End of US highway 45 |
1926-1935
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1935-present
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US 45 was an original 1926 route, although its north end was in the Chicago area at the time. Historic maps suggest that the original endpoint was always intended to be in Des Plaines, but the route was not fully open to traffic that far north until about 1930. The 1931 map showed US 45 pretty much along its current path through Chicagoland: north on Mannheim Road to Lee Street in Des Plaines. This map was from 1932, in anticipation of the Worlds Fair in Chicago the following year:
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The shore of Lake Superior is just on the opposite side of that building. Both of the signs shown there are gone now. At the time, M-64 began to the left on Ontonagon, so that junction was an appropriate place for US 45 to end.
Now M-64's bridge over the Ontonagon River no longer exists; instead that highway connects with US 45 to the south of the downtown area (about a mile behind the camera). But US 45 does not end at that junction; it still continues to the same terminus in the downtown area. But the endpoint is signposted kind of strangely now, since there is no longer a highway junction here. As travelers head north on River, they encounter a sign that says "To South US 45". If the driver keeps following those signs, they end up driving in a loop formed by Chippewa, Michigan, and Lake streets; and finally back the opposite direction on River:
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It originally said "Golf of Mexico", but then the top part of the "O" was rubbed out in order to look more like a "U". However, the outline of the U.S. is more accurate now, and overall I think the sign is a bit more aesthetically pleasing. Like the old sign, it inspires wonder -- all of the long US routes should have something like this at their endpoints.
The south end of US 45 has always been in Mobile, although the endpoint has changed a bit (more info on the Mobile page). Probably in about 1980 the south end was truncated to its current terminus on Spring Hill Avenue (US 98) at the Y-intersection with St. Stephens Road:
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Research and/or photo credits: Adam Froehlig; Don Hargraves; Karin and Martin Karner; Richard Montgomery; Jeff Morrison; Robert Mortell; Alex Nitzman; Greg Osbaldeston; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 1999;
last updated Aug. 24, 2019.
last updated Aug. 24, 2019.