100 years of US routes: 1926-2026

US route endpoints in
Covington, MI

1927-present

When the original routes of 1926 were laid out, US 141 went only as far north as Green Bay WI. The short connector route between US 2 at Crystal Falls MI and US 41 at Covington was also among the original routes: it was christened US 102:

c. 1927, Rand McNally

But in 1928 the US 141 designation was extended up through northeastern Wisconsin and into Crystal Falls. From there it absorbed all of what had been US 102, so one could easily conclude that the historic north end of US 102 was the same as the current north end of US 141. However, a look at maps of the area reveals a few historic highway routings:

c. 1939, Rand McNally

When the US routes were originally commissioned, US 41 followed a more direct route between Alberta and Nestoria MI. And US 102 followed what is now known as "Old M-28" out of Covington (more easterly than today's US 141) before curving northward to end at its intersection with US 41. This photo shows what that historic junction looks like today:

Voshol, July 2006

That was looking northeast on Old M-28... it ends at this Y-intersection that provides access to both directions of Old US 41, which runs behind the trees. That was the north end of US 102 until 1928, and then it was the north end of US 141 until 1949. Here we are looking northwest on historic US 41:

Voshol, July 2006

To the left was the north beginning of US 102, and later US 141. This photo was looking the opposite direction (southeast on old US 41):

Voshol, July 2006

US 102 and US 141 began to the right. US 41 traffic was rerouted along the current alignment by 1949, but US 141 continued to follow Old M-28 for a few more years. So its north end was truncated to the junction with today's US 41, shown here:

Voshol, July 2006

That was looking northeast on Old M-28. For a brief period, US 141 ended here at US 41. (If one were to continue ahead about a mile, they would come to the old Y-junction shown in the photos above.) It was 1955 when the modern alignment of US 141 was opened to traffic, and that is when the current north end of US 141 was established. These photos were taken approaching the junction on northbound US 141 (which ends) and eastbound M-28 (which continues to the right with southbound US 41:

Aho, Sep. 1996

Morrison, June 2018 (same as of 2022; unchanged since at least 2006)

Dienhart, Aug. 2022

From that intersection, US 41 heads north (left) to Houghton. Southbound US 41 actually heads east for over 50 miles to Marquette, before turning south towards Escanaba. Here we are looking west on northbound US 41; the north beginning of US 141 is to the left: