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100 years of US routes: 1926-2026
US route endpoint in
1927-1962
When the US routes were commissioned in 1926, the west end of US 12 was in Miles City:
c. 1927, Rand McNally
The quality of the Miles City inset on the 1935 issue of Montana's official state highway map is not good enough to post here, but it showed US 10-12 coming into town from the northeast on Valley Drive (formerly called Atlantic Avenue). Only US 10 left town to the west, but the endpoint of US 12 was unclear. The three most likely options were:
Valley Dr. at Main Street (where MT hwy. 22 came in from the south and east),
Main at the Custer County Courthouse, or
Main at 7th Street (where MT 22 diverged to the north and west).
In 1939, US 12 was extended further west from Miles City, while US 212 was extended such that it ended in Miles City. The 1951 inset is more legible, and it showed essentially the same road configurations, with only a couple differences in highway designations:
MT 22 coming from the south and west was shown as US 212, and
US 12 no longer ended in town, but continued all the way through, along with US 10:
c. 1951, MT DoT
US 212 probably ended at the same location where US 12 had ended before 1939. Without any additional clues, my best guess is that terminus would have been located at the courthouse. This photo was taken looking east on Main, or historic US 10. The courthouse is visible one block ahead on the right; possibly that once marked the west beginning of US 12, and later US 212:
Sanderson, Oct. 2021
These photos were taken looking west on Main at Valley Dr, where historically US 212 junctioned US 10-12 (so it is possible that it ended here):
Elbert, Jul. 2005
Elbert, Jul. 2005
Sanderson, Oct. 2021
The concrete bridge support visible on the right side of that underpass had some highway signs painted on it. Today they have nearly faded beyond recognition, but back in 2005 they were still reasonably legible:
Sanderson, Oct. 2021
Elbert, Jul. 2005
Today US 12 traffic is directed to stay on I-94 (rather than running through town), and the west end of US 10 is now in North Dakota, so that is an interesting relic of days gone by. The sign on the bottom said "Route 22", referring to the historic designation for what is now MT hwy. 59. Heading the other direction under that bridge, there was this sign:
Elbert, Jul. 2005
Very difficult to make out now, but it appears to say "10 - 12 LEFT", which would be appropriate because those routes turned left just ahead at Valley Dr. Below that was probably a reference either to US 212 or MT 22, which stayed straight ahead on Main.
Research and/or image credits: Chris Elbert; Dale Sanderson
Page originally created 2005;last updated Aug. 12, 2025.
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