End of US highway 275

Note: since I don't have access to a comprehensive collection of historical road atlases, much of the info on this page is based on the research of Robert Droz; click here to view his site. Photo credits: Neil Bratney; Jeff Morrison; Stephen Taylor; me

US 275 was commissioned in November 1931; at the time its south end was in St. Joseph MO. According to some maps from the 1940's and 1950's, US 275 came down 4th Street and ended at its junction with US 36:

Morrison, Aug. 2006

That's looking south on 4th at Jules Street. Ahead was westbound US 36, and eastbound US 36 was to the left, so US 136 ended here.

Later, US 36 was redirected to run along 10th Street, to the east (left) of here. So US 136 turned left here on Jules, and ended at the five-way intersection of 10th Street and Frederick Avenue. The photo below is looking east on Jules:

Morrison, Aug. 2006

The cross street is 10th, but the cars stopped at the light are on Frederick, which comes in at a diagonal. They are on southbound Business I-29, which continues off the right edge of the photo. That was a later routing of US 36, so this perspective is another historic south end of US 275.

The original north end of US 275 was in Council Bluffs IA; you can view photos from there on this page.

In 1939 the US 275 designation was extended to its current terminus in O'Neill NE. Let's start with a map of the town:

I've highlighted the route of US 275 in yellow. As you can see, it is co-signed with US 20 into O'Neill, and the designation ends at the junction with US 281 (despite its number, US 275 is signed east/west in Nebraska, so in one sense it's fitting that it ends not at its junction with the east/west US 20, but rather at the north/south US 281). The photo below is looking west on Douglas Street, which carries US 20 traffic through town:

Taylor, 2000

Douglas also serves as US 275 until this intersection (4th Street), where it ends. US 281 comes in from the south (at left) on 4th, then is routed straight ahead with US 20 for about six blocks, and then heads north again. The signage at far right is shown close-up in the photo below:

Morrison, June 2006

The shot below is looking the opposite direction (east) on Douglas, at the west beginning of US 275:

Morrison, June 2006

That's a giant shamrock painted in the middle of the intersection - O'Neill is quite proud of its Irish heritage. US 275 begins straight ahead, via eastbound US 20. The sign at far left is for traffic on northbound US 281; it's shown close-up below:

Morrison, June 2006

US 281 continues to the left with westbound US 20, but to the right is the beginning of US 275. If you turn that direction, you'll soon see a confirming assembly:

Morrison, June 2006

In 1963 the south end of US 275 was truncated to its current terminus in Rock Port MO. The photo below was taken looking south; the crossroad in the background is US 136:

me, Oct. 2002

Rock Port is to the left about a mile. US 275 used to continue that way, and a few miles further east to Tarkio. From there it was co-signed with US 59 about 70 miles south, to St. Joseph. Apparently after US 136 was commissioned it didn't make sense to have US 275 co-signed with other routes for its southernmost 80 miles, so the designation was truncated back to Rock Port. Anyway: behind the green sign you might just be able to make out the red-and-white hatch pattern on the sign at the intersection - that's also visible in the photo below (behind the 275 arrow).

me, Oct. 2002

There we're heading east on US 136; the south beginning of US 275 is to the left. If you take that turn, you'll see the first northbound US 275 sign:

me, Oct. 2002

That sign is also visible in the photo below:

Morrison, June 2003

That's the south beginning of US 275 as seen from westbound US 136. Interesting how 3-digit shields were used for the signs on US 136, but 2-digit blanks were used for signage on 275 itself.