100 years of US routes: 1926-2026

US route endpoints in
Keokuk, IA

1927-present

When the US routes were first commissioned in 1926, the south end of US 218 was near Cedar Rapids. Today's US 218 corridor south of Cedar Rapids was originally served by the southern segment of US 161. The south end of US 161 was at its junction with its parent route, US 61, north of Keokuk, not far from Montrose:

c. 1937, IA DoT

Looking at modern roads in the area, one might think that US 161's terminus was where today's US 218 meets US 61 and continues south along with it:

Castleman, 2004

That is the modern equivalent of the junction where US 161 ended. But the actual historic junction was vacated in the 1990s, when US 61 was upgraded to an expressway and realigned through this area. This animated image alternates between a 1964 topo (which shows the original junction) and a modern aerial photo (which shows the current junction). For comparison, a crosshair marks the location of the original junction on both images, and the aerial shows that nothing of note remains at that spot today:

For more info and photos, please view this Iowa Highway Ends page.

In about 1936, Iowa extended the US 161 designation southward into Keokuk, overlapped with US 61 all the way to the Missouri state line on the old bridge that crossed the Des Moines River. This bridge was situated just to the west of the current US 61-136 bridge. In this image, a crosshair again marks the location of the historic terminus, and again in this case nothing remains at that spot:

In 1937, US 218 was extended further south. It joined US 30 east to Cedar Rapids, and from there it subsumed the southern half of US 161, terminating at the same location:

c. 1938, IA DoT

It is unfortunate that the US 161 designation was eliminated, instead of the US 218 designation: 161 is a more appropriate number for the highway's north-south orientation.

It was probably in 1951 (when US 136 was commissioned to run through Keokuk) that US 218 was truncated to its current terminus downtown (otherwise the highway segment between downtown and the Missouri line would have carried three US route designations). These shots were looking southeast on Main Street; the next intersection is 7th Street:

Hancock, 1998

Morrison, Oct. 2005

US 218 ends there, but southbound Business US 61 continues to the right. Also to the right on 7th (but not marked on that assembly) is westbound US 136. Eastbound US 136 is straight ahead on Main; visible in the background is the assembly providing info about that:

Morrison, Oct. 2005

These photos were looking northeast on 7th, from the perspective of eastbound US 136/northbound Business US 61. The marker in the center is for the Great River Road, which follows the Mississippi from its source at Lake Itasca MN to its mouth near New Orleans. Also to the left is the south beginning of US 218, which is indicated on another assembly just ahead:

Hancock, 1998

Morrison, Oct. 2005

This series shows the perspective of a traveler heading westbound on US 136, or northwest on Main. US 136 takes a left ahead on 7th, which after about three miles crosses the Des Moines River and enters Missouri. Though unmarked on this assembly, northbound Business 61 comes in from the left and continues straight ahead on Main: