End of US highway 266

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; click here to view his site. Photo credits: Robert Brooks; Jeremy Lance; Steven Nelson

Today US 266 seems like a strange little highway: it's only 42 miles long, it's entirely within the state of Oklahoma, and it doesn't even connect with historic US 66... all of which lead to the question: why is this even a US route?

An historical understanding is helpful. In 1926 there was no US 62. West of Henryetta, US 266 followed what is now US 62 for another 90 miles or so, ending at its junction with US 66 in Oklahoma City:

OK DoT, c. 1930

So that explains its number... and its existence: it was the precursor to I-40 between OKC and Warner. The intersection where US 266 ended (Lincoln Boulevard and 23rd Street) has changed tremendously since the 1920's: Lincoln is now divided into one-ways that straddle the State Capitol; 23rd is below grade; and cloverleafs connect the two. Perhaps the photo below, looking north on Lincoln, tells the story best: ahead was northbound US 77 and eastbound US 66; to the west (left) on 23rd was southbound 77/westbound 66; and to the right on 23rd was the west beginning of US 266:

Nelson, Apr. 2006

The photo below was taken from the southbound Lincoln overpass, looking east along 23rd:

Nelson, Apr. 2006

This would've been northbound US 77/eastbound US 66, which went north (left) on Lincoln. Ahead was the west beginning of US 266.

Four years later, when US 62 was commissioned, it swallowed up most of US 266: the segment from OKC to Henryetta. The remaining portion was still important, but since it no longer connected with its implied parent, perhaps its designation should have been changed to US 162 or 262. Anyway, here's where US 266 ends today:

Brooks, Sep. 2005

There used to be an "End" sign there...

Lance, 2000

...but Robert reports it was gone by 2005. Those signs are/were posted where US 266 intersects US 62/US 75. Both of those highways are routed on I-40 as they approach Henryetta from the west. Then they head north together to Okmulgee, on a segment which allows travellers northbound on the Indian Nation Turnpike to continue on to Tulsa. Below is a different perspective of that same intersection:

Brooks, 2004

There we're looking south on US 75 (which is also westbound US 62); the west beginning of US 266 is to the left. That intersection has always been the terminus, but straight ahead is a newer road, connecting to the Indian Nation Turnpike. Originally, US 62/75 continued to the right, through downtown Henryetta. The photo below was taken heading eastward out of Henryetta, via historic northbound US 75/eastbound US 62:

Brooks, Sep. 2005

Note how US 62 is signed as if it's a north-south route here. US 62/75 continued by turning left, and US 266 began straight ahead. It still does, even though US 62/75 has been rerouted to the right. The first eastbound reassurance marker is barely visible in the distance; it's shown close-up below:

Brooks, Sep. 2005

From there, US 266 roughly parallels I-40 all the way to its eastern terminus in Warner - at which point one sees the sign in the photo below:

Lance, 2000

US 64 comes into Warner from the east (right in the photo), but at Warner it heads north (straight ahead) to Muskogee and Tulsa. US 266 begins at this point, initially by heading south through an interchange with I-40. After about 3 miles, it begins heading westward - and soon crosses the path of I-40 again.