U.S. 61 – Deadpioneer's Historic Minnesota Highways Blog

Historic Concrete Pavement on Old 61 Revealed!!

Posted on September 28, 2011September 28, 2011 by deadpioneer

Jeff Wulke was kind enough to share the following photos of what is now Chisago County Road 30 (former MN 361, U.S. 61) between Rush City and Pine Creek, where crews have temporarily stripped away the asphalt to reveal the historic original concrete pavement from the 1920’s!! The concrete was poured back in 1927 as part of the first paved highway between the Twin Cities and Duluth, and was covered when the road was widened and rebuilt in 1954. As you can see from the photos, the old road is in remarkably good condition. This stretch was recently turned back to county authorities after remaining under state jurisdiction as State Highway 361 for many years after I-35 was built to fulfill a legal obligation dating back to 1921 to have a trunk highway passing through the city limits of Rush City, which has since been expanded to encompass I-35. Many thanks again to Jeff for the photos!!

North Shore Madness!!

Posted on July 10, 2011 by deadpioneer

Over the last month, I’ve been adding photo-articles on the historic alignments and bridges along the North Shore Scenic Highway between Duluth and Little Marais to the U.S. 61 Project. In all, there are 22 new photo-articles to check out! The photos in the articles were taken in a two-day period back in April, 2010. See the links below:

Old Highway 61 Between Illgen City and Little Marais
Old Alignment at Illgen City
Baptism River Bridge and Highway
Old Highway at Palisade Head
Beaver River Bridges
Algoma Way
Wood Ridge Drive
Pine Bay Loop
Gitchi Gami Trail at Chapin’s Curve
Split Rock Lighthouse Overlook
Old Alignment at the Split Rock River
Gitchi Gami Trail at Gooseberry State Park
Gooseberry Falls Concourse
Old Road at the Encampment River
Gitchi Gami Trail at Silver Creek Cliff
Stewart River Bridge
French River Bridge
Talmadge River Bridge
Buchanan Historic Marker
North Shore Scenic Drive
Lester River Bridge
Old Thompson Hill Overlook

Finally! The New U.S. 61 Interactive Map is DONE!!

Posted on May 25, 2011 by deadpioneer

After months of work and technical setbacks, I have finally finished the year-by-year data for the U.S. 61 interactive map. I have also cleaned up and updated the whole U.S. 61 section, wrapping the old historic alignment and roadside sections into one called “Articles“.

For those of you not familiar with the other “year-by-year” maps on the site, this data allows you to see the alignment and paving status of the road in any given year. Changes completed that year are also available for comparison so you can see which sections of road were bypassed or paved each year. A new feature I’ve added with this map is the “Compare-a-Year” feature, which allows you to add the alignment from another year. Finally, an “Articles” layer had been added that allows you to see the locations of all the U.S. 61 articles I’ve posted over the years.

U.S. 61 Page Update and New Articles

Posted on June 21, 2010June 21, 2010 by deadpioneer

Just finished a major update to the U.S. 61 section of the page to bring it up the snuff with the new routes being added. I also threw in a couple of brand new articles on old alignments along the north shore for good measure (click on the sample photos below to see them).

Back in April I undertook my first “overnight” expedition, photographing old alignments along the north shore for two days, with a night out in Two Harbors in-between (watch out for those $1 PBR’s, they’ll kill ya!) I have a ton of photos and articles to add in the next couple of months, so rest assured, these two are just the tip of the iceberg!

The New Guide to Driving Old 61 Between the Twin Cities and Duluth

Posted on January 17, 2010 by deadpioneer

Its finally done!! I have finally posted my guide to driving Old 61 between Wyoming and the St. Louis County Line! It includes numerous maps, and nearly 100 photos taken in the last few months on my visits to the old highway. Enjoy!

New Article: Westgate Boulevard, Duluth

Posted on January 8, 2010 by deadpioneer

I have just added another article to the U.S. 61 Project on Westgate Boulevard in Duluth. This was one of my favorite old alignments of U.S. 61 to visit, due to an unexpected marker dedicating its construction in 1924, plus the great views of Duluth Harbor and the pleasant walk through the woods it provided after a long drive. Click the photo below to check it out!

Two New U.S. 61 Articles

Posted on January 2, 2010 by deadpioneer

Two more articles on historic alignments of U.S. 61 just west of Duluth on the Thompson Hill have been added!

Old Hwy 61 and Thompson Hill Road

Old Hwy 61 at the Carlton/St. Louis County Line

Some new articles and photos for Christmas (a little late)

Posted on December 26, 2009 by deadpioneer

In the past week I have added several articles on old alignments of U.S. 61 between the Twin Cities and Duluth, all visited and photographed on two road trips I took in October and November. I have also done some updating of the U.S. 61 section, adding Google Maps API functionality to enable the display of a map showing every historic alignment of U.S. 61 in Minnesota. I have also added a downloadable KMZ file of the alignment map for Google Earth!

The new articles (from north to south):
Service Drive at Maki Road, Thompson Township
Old 61 Between Scanlon and Carlton
Market Street, Mahtowa
Rail Crossing Between Barnum and Mahtowa
Old Hwy 61 North of Barnum
Moose Lake Service Drive
Old Alignment South of Hinckley
Old Alignment at Rock Creek
North Service Drive at Rush City
Alger Avenue, Rush City
South Service Drive at Rush City
Frontage Avenue, Stacy

Historic Roadside Structures Along U.S. 61

Posted on October 5, 2009 by deadpioneer

I recently added a new section to the U.S. 61 Project: An overview and photographs of the historic roadside structures along modern U.S. 61 in Minnesota. Click the photo below to check it out!