End of US highway 271

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 Jeremy Lance. Photo credits: James Allen; David Backlin; Justin Cozart; "drewesque"; Jeremy Lance; Steven Nelson

US 271 was an original 1926 route; at the time it was something of a "scenic loop" route off US 71 between Fort Smith and Mena AR (via Poteau OK). Different maps from the late 1920s show US 271 coming into Mena from Oklahoma on different roads, but the most authoritative one Jeremy has found is the one shown below:

ADHT, c. 1929

You can see that US 271 is shown in Oklahoma along with OK 23, becoming AR 88 where it crosses the stateline. Things in this area have changed tremendously since then. OK 23 is now OK 63. AR 88 is now AR 8 (AR 88 is now signed along a different road leading into Mena). And finally, US 71's modern alignment is completely different than its historic alignment. Originally it went south out of Mena by following today's CR 375. US 271 followed today's AR 8 only as far east as Rocky, but then followed today's CR 93 to its junction with old US 71, just north of Potter. The photo below is looking northeast on CR 375:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

During the late 1920s, that would've been the perspective of a driver heading northbound on US 71. To the left on today's CR 93 was the original south beginning of US 271 (kudos to Jeremy for all that research).

By 1930, the US 271 designation was removed from the segment between Poteau OK and Mena. Instead it was signed along its present route from Fort Smith through Poteau and Tyler TX - and then further south, all the way to Beaumont TX, via today's US 69. Based on a TX DoT map from the 1930s, my guess is US 271 would've come into Beaumont using Concord Road, then made a few jogs in town, winding its way over to southeastbound Railroad Avenue, ending at US 90 (College Street). The photos below are from that intersection, but things have changed so much there that the scene today hardly resembles what it looked like back in the 1930s. This first shot is looking east on College:

Nelson, Jan. 2006

College is now one-way eastbound, but it used to carry both directions of US 90. Its grade at this particular intersection is lower than it used to be - it was lowered in order to go under a railroad viaduct. To the left via northbound Spur 380 was once the south beginning of US 271. That street used to be called "Railroad", but now it's known as M.L. King Parkway. Railroad carried both directions of US 271, but now southbound uses Victoria Street (the block behind the camera). If you were to take that left turn, you'd see the perspective shown below:

Nelson, Jan. 2006

There, College is the crossroad, and northbound MLK is ahead (in the distance you can see where traffic splits into the one-way couplet). That was once the southernmost segment of US 271.

In 1934, the south end of US 271 was truncated back to Tyler. At first, the route came into town on Broadway Avenue, and probably ended at Front Street. The shot below is looking north on Broadway:

drewesque, Feb. 2007

I'm guessing the original south beginning of US 271 was straight ahead. Maps from the 1970s indicate that US 271 had been extended further south on Broadway, ending at 5th Street/Glenwood Boulevard. The photo below is also looking north on Broadway (which at that point is US 69):

Nelson, Aug. 2007

US 69 continues to the left on 5th/Glenwood, but straight ahead on Broadway was once the south beginning of US 271. At some point, US 271 was changed to its current routing and terminus. The photo below is looking south on Beckham Avenue (US 271/TX hwy. 155) at Front Street (TX 31):

Backlin, May 2008

TX 155 continues straight ahead, but not US 271. It's not very common for a US route to have its endpoint at a state route. Except for the lack of an "End" assembly, this junction is impeccably signed, as you'll see below. This next shot is looking east on Front; the south beginning of US 271 is to the left on Beckham:

Backlin, May 2008

The photo below was taken from the opposite direction...

Backlin, May 2008

...and this next one is looking north on Beckham:

Backlin, May 2008

If you continue ahead, the first northbound confirming assembly looks like this:

Backlin, May 2008

Fort Smith AR is about 300 miles ahead. Although staying on US 271 the entire distance isn't the fastest route to get there, it certainly is a scenic way to get there.

The north end of US 271 has always been in Fort Smith, but the exact location of its terminus has changed over the years. David Backlin reports that the original endpoint was at the corner of Towson Avenue and Garrison Avenue. The photo below was taken looking east on Garrison (eastbound US 64):

Backlin, Feb. 2008

US 64 continues by turning left on 11th Street. Northbound Business 71 also goes that way, while southbound is to the right on Towson. Below is a close-up of the sign assembly:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

The US 271 sign is no longer accurate, but it is fitting, because to the right used to be the north beginning of that route (now it begins about 4 miles that direction). The backside of that assembly is visible at far left in the photo below:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

That's looking north on Towson. Just before reaching Garrison, traffic makes a gentle angle onto 11th - the signage at that intersection is shown below:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

That's the original north end of US 271, at its junction with US 64.

Then, sometime in the 1930s, the terminus was changed to the intersection of Towson and Y Street (about 2 miles south of the intersection pictured above). The photo below is looking east on Y St:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

US 271 approached Ft. Smith via what is now OK hwy. 9A, which becomes Y St after crossing the stateline. US 271 ended at its junction with Towson, which was US 71. That junction was probably at the Y-intersection visible in the distance. However, the road visible at lower left (W Street) may have been involved, too (it's a diagonal that connects to Towson just north of here). The photo below is looking the opposite direction (west on Y St from Towson):

Nelson, Apr. 2006

That was once the north beginning of US 271, which started here at US 71. About where the trees are in the distance, this road crosses into Oklahoma and serves the little town of Arkoma, which is situated on a narrow strip between the Poteau River and the stateline.

It wasn't until about 1950 that US 271 was removed from OK 9, instead crossing the Poteau via its current bridge (about five miles further south). In the area where it ends at Business 71 (formerly mainline US 71), the road alignments have changed. Initially, after crossing to the north of Zero Street, US 271 was routed along what is now Towson Place, ending where that becomes Towson Avenue:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

Straight ahead is north on Towson and Business 71; southbound angles off to the lower right. The photo below is looking the opposite direction (south on Towson):

Backlin, Feb. 2008

US 271 used to begin straight ahead on Towson Place. In about 1976 this configuration was changed, and now US 271 begins about a block to the left. Continuing that way, we see the assembly shown below:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

That's looking southeast on southbound Business 71; US 271 begins to the right. The photo below is looking north on US 271 where it ends:

Backlin, Feb. 2008

Business 71 is on a diagonal road at this point - a connector between Towson and Zero Street. Street signs refer to this segment simply as "Highway 71".