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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
1926-1930(?)
East: Walsenburg, CO
West: Valley City, UT
1930(?)-1934
East: Walsenburg, CO
West: Crescent Jct, UT
1934-1938
East: near Ucolo, UT
West: Crescent Jct, UT
Except for Walsenburg, the placenames listed above are rather obscure, and many maps do not label them. Ucolo refers to the stateline between Monticello UT and Dove Creek CO. Crescent Junction is a tiny settlement at I-70's interchange 180 (some maps label the site "Brendel", probably after a nearby railroad siding). Valley City was about five miles south of Crescent on US 191. Nothing is there today, but historically the site marked the terminus of US 450, at its junction with US 50.
Walsenburg
US 450 was among the original 1926 routes; its east end was in Walsenburg. At the time, the west end of US 160 was at US 85 in Trinidad. Originally US 160 did not continue north with US 85 to Walsenburg, and then west again, as it does now. Instead, the road heading west from US 85 in Walsenburg was designated US 450:
c. 1931, CDoT
Since the completion of I-25, US 85 is no longer routed through the city. The old route, along Walsen Avenue and Main Street, is now Business Loop I-25. To the west on 7th Street was the beginning of US 450. This photo shows the view as one heads out that direction:
Sanderson, Apr. 2000
That was heading towards North La Veta Pass and Alamosa; a long time ago that is right about where the first westbound US 450 sign would have been posted. This photo was taken looking the opposite direction (eastbound at what used to be the end of US 450):
Sanderson, Apr. 2000
The traffic signals ahead are at Main, or old US 85. Today, US 160 traffic is directed south to an interchange with I-25, with which it is overlapped down to Trinidad. The signage at the intersection itself looks like this:
Sanderson, Jul. 2004
These photos show the view from northbound Main, at the intersection with 7th, where US 450 once began to the left:
Sanderson, Apr. 2000
Sanderson, Jul. 2004
Sanderson, Sep. 2024
These next photos show the view at southbound Main (coming from the lower right) and westbound 7th (disappearing off to the right). The east beginning of US 450 was to the right:
Sanderson, Apr. 2000
Sanderson, Jul. 2004
In about 1934 the US 160 designation was extended north with US 85 from Trinidad to Walsenburg. From there the designation replaced US 450 all the way west to the Utah line (from Cortez, US 160 originally went northwest through Dove Creek, instead of southwest through Four Corners as it does today). At the Utah line US 160 ended, and it was US 450 that continued up to Crescent for the next four years or so, until US 160 replaced US 450 in Utah as well. So until 1938, the "east" end of US 450 (even though it was now almost entirely a north/south route) was at the state line near Ucolo.
Research and/or image credits: Mike Roberson; Dale Sanderson; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2000;last updated Aug. 09, 2025.
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