route (US 91) ran from Montana to southern California. In a sense, the two routes have now switched places: today US 191 runs from Canada to Mexico, while US 91 has been shortened to only 167 miles in length. One would have to travel 1720.1 miles in order to drive US 191 from end-to-end. However -- because US routes are not designated within Yellowstone National Park -- technically US 191 has two segments: a north segment from Canada to West Yellowstone, and a southern segment from Yellowstone's south entrance through Arizona. In 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 1226 miles for US 191... but at the time, US 191 still ended in Chambers. Since then US 191 has been extended to Douglas, and our own 2020 measurement yielded 1651.3 miles (not counting the implied mileage through Yellowstone).
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In 1934, the north end of US 191 was extended to junction US 10 in Bozeman:
c. 1951, MT DoT
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This photo was looking east on Main Street (US 191), approaching the intersection with 7th Avenue. This sign is a bit underinformative, because I-90 is straight ahead too (that is how one gets to Livingston):
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Sanderson, Mar. 2000
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Today, US 191 is routed straight through this intersection, to Main's interchange with I-90, which it then overlaps all the way to Big Timber. But historically US 191 ended there, at its junction with US 10 (which no longer exists in Montana; it is now signed as Business I-90 through Bozeman). The sign assembly in the distance makes that a little more clear; it is shown more closely in this photo:
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Sanderson, Mar. 2000
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The north end of US 191 was extended to Malta in 1962:
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c. 1962, MT DoT
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c. 1963, MT DoT
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This photo shows the signage looking north on Central Avenue (US 191) at North 1st Street (US 2), where the US 191 designation formerly ended:
Wilson
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By the time that photo was taken, US 191 had been extended north, co-signed to the left for a couple blocks with US 2, so the "TO" banner was a bit misleading. This next shot was looking south from US 2, at what was historically the north beginning of US 191:
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Elbert, July 2004
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US 191 was extended north from Malta in 1997, this time to the Port of Morgan on the Canada border. This photo was looking north at the border, at the end of US 191:
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Macdonald, 2001
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On the left side of the road is the US customs office. The green sign instructs people leaving the USA to report to the Canadian customs office, which is the building in the distance on the right side, shown close-up here:
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Macdonald, 2001
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"Monchy" is the name for the Canada side of this port; that is Saskatchewan highway 4 continuing ahead.
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On its south end, US 191 was extended to Tremonton in 1937. This map suggests that the route followed what is now U-82, ending at US 30S right in town (that would be Main Street, or today's U-102)...
c. 1939, Rand McNally
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...however, the road that bypasses Tremonton and Garland to the east (today's U-13) had already been defined as a state highway in 1935. So it seems likely that by 1937 US 191 traffic would have directed to follow that road, ending at US 30S a mile east of downtown Tremonton. That was certainly the case by the time of this 1940 map:
c. 1940, Census Enumeration District map
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This photo was taken looking west on US 30S (Main Street Tremonton, now U-102); the south beginning of US 191 was to the right on what is now U-13 (1600E):
c. 1938? (attribution unknown)
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This photo was looking south on U-13 at what was formerly the south end of US 191. The crossroad is Main; downtown Tremonton is one mile to the right. US 30S followed what is now Business 84; northbound was right on Main, southbound was straight ahead:
c. 1956, Gousha
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This photo was looking north on Brigham's Main Street, which today carries U-13 and Business I-15/84, but historically this was westbound US 30S and northbound US 89-91. US 91 continued by turning right on 200 South (modern U-90), while US 30S and 89 continued straight ahead. Also ahead was the south beginning of US 191:
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Nitzman, July 2016
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The US 191 designation was cut back to Tremonton in 1962 (presumably because I-15 replaced its functionality between there and Brigham). This map was made during that timeframe:
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c. 1963, USGS
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The terminus would have been the same as it was in the '30s and '40s (see above); this photo was looking east on Main (or southbound on historic US 30S):
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Sanderson, Mar. 2001
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US 30S traffic turned right at the intersection ahead, and left was the south beginning of US 191 (the Wellsville Mountains are visible in the background). This photo was looking north along former US 30S, which continued to the left ahead:
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Sanderson, Mar. 2001
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Straight ahead is the former south beginning of US 191. In 1972, US 191 was shortened again, such that it ended at its original terminus (or at least near it -- more details on the Idaho Falls page). That lasted until 1979, when US 191 was cut back to West Yellowstone. Here is that agenda item from the minutes of AASHTO's meeting in October 1978:
That action was a preparatory move for a big change that was approved in June 1981: US 191 was extended south to Chambers AZ via what had been US 187 through Wyoming. In order to get there, US 191 was changed to follow an implied route through Yellowstone (or one could view it as a separate, southern segment of US 191 that was commissioned to run from the south entrance of Yellowstone to Chambers):
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Either way, this represented a significant change from the original intention of US highway 191: it no longer ran along any of its original corridor between Idaho Falls and West Yellowstone. Now it skipped Idaho altogether, instead serving Wyoming and a completely different part of Utah. This photo shows the former south beginning of US 191, as seen from westbound I-40:
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Sanderson, Mar. 2013
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This shot shows modern signage at what was once the south end of US 191 at Chambers:
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Sanderson, Mar. 2013
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c. 1983, Rand McNally
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That map makes it clear why it did not make sense to have US 191 heading north from I-40, while just six miles to the east it was US 666 heading south from I-40. Plus, Arizona was probably eager to be done with chronic US 666 sign replacements due to frequent theft. So in 1992, US 191 was extended east from Chambers along I-40 to Sanders, and then south, replacing what had been US 666 all the way to Douglas... or at least close (photos and more info on the Douglas page).
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Research and/or photo credits: Chris Elbert; Julian Macdonald; Alex Nitzman; Dave Pence; Dale Sanderson; Thomas Silas; Michael Summa; Ed Wilson
Page originally created 1999;
last updated Dec. 30, 2021.
last updated Dec. 30, 2021.
