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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Endpoints of
1928-1938
North: Nephi, UT
South: near Moroni, UT
from AASHO's 1929 route log
US 189[i] was an odd little highway that probably should never have been on the US route system. It existed only to connect towns along US 89 in the Sanpete Valley with US 91 at Nephi (US 91 no longer exists in this part of Utah, because I-15 now occupies its historic corridor).
c. 1929, UDoT
South of Provo, US 91 originally ran essentially parallel with US 89, but on the opposite side of the San Pitch, Pavant, and Tushar mountain ranges. There were several roads that crossed these mountains and connected the two corridors, so it seems odd that only one of them was deemed worthy of US route status. Only 10 years after it was assigned it was decommissioned; its number was instead used on a more deserving route: that of current US 189.
c. 1939, Rand McNally
c. 1940, Rand McNally
US 189[i] was only about 30 miles long, and its function was more appropriately served by a state route. And starting in 1939, that is exactly what happened: US 189 was redesignated as Utah hwy. 189 (while the US 189 designation was applied to the current route that heads north from Provo). That was confusing, so in 1946 U-189 was changed to U-11, and then around 1969 the route was renumbered again as U-132, which it remains to this day.
Nephi
This photo shows how the historic north end of US 189 looks today:
Stewart, May 2004
(detail)
(detail)
That was westbound on historic US 189 (now U-132) at old US 91 (now U-41). Here we are looking south at the same intersection (on Main Street at 100 North Street):
Stewart, May 2004
Today U-132 also goes to the west (right), but US 189 only went east (left). Drivers turning that direction get nice views of the San Pitch Mountains:
Stewart, May 2004
U-132 (old US 189) rounds the north (left) edge of that range, and then heads south (right) into the Sanpete Valley on the far side.
near Moroni
US 189 terminated at its junction with US 89, just a bit south of Moroni. These photos show the south end of U-132:
Stewart, May 2004
Sanderson, Nov. 2022
Part of the Wasatch Plateau is visible in the background. That is known as Pigeon Hollow Junction; Ephraim is about five miles to the south (right); Mt. Pleasant is about ten miles to the left; and Moroni is about seven miles behind the camera. That is the modern functional equivalent of US 189's endpoint, but that junction is not located in exactly the same place as the historic junction. Back in the 1930s, US 89 did not bypass the town of Spring City (as it does today). Instead, from Mt. Pleasant, US 89 went south on what is now U-117 to Spring City, and then continued south via Main Street and Pigeon Hollow Road:
c. 1937, Census enumeration district map
The segment of old US 89 to the north and east from that historic junction has been vacated, and these days there is not much left to photograph from ground level. However the old roads can be ascertained by viewing an aerial photo of the locale. From the current junction of US 89 and U-132, the historic junction is just to the south and west.
Research and/or image credits: Nathan Edgars; Dale Sanderson; Michael Stewart; Michael Summa
Page originally created 2004;last updated Aug. 10, 2025.
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