End of US highway 641

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info below is based on the research of Robert Droz and Charles Sarjeant. Photo credits: Robert Brooks; Alan Hamilton; Don Hargraves; Joe Reda

US 641 was commissioned in 1955. Until 1972 it went north at least as far as Henderson KY. Many maps from that era seem to indicate the route was co-signed with US 41 north of Henderson, so it's logical to assume US 641 ended at a junction with US 460 just across the river in Evansville IN. However, according to INDoT records, US 641 never entered that state. If so, then it's possible that US 641 actually ended at its junction with US 41 in Henderson, or maybe it was signed to the junction where US 60 splits off on the north edge of town. Or maybe Kentucky signed it all the way to the state line, but Indiana never picked it up. That's the scenario I find most likely - otherwise, what would've been the point of co-signing it with other US routes north from Marion for 65 miles? If there was never any intention to extend the route into Indiana, then it might just as well have been numbered US 179 and ended at Marion KY (and in retrospect, that would've been a better choice, as I'll explain below). Anyway, I've posted a photo from northbound US 41, where it crosses from Kentucky to Indiana:

Hargraves, July 2005

You can see the Indiana welcome sign at far right. In this area, the Ohio River has apparently shifted its course over the years, because the Kentucky line now runs nearly a mile north of today's riverbank. Just ahead is the interchange with I-164. This is my guess as to where the original north end of US 641 was located.

South of Henderson, US 641 was co-signed with US 60 all the way to Marion, and then on its own to its southern terminus at US 79 in Paris TN. There, I assume US 79 originally went through the downtown area. But US 641 wasn't commissioned until 1955. I have a fairly detailed 1959 atlas that shows US 79 bypassing the downtown area to the east, and it seems to show US 641 jogging east on Wood Street, ending at the bypass:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That's looking east on Wood, where US 641 ended. Straight ahead was northbound US 79, while southbound was to the right on Tyson Avenue. The shot below is looking the opposite direction (west on Wood):

Google Maps Street View, 2008

That's southbound US 79, which continues to the left on Tyson. Straight ahead was the original south beginning of US 641.

In 1972, US 641's pointless duplex with US 60 was eliminated, and its north end was truncated to its current terminus at US 60 in Marion. This de-legitimized its number, now that it no longer connects to US 41. The photo below is looking north on Main Street:

Reda, 2001

US 641 ends at Gum Street, where eastbound US 60 comes in from the left and continues straight ahead.

In 1977 the south end of US 641 was extended to I-40's exit 126, south of Camden TN. This first shot is looking westbound on I-40:

Brooks, Jan. 2005

Exiting there, the signage at the end of the offramp looks like this:

Brooks, Jan. 2005

The south beginning of US 641 is to the right, while the north beginning of TN hwy. 69 is left. Below we're looking south on US 641 at the I-40 interchange:

Hamilton, Oct. 2003

No "End" sign, but ahead is just TN 69. The approaching truck is about to encounter the sign shown below:

Hamilton, Oct. 2003

That's the first northbound marker (incidentally, the mockingbird symbol denotes one of Tennessee's official scenic routes). Camden is about 15 miles ahead.