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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
US route endpoint in
1927-1997
When the US routes were first commissioned in 1926, US 84 began in Brunswick GA and went only as far west as Dothan. There, it ended at its junction with US 231:
c. 1928, Kyso
This photo was taken looking north on Oates Street at Main Street. Oates (now Business 231) was historically mainline US 231. Originally US 84 began to the right on Main, which is now Business 84:
Nelson, Aug. 2005
At the time there was no US 431. But its precursor, US 241, was commissioned in 1930. Its south beginning was straight ahead, overlapped with US 231 along Oates:
c. 1931, AL St. Hwy. Dept.
Here is a photo showing a US 241 shield somewhere in Alabama:
c. 1949
US 241 was eliminated a few years later, in 1954 -- most of it was replaced with the US 431 designation:
c. 1954, AL St. Hwy. Dept.
For its first 40 years or so, US 431 began at the same place US 241 had previously begun. Eric Plier describes it as follows:
"I lived in Dothan and remember the history of its terminus there quite well. Sometime between 1994 and 1999, the highway was rerouted. From as early as 1978 (perhaps even earlier -- this was when I first became aware), US 431 passed beyond the Ross Clark Circle as Reeves Street, then was co-signed with Business US 231 on North Oates St. Its official terminus was at the intersection of Business US 84/Business AL 52, the intersection of East & West Main Street and North & South Oates Street -- almost at the very center of town. Up until 1994, there was an "End" sign posted for US 431, and in the other direction there was a "Begin" sign (up until 1980, when it was replaced with a "North" sign)."
This next photo was taken from the perspective of eastbound Main:
Ivy/Nitzman, Sep. 2008
Until 1934, US 84 began straight ahead. The historic south beginning of US 241 was to the left on Oates, and later it was US 431 that began to the left. But in about 1997, US 431 was rerouted such that it bypasses downtown via Ross Clark Circle, ending on the south side of Dothan at its junction with US 231.
This last photo was taken from the opposite direction (west on Business 84), so it shows the historic west end of mainline US 84:
Nitzman, Jun. 2022
Research and/or image credits: Robert Droz; Adam Froehlig; Brent Ivy; Alex Nitzman; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson
Page originally created 2006;last updated Aug. 03, 2025.
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