Embedded Files
100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
Yes, it was briefly signposted in Alaska... and that was before Alaska even applied for an extension of the US route 97 designation in the 1960s. AASHO approved that request... but only under conditions that were never met. It's a complex and interesting story, so on this page I share everything I've learned so far about US 97 in Alaska, as well as everything I have reason to believe might have been true.
1867: The United States acquired Alaska from Russia, and it became a U.S. Territory.
1926: AASHO commissioned US 97; its northern terminus was (and still is) at the US-Canada border between Oroville WA and Osoyoos BC.
1941: When Pearl Harbor was attacked, the U.S. was suddenly very motivated to build roads in Alaska, noting the importance of supply routes to her military installations there. Around that time, road building in Alaska was under the direction of various authorities: the Dept. of the Interior, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads (BPR), and a subbureau: the Alaska Territorial Road Commission. The U.S. government funded the construction of even the Canadian segments of the Alaska Highway.
1953: British Columbia changed some of her route designations, including BC 97, which begins at the same border crossing where US 97 ends, continuing northward along the Cariboo Highway to Prince George, and from there along the John Hart Highway to Dawson Creek. At Dawson Creek, the BC 97 designation was applied to the Alaska Highway, continuing north all the way up to the boundary of Yukon Territory. This action may have been encouraged by the Okanogan-Cariboo Trail Association (which billed their road as "the shortest route to Alaska" and would have advocated for the 97 designation along the entire highway).
1955-1956: Once BC 97 had reached Yukon, it was easy for folks to imagine the "highway 97" designation extending further north and west through Yukon and crossing into Alaska, via the Alaska Highway to Delta Junction, and then the Richardson Highway to Fairbanks. In Alaska, how should that route be designated? Well, Alaska was not a state yet, so not "AK 97". But it was a U.S. Territory, so why not "US 97"? This is the timeframe during which the Alaska Road Commission went beyond simply imagining; they actually fabricated some Alaska US 97 shields and posted them heading in two directions out of Fairbanks. In Sep. 1955 an AP article ran in at least two different Alaska newspapers:
Nome Nugget, 09-21-1955
That article gives the mistaken impression that the Alaska Highway passes directly from British Columbia into Alaska. The reality is that the southwest corner of Yukon intervenes.
The action described in that article constituted an unauthorized use of the US route shield, done without AASHO's knowledge or approval. Reportedly the signs were taken down after only about a year or two. For that reason, photos that show Alaska US 97 shields posted in the field are not common. In fact, the only example I have seen is this one, taken in Fairbanks:
Hartweg, date unknown; slide digitally scanned by Nore
That was looking south on Cushman Street from about Gaffney Road (Airport Way had not yet been built). But apparently Alaska US 97 signage did not stop at Fairbanks; rather signs were installed north along the Steese Highway to Fox, and from there north along the Elliott Highway to Livengood (see next entry).
1957-1958: Some USGS maps printed during this specific and narrow timeframe show US 97 shields from the Alcan border through Fairbanks to Livengood:
1952 basemap, with highway designations and other features updated in 1958
At that time, Alaska was not a member of AASHO, and AASHO had not yet been asked to approve the US 97 designation in Alaska. So why did USGS maps show US 97 in Alaska? Many of the features shown on USGS maps (particularly during the 20th century) were sourced from field-checks. So it seems quite likely that the reason USGS maps showed US 97 in Alaska was because US 97 signs were posted along the highway during the time that the cartographers field-checked their maps (refer to the 1955 paragraph, above).
US 97 was also illustrated on some commercial maps, such as this 1957 map published by the Alberta Motor Association (although their assertion that the Alaska Highway was also designated Yukon 97 was just wishful thinking):
c. 1957, Alberta Motor Assn.
1959: Alaska was admitted as the 49th state in the Union. USGS maps printed in 1960 and later were not labeled with US 97 shields.
1964: The recently-formed Alaska Dept. of Highways sent an application to AASHO formally requesting the US 97 designation in their state. Why would Alaska want a US route? They anticipated and answered that question in their application; following is an excerpt:
Here is a portion of a map that was also included in Alaska's application materials; note that Alaska requested US 97 only as far as Fairbanks (not all the way to Livengood):
Regarding US 97's specific terminus in Fairbanks: it would have been on what is now the Richardson Highway at Airport Way (where it becomes the Steese Expwy). However, the current alignment of Richardson and Steese had not yet been built (I believe that did not happen until the 1970s). So on this map which Alaska also provided to AASHO, a generalized alignment was shown; I don't believe any road was ever actually built along the exact alignment illustrated here:
If AASHO had accepted Alaska's proposal, I imagine that US 97 initially would have been routed along S. Cushman up to Airport Way (until the current alignment of Richardson Hwy. was built). During this same timeframe, the Okanogan-Cariboo Trail Assn. wrote a letter to Alaska DOH. I have not seen the contents of that letter, but I am quite certain it was regarding the re-posting of US 97 shields in Alaska. That is based on Alaska's reply to their letter, a portion of which is reproduced below:
AASHO's response later in 1964 was generally favorable, although tempered by the stipulation that Alaska could signpost its portion of the route as US 97 only if both BC and Yukon also designated their segments of the Alaska Highway with the number 97. Since BC had already done this, AASHO was really referring to Yukon:
When viewed as a combined unit, the proposed bi-national Highway 97 corridor would have been quite substantial: nearly 2900 miles in length, as shown on this map:
Green = existing US 97 (665 miles)
Blue = existing BC 97 (1350 mi.)
Yellow = proposed Yukon 97 (575 mi.)
Red = proposed US 97 (291 mi.)
1968: Yukon Territory assigned numbers to its highways, but unfortunately they opted not to designate their segment of the Alaska Highway as Yukon 97 (instead they christened it Yukon Highway 1). Later that year, AASHO exchanged correspondence with Alaska Dept. of Highways, whose response included this paragraph:
In my opinion, AASHO should have allowed Alaska to use the US 97 designation, without regard to whether Yukon went along with the idea. But even though AASHO did not, Alaska still could have designated their segment of the route as Alaska 97. Either scenario would have highlighted the fact that Yukon was the only uncooperative entity in the group, which may have eventually caused them to change their position on the issue. But I have not seen any evidence to suggest that Alaska pushed AASHO to reconsider the US 97 designation.
One of the ephemeral US 97 signs was formerly displayed in what is now the Museum of the North (on the Univ. of Alaska campus in Fairbanks):
Teresco, 2001
As of 2024 that display case was still pretty much the same, except in 2006 the US 97 shield was removed and returned to its lender. Other Alaska US 97 signs also ended up in private collections; here are a couple other examples (complete with bullet holes and other evidence that they were actually field-posted at one time):
Broady
Hamilton
Research and/or image credits: Jake Bear; Scott Broady; Tom Hamilton; Richard Hartweg; Michael Nore; Dale Sanderson; Ray Savella; Michael Summa; Jim Teresco; Roger Topp
Page originally created 2021;last updated May 8, 2026.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse