End of US highway 183

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: me; Mike Wiley

When it was first commissioned in 1930, the north end of US 183 was in North Platte NE. The photo below is looking north on Jeffers Street (US 83); the upcoming light is at 4th Street:

me, June 2001

Westbound US 30 comes in on 4th, turns straight ahead on Jeffers, and is co-signed with US 83 for eight blocks. At 12th Street, US 30 breaks off again to the west. Back in 1930, US 83 didn't run through North Platte. Instead it was US 183 that came up this way from Kansas. The designation ended at US 30, at the intersection shown above. The shot below shows the same place, viewed from westbound US 30:

me, June 2001

That's looking west on 4th. US 30 has always turned north here. But - whereas today US 83 goes both ways - in 1930 it was the north beginning of US 183 to the left.

The original south end of US 183 was near Selden KS. The photo below is looking south on today's US 83:

me, Nov. 2001

That used to be the south end of US 183. At the time, the crossroad was designated US 83: both right (towards Colby) and left (towards Norton). The shot below is looking northeast on US 83. Today that designation turns due north here, and KS hwy. 383 begins straight ahead...

me, Nov. 2001

...but in 1930, US 83 continued straight ahead, and US 183 began to the left. Below is one more perspective on this junction. It was taken from K-383, but it captures the signage for northbound K-23 traffic (left) and for southwestbound K-383 (right):

me, Nov. 2001

In 1930, the road in the foreground was US 83, and the road in the background was the southernmost segment of US 183.

In 1932, the north end of US 183 was extended (via what is now US 83) to its junction with US 83 (which followed today's US 183) at Vivian SD. By the time I was there, unfortunately there wasn't much left worth photographing. This is looking south on US 83:

me, Mar. 2004

The junction with I-90 is just ahead (exit 212), and the town of Vivian is about a mile to the left via the crossroad in this photo, which is old US 16. US 83 used to be co-signed with it left from here (east) to Presho, and then south again towards Winner. So the north beginning of US 183 was to the right - it followed US 16 to Murdo, then went south on its own.

In about 1944, the routing of US 83 and 183 were essentially swapped in South Dakota. After that happened, this junction still marked the north end of US 183 - but then it went left to Presho, while US 83 went right to Murdo.

US 183 was extended to Junction TX in 1940; you can view photos from there on this page.

In 1952 US 183 was extended still further, to its current southern terminus in Refugio TX. The photo below is looking north on US 77 in Refugio:

Wiley, Sep. 2000

US 183 begins to the left, as does Alternate US 77 (which is co-signed with US 183 for all but its northernmost 35 miles). The shot below is a closeup of the sign assembly:

Wiley, Sep. 2000

Note the hurricane evacuation route sign...

At some point (probably around 1970, after I-90 was built), the multiplex between Vivian and Presho was deemed unnecessary, and the US 183 designation was truncated to Presho. You can view photos and get more info on this page.