Historic US Highway ends in Des Moines

Research credits: Jason Hancock. Photo credits: Jeff Morrison

When the US routes were originally commissioned in 1926, US 63 did not serve Minnesota or Wisconsin as it does today. Instead, at Oskaloosa IA, US 63 was routed essentially along what is now IA hwy. 163, ending at US 32 in Des Moines. Where exactly was its endpoint? Jason discovered a map that printed in the October 17, 1926, Des Moines Register which pretty clearly spells it out:

You can see the notation "63 starts", pointing to the intersection of East 14th Street and Grand Avenue. Below are some photos from that junction, taken 80 years later. This first one is looking west on Grand at 14th:

Morrison, July 2005

The car in the foreground is stopped at what was once the north end of US 63 (and later the north end of US 163). Westbound US 32 continued straight ahead, and that was also southbound US 65. Northbound US 65 was to the right - a movement that can no longer be made, as 14th is now one-way southbound (today it carries southbound US 69). In the distance, you can see part of the gold dome of the State Capitol.

Below we're looking north on 14th at Grand:

Morrison, July 2005

US 65 was ahead and to the left, and US 32 ran across the photo. The beginning of US 63 and 163 was to the right. The view in the photo below is from the opposite direction (south on 14th):

Morrison, July 2005

Today that's southbound US 69, but originally it was southbound US 65, which continued to the right. The black car is heading east on Grand - historically that was eastbound US 32, and east of this junction it was also US 63. In 1932, US 32 was swallowed up by US 6, but the endpoint of US 63 stayed the same. In 1934, US 63 was changed to its current corridor (north from Oskaloosa). At that time, US 163 was commissioned to run along former US 63 between Oskaloosa and Des Moines. That route also ended at 14th and Grand, for about four years, and then US 163 was decommissioned. Much more info and maps about highways in Des Moines are available on Jason Hancock's page and on Jeff Morrison's page.