A history of US route 83 and family

From humble beginnings to great lengths

US 83 was among the inaugural routes of 1926.  But at the time, and for the next couple years, it was a very short route -- only about 170 miles long -- running between the capital cities of the two Dakotas:

c. 1926, AASHO

c. 1928, Gallup

However, by the early 1930s the US 83 designation had been extended not only north to the Canada border, but all the way down to the Mexico border too.  This increased US 83's distance to nearly 1900 miles, and made it one of the longest north-south US routes.  Additionally, as a result of US 83's new role as a trunk route, three newer US routes were numbered as branches of US 83.  Two of these soon became quite lengthy themselves, and they still exist (US 183 and US 283).  Just as these highways intertwine with each other, their history is also interrelated.  This article examines the evolution of US 83, as well as the x83 routes that are part of its "family".

Note that this post does not elaborate on the specific endpoints of each route, because that information has already been covered elsewhere: photos, maps, and more history can be viewed at the following links:

US 83

US 183

US 283

US 383

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US 83, 183, and 283 were somewhat unusual in the sense that they were each commissioned before they were entirely constructed and/or improved to the standards considered necessary for a US route.  This was done with an understanding that future highway development would eventually result in roads that were continuous between their endpoints.  But there were timeframes during which these routes existed in separate, disconnected segments.  In 1929 no portion of US 83 existed in Nebraska, yet AASHO allowed Kansas to begin signposting its portion of US 83.  (Reportedly this was only under the condition that improvements to the road's surface would be made.  But it is unclear exactly what the term "improvements" entailed, or whether there was a specific timeframe: even by 1932, the Kansas official state highway map was still indicating that only a very small percentage of US 83 was hard-surfaced in the state.  The majority was gravel, and some segments were still just dirt.)  

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It was the following year (1930) that the US 83 designation was extended to both border crossings, as shown on these clips from a 1931 Clason atlas:

At this point it should be noted that the original routing for US 83 was significantly different from today's route through portions of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.  Modern US 83 heads west from Vivian SD and then south from Murdo.  But originally US 83 went east from Vivian, and then south from Presho, roughly following the path of what is now US 183 through Nebraska.  But this 1931 atlas showed no part of US 83 in Nebraska -- in other words there was a lengthy gap between Presho and the Kansas state line.  At the time, this gap could be traversed by using SD state highway 53 and NE state highways 10 and 22.  Most of that route was shown as "all-weather", but apparently something was lacking that temporarily prevented it from being signposted as US 83.  Nevertheless, some interesting things were developing in the region around the KS-NE border:

c. 1931, Clason

First, I will again point out that US 83 did not follow the same routing it does today (i.e. heading north from Selden and passing through Oberlin on its way to McCook).  Rather, traffic was directed to remain on the diagonal route through Norton and all the way to the Nebraska line near Alma.  Instead, it was then-new US 183 that was inaugurated the year before (1930) to serve Oberlin and McCook.  Like several other US routes minted during the 1930s, I believe US 183 was commissioned as an alternate route for US 83, closing the loop at Vivian on the north and Dresden on the south.  I say that because the same 1931 atlas already showed US 183 in South Dakota:

c. 1931, Clason

However, initially US 183 was continuous only between Dresden and North Platte, so it was only about 116 miles long.  North of there, maps show two roads traversing the Sand Hills to Valentine: one through Tryon and Mullen, and the other through Stapleton and Thedford.  For the next several years, neither of those roads were improved enough to be considered "highways".  Nebraska's official state highway maps through at least 1940 classified those roads as "designated but not maintained".  So I conclude that US 183 was never a continuous route between its original termini (Vivian and Dresden).

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US 283 was designated in 1932.  It was commissioned to run from US 83 in Norton KS south to Brownwood TX.  But like the older members of its route family, it was not initially signposted along the entire distance between those endpoints.  Rather, the 1933 Kansas official showed US 283 only up to Dodge City.  North of there to Norton, the route was marked as state highway 21 (so initially US 283 did not connect with any of its implied route family).  In 1935 US 283 was improved enough that signage was added between Dodge and Ness City.  Then in 1939, US 283 was finally signposted the rest of the way up to US 83 at Norton.  Not only that, but US 283 was also extended far to the south, all the way to Junction TX, thus attaining its maximum historical length of 804.1 miles:

c. 1940, TXDoT

As that map illustrates: that same year US 183 was also extended to the same town, where the two routes shared a common terminus and were reunited with their "parent" route (US 83).  But the arrangement was different than today: instead of diverging south of Throckmorton, both 183 and 283 were twinned down to Albany.  South of there US 183 traffic was directed along the corridor currently occupied by US 283 (Baird, Coleman, Brady).  US 283 on the other hand followed today's TX 6 to Cisco, then today's US 183 through Rising Star, Brownwood, and Brady.  From there the two routes were twinned again, through Mason to Junction.

Now, back to Kansas, and backtracking a bit to 1937, the southernmost segment of US 183 was changed slightly.  Instead of jogging south and east to Dresden, US 183 was redirected essentially due south from Oberlin, such that it ended near Selden.  But that was a short-lived arrangement, because in 1939 US 183 was extended much further south: through the remainder of Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and deep into Texas (as mentioned above).  In order to accomplish that, US 183 made a 66-mile long jog east from Oberlin along US 36 to Phillipsburg before turning south again.  That set up a ridiculous arrangement where travelers heading north or south on either US 83 or US 183 would each have to make a significant lateral jog through Norton before resuming their north or south bearing:

c. 1940, Rand McNally

Clearly that situation needed to be addressed, and change was not long in coming: in 1941 the US 83 and US 183 designations were swapped in northern Kansas, through all of Nebraska, and up to Vivian SD.  Once that had been done, the arrangement surrounding Norton made a lot more sense: now US 83 and US 183 both followed corridors that were essentially due north-south, without having to make significant lateral jogs.  However, that solution introduced a new (albeit minor) problem: the diagonal route through Norton (formerly US 83) was now without a US route designation.  A new designation was really necessary only along the 74-mile stretch between Selden and the Nebraska state line.  But since that segment was entirely in Kansas, AASHO might not have allowed a new US route designation to be applied there.  So Kansas convinced Nebraska to extend the route across the state line, overlapping it with US 183, and thus the new US 383 designation was born:

c. 1944, Rand McNally

One minor difference between the old US 83 routing and the new US 183 routing was: whereas US 83 actually jogged to serve the city of Kearney NE, US 183 never did, instead using a straight shot between Ansley and Elm Creek:

c. 1940, Rand McNally

c. 1944, Rand McNally

An additional change took place in 1941: the US 283 designation was extended up to its current terminus in Lexington NE.  And speaking of Nebraska: remarkably, this 1949 map shows that a connection between North Platte and Valentine had still not been established:

c. 1949, Gousha

Nebraska's 1955 official seems to show that US 83 was finally complete between North Platte and Valentine... but it was routed along the eastern road through the Sand Hills (the one through Thedford and Stapleton).  So it would appear that, despite original plans and signposting shown on several maps, neither US 183 nor US 83 were ever complete along the corridor through Mullen and Tryon.

Back to Texas: right around that same time, in 1952, the US 377 designation was extended southwest to Brownwood, and then along US 183 to Brady.  From there, US 377 continued along US 183-283 through Mason to Junction (and beyond).  So rather than keeping two pointless overlaps with US 377, the US 283 designation was cut back to its current terminus at Brady, reducing its total length to 720.4 miles.  As for the US 183 designation: it was completely repurposed south of Brownwood by following its current corridor through Austin and down to Refugio.  Since then, US 183 measures 1244 miles.

When US 183 and 283 were removed from the town of Junction, they lost their sole remaining physical junction with US 83 (although they still connect to each other, as they are overlapped between Vernon and Throckmorton).  Ever since that change was implemented in 1952, the corridors for each of these routes have remained essentially the same (except for minor intra-city routings).  

​The only remaining change involved US 383.  Because the Nebraska segment of that route was entirely overlapped with US 183, NDoR had it truncated to the Kansas state line in 1964.  Then in 1979 AASHTO approved KDoT's request to decommission the remainder of US 383.  But its memory is preserved in the number of its replacement designation, K-383.

I find it interesting and remarkable that what started out as a single short route of 170 miles quickly grew to a 1900-mile-long border-to-border route, and also spawned two branch routes that added another 2000 miles to the family.