Category: Minnesota

US route wannabes: Minnesota's rogue routes of 1934

1/13/2021

Some 1934 maps showed new US routes in Minnesota and/or extensions of US routes. This was due to a series of errors and misunderstandings involving AASHO, MNDoT, and commercial map publishers. By 1935 all of these misprints had been corrected. I will explain in more detail below, but first I will jump ahead to the final analysis:

There was never a US 59 running through Rochester and southeastern Minnesota. (The only US 59 that was ever signposted is the one that runs along the western edge of the state.)
US 65 was never signposted north of the Twin Cities.
US 212 was never signposted east of St. Paul (i.e. never to Stillwater).
US 218 was never signposted northwest of St. Paul (and probably never even north of Owatonna).

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Vintage highway sign photos

1/25/2017

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(most recently updated 1/9/2025)
In 2009 my father and my uncle found these photos -- taken by my paternal grandfather during the 1950s -- and gave them to me, knowing I would appreciate them. That was about 20 years after I had begun taking road sign photos of my own, and until then I had the mistaken notion that I was the first in my family to have this strange hobby. Is it possible that this sort of thing can be passed down through bloodlines?

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US Highways Blog

US route wannabes: Minnesota's rogue routes of 1934

Vintage highway sign photos

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