End of US highway 641 |
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Summa
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Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 132 miles for US 641... but at the time it still ended at I-40. Since then US 641 has been extended to Clifton, and our own 2020 measurement yielded 165.3 miles. Historically, when it extended to Evansville, US 641 was 229 miles long.
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US 641 was commissioned in 1951. At its north end, it joined with US 41 in Henderson KY, and the two routes were twinned across the Ohio River to Evansville:
c. 1959, IN DoT
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Here is a detail from a 1950s photo taken in Evansville. The subject of the original photo was a building on the corner of Kentucky Avenue and Cherry Street. But it happened to include the backside of a sign assembly, and this image is a detail, reversed for legibility. US 41-641/IN 66 were on Kentucky; 641 tagged along with 41 up to the junction with US 460:
Donahue Collection, 1950s (linked to source)
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The interactive image below shows the historic endpoint, looking north on Fares Avenue at Virginia Street. US 41-641 came up to this intersection, and 641 ended here. Straight ahead was northbound US 41 and eastbound US 460, while westbound 460 was to the left on Virginia:
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This image is looking the opposite direction (south on Fares), which was westbound US 460 (continuing to the right on Virginia) and southbound US 41 (which continued straight ahead). Also straight ahead was the north beginning of US 641. That direction has since been slightly altered because of the newer US 41 expressway (some of its overhead signage is visible in the distance). Also, Canal no longer connects to southbound Kentucky because of the newer Lloyd Expressway.
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Indiana wouldn't have had much use for the US 641 designation, and there is evidence that they didn't put up with it for long. The only INDOT maps that include US 641 shields seem to be from the 1950s. And this photo (from around 1960) suggests that already by then Indiana no longer recognized US 641 as entering the state:
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(attribution unknown)
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Henderson KY was a couple miles ahead, and that is where US 641 originally split from US 41. But for a number of years, it appears that the US 41-641 overlap was not signed between Evansville and Henderson, so whether AASHO formally approved it or not, the de facto endpoint of US 641 was at its junction with US 41 in Henderson. Today's US 41 bypass did not exist until about 1963; prior to that US 41 followed 2nd Street into the downtown area. At Green Street US 41 turned right, joining eastbound US 60. Westbound US 60 was to the left on Green, and that was also the north beginning of US 641. Unfortunately as of 1957 it apparently was not considered to be important enough for its own overhead sign:
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c. 1957, attribution unknown, courtesy of John Hammond
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After the US 41 bypass was opened, US 641 would have been extended north on Green, ending at its junction with the new US 41. This photo was taken from southbound US 41; for a time US 641 began to the right, overlapped with US 60 all the way down to Marion:
Nitzman, Jun. 2022
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South of Marion US 641 was on its own to its southern terminus at US 79 in Paris. There, presumably US 79 originally went through the downtown area, but US 641 was not commissioned until 1951. Maps from that timeframe show US 79 bypassing the downtown area to the east, so US 641 jogged east on Wood Street, ending at the bypass:
c. 1956, Gousha
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This image is looking east on Wood, where US 641 ended. Straight ahead was northbound US 79, while southbound was to the right on Tyson Avenue:
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This shot was looking the opposite direction (west on Wood). That is southbound US 79, which continues to the left on Tyson. Straight ahead on Wood (which is now TN 356) was the original south beginning of US 641:
Google Maps Street View, June 2012
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At their November 1970 meeting, AASHO agreed to eliminate US 641's 54-mile overlap with US 60, so its north end was truncated to its current terminus at US 60 in Marion...
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...however, this action de-legitimized US 641's number, since it no longer connects to US 41 (perhaps the designation should have been changed to "US 179"). These photos were looking north on Main Street in Marion:
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Reda, 2001
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Morrison, May 2012
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Dienhart, Mar. 2023
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US 641 ends at Gum Street, where eastbound US 60 comes in from the left and continues straight ahead. Approaching that intersection from the left on Gum (eastbound US 60), the beginning of US 641 is signed thus:
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Morrison, May 2012
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US 60 continues to the left on Main, while to the right is the north beginning of US 641. These shots were taken looking south on Main, which carries westbound US 60:
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Morrison, May 2012
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Dienhart, Mar. 2023
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US 60 continues by turning right on Gum. Travelers moving straight ahead on Main find themselves on the north beginning of US 641. The first confirming assembly is about a block ahead:
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Morrison, May 2012
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Dienhart, Mar. 2023
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c. 2014, Rand McNally
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That was the first northbound marker (incidentally, the mockingbird symbol denotes one of Tennessee's official scenic routes). Camden is about 15 miles ahead.
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At their Nov. 2014 meeting, AASHTO approved Tennessee's request to extend the US 641 designation southward along TN 69, and then TN 114, passing through Clifton and ending at its junction with US 64 just south of there:
Nitzman, June 2017
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Dienhart, Mar. 2023
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Looking west on US 64, these photos show how the road heading north towards Clifton was signed, both before and after Nov. 2015, which is when US 641's 45-mile extension was implemented:
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Google Maps Street View, July 2013
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Scott, Nov. 2015
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Nitzman, June 2017
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Nitzman, June 2017
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Turning off US 64 to the north, the first northbound confirming marker is posted. Clifton is about six miles ahead:
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Nitzman, June 2017
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Dienhart, Mar. 2023
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Research and/or photo credits: Robert Brooks; Paul Dienhart; Nathan Edgars; H.B. Elkins; Alan Hamilton; Don Hargraves; Bruce Kasprzyk; Jeff Morrison; Alex Nitzman; Joe Reda; Dale Sanderson; Charles Sarjeant; Brent Scott; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2002;
last updated Dec. 7, 2023.
last updated Dec. 7, 2023.
