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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
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This page is about the south segment of US 89 (not to be confused with the separate north segment of US 89).
1926-1935
North: Spanish Fork, UT
South: Nogales, AZ
1935-1992
North: Yellowstone NP, WY
South: Nogales, AZ
1992-present
North: Yellowstone NP, WY
South: Flagstaff, AZ
Mileage: in 1989 AASHTO listed a figure of 1257 miles for the south segment of US 89... however, that included the mileage of US 89's associated alternate routes. According to the state subtotals on AASHTO's 1989 spreadsheet, the actual end-to-end total of mainline US 89[s] was 1084 miles... but at the time, US 89 still ended in Nogales. Since then it has been truncated to Flagstaff, and our own 2020 measurement yielded 839.3 miles. (US 89 does not exist within Yellowstone National Park, and although the route is implied to run through Yellowstone, the Park divides US 89 into two separate segments.) Want historic mileages? Our handy reference book includes the mileages that were published in all 13 of AASHO/AASHTO's historic route logs (spanning the years 1927 to 1989).
Spanish Fork
US 89 was one of the inaugural 1926 routes; its original north end was in Spanish Fork. It is possible that this terminus would have occurred on 300 South Street at Main Street; this photo is looking south on Main:
Stewart, Jun. 2004
Loafer Mountain dominates the horizon in that direction. In 1927, this was likely southbound US 91 and eastbound US 50. US 50 would have continued to the left, and US 89 would have begun there, overlapped with it. Here we are looking west on 300 South:
Stewart, Jun. 2004
Possibly that was westbound US 50 (which continued to the right with US 91) and northbound US 89 (which ended there).
In 1935 the north segment of US 89 was commissioned, and it is implied to connect with the south segment through Yellowstone National Park. But US 89 does not exist within Yellowstone, so the Park divides US 89 into two separate segments. So the north end of US 89's south segment is now at the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park.
Nogales
Meanwhile, the south end of US 89 was at the Mexico border in Nogales AZ:
c. 1939, Rand McNally
c. 1971, AZDoT
Obviously I-19 was around by the time of this photo, but Arizona had not yet decommissioned US 89 through here:
Summa, 1989
As of 2007, there was no longer any reference to US 89; this shot shows the first signage heading north from Mexico:
Faye and Sandy, 2007
Below is the signage that was at the south end of the route...
Summa, 1989
...and here is a more recent shot of the border crossing where US 89 actually ended:
Faye and Sandy, 2007
Here is a nice photo showing the south end of US 89 as it appeared in 1955, including what must have been at the time a brand-new green US 89 shield:
Flagstaff
In 1992 US 89 was decommissioned through much of Arizona; since then the south end has been at Flagstaff. By then US 66 had long been decommissioned in Arizona (thanks to I-40), but US 180 still runs along part of its historic route through Flagstaff, and US 89 now ends at US 180. The sign bridge shown in this interactive image is for traffic approaching the south end of US 89:
That is also westbound on historic US 66. At the signalized junction visible in the background, the "End" marker shown here is posted:
Schecter, Oct. 2014
That sign was not there until 2008 or later. Straight ahead is westbound US 180/Business 40, while eastbound is to the left on Country Club Drive. Before that "End" sign was there, the US 89 signs just abruptly ended, and traffic was presented with this overhead sign:
Jensen, Sep. 2002
Odd how US 180 was signed as "North", since it is an east-west route. The opposite side of that old sign bridge is shown next; the south beginning of US 89 was heralded thus:
Jensen, Sep. 2002
Elbert, Apr. 2008 (unchanged as of 2013)
Historically that was the perspective of someone on eastbound US 66 and northbound US 89. By the time of the photos above, that was eastbound on US 180/Bus. 40, which continued to the right; the south beginning of US 89 was straight ahead. The first photo showed a flyover ramp at that junction, but the second photo illustrates that it has since been reconfigured to an at-grade intersection. Today the first US 89 marker is posted just beyond that junction...
Schecter, Oct. 2014
...but that was fairly new at the time of that photo. Before that sign was posted, one had to continue ahead a mile or so before the first northbound confirming assembly was seen:
Elbert, Apr. 2008
It should be noted that, heading east on I-40, exit signage makes it look like US 89 begins at interchange 201, as can be seen in this progression:
Sanderson, Mar. 2013
Sanderson, Mar. 2013
Sanderson, Mar. 2013
Most drivers exiting there are not going to be heading back west; it is likely that most people are heading north on US 89. So if it makes sense to sign this exit for US 89, then why not extend the designation to this exit? As a matter of fact, historically the US 89 designation probably did extend to this interchange, based on the fact that in 2012 AZDoT obtained AASHTO permission to vacate the segment of US 89 between I-40 and Old US 66. But now, technically, exit 201 leads to westbound US 180/Business I-40, which in turn leads to the south beginning of US 89, signage for which is shown here:
Officially the US 89 designation does not begin until one makes that right turn. Also, the sign shown next (apparently a City sign, not a DOT sign) was posted a few blocks west of where US 89 ends, but it still indicated that US 89 continues further south:
Elbert, Apr. 2008
Research and/or image credits: Jesse Bender; Chris Elbert; Jeff Jensen; Dale Sanderson; Faye and Sandy; James Schecter; Michael Stewart; Michael Summa
Page originally created 1999;last updated May 4, 2025.
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