Historic US Highway endpoints in Rock Island, IL

Research: Jason Hancock; Jeff Morrison. Photos: Monte Castleman; Jake; Jeff Morrison

In 1930 the US 67 designation was extended north to its junction with US 6 in Rock Island. It came in on 11th Street, then turned east on 3rd Avenue, ending where it met US 32 at 24th Street. But in November 1931, all of US 32 in Iowa was decommissioned, replaced by US 6. That left only the segment from Chicago to the Iowa border at Rock Island. US 32 came in on 5th Avenue, then turned north on 24th St, and ended at 3rd Av, where it met US 67 (see 1934 map below):

scan by Morrison

That was scanned by Jeff Morrison, and it shows US 32 in its last year of existence. However, also in 1934, the US 150 designation was extended into the Quad Cities. Its westernmost segment was co-signed with US 6 along the former US 32, and it ended at the same place. The photos below show that intersection as it appears today; this first one is looking north on 24th:

Castleman, Aug. 2004

Things here have changed a lot. Today this is westbound IL hwy. 92, which curves to the left ahead. But that highway hadn't been built yet in the 1930's, nor was the roadway raised up on this abutment. This was US 6 and US 32; US 67 came in from the left via 3rd (which now ends in the cul-de-sac just visible at far left). US 6 veered right at the sign in the distance, over the bridge to Rock Island Arsenal. There it crossed the main channel of the Mississippi River, entering Iowa via the Government Bridge. US 32 would've been signed at least to this point, but any signs between here and the stateline probably would've been left in place until the route was decommissioned.

That same year, US 150 was extended at least to this point, and possibly across the river to US 61 in Davenport (the only evidence I'm aware of to support that is a 1955 route log that lists Davenport as the terminus. To me it kind of makes sense to sign US 150 from US 61, the major north-south route. But neither Jeff nor Jason Hancock - each of whom have done a lot of research on Iowa highways - believe US 150 ever crossed the river into Iowa.) So here's one more shot from 3rd and 24th:

Castleman, Aug. 2004

That's looking west on 3rd from 24th. Ahead was the south beginning of US 67. To the right was westbound US 6, and maybe US 32 until 1934, but probably not US 150. To the left was eastbound US 6, US 32 until 1934, and the west beginning of US 150 after 1934.

Jeff writes about some further changes that took place later on, after US 67 had been extended further north:

"I believe US 67's alignment switched from 3rd Ave. and 9th St. (as seen on the map above) to its current alignment of 11th St. and a one-way pair of 4th and 5th Aves. in 1940 (as seen on the 1953 map scan below):

scan by Hancock

"I think between 1940 and 1977, at least since 1963, US 150 ended at US 67 on a one-way pair using 4th and 5th Aves. Cue pictures:

Morrison

Above: "Facing east on 5th Ave, on US 67. The crossroad is 15th St. The historic west beginning of US 150 was straight ahead."

Morrison

Above: "Facing north on 15th St., on US 67. The beginning of US 150 was to the right. Straight ahead is one more light before hitting the Centennial Bridge into Iowa. So US 150 came really close to Iowa, but never made it."

Morrison

Above: "Facing west on 4th Ave., old US 150. This is the old west end of 150. The car is on 15th (US 67)."

There's an interesting sign on the Centennial Bridge:

Jake, July 2008

Jake explains this is an original sign from when the bridge was built (in about 1940). When the bridge was renovated in 1996, two old white guide signs were removed and replaced with more standard green ones. But instead of replacing this shield, they painted it green (presumably to match the new guide signs) and put it back up!