U.S. Route 55

U.S. Highway 55
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap US 55 highlighted in red on a modern map
Route information
Length	370 mi[1][2] (600 km)
Existed	1926–1934[citation needed]
Major junctions
South end	US 61 in Davenport, Iowa
	US 30 in Clinton US 20 / US 61 in Dubuque, Iowa US 14 in Rochester, Minn. US 65 in Farmington, Minn.
North end	US 12 in Minneapolis, Minn.
Location
States	Iowa, Minnesota
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided

U.S. Highway 55 was a north–south United States highway. Though it was part of the original 1926 numbering plan, it was deleted within 10 years.

Route description[]

From its southern terminus in Davenport, Iowa,^[3] U.S. Highway 55 initially followed the route of present-day U.S. Highway 52 through Hampton, Minnesota excepting for later local improvements such as the Rochester and Decorah bypasses. It was deleted 80 years ago.

North of Hampton, Minnesota, U.S. Highway 55 headed north and west to downtown Minneapolis. Within the village of Hampton, Minnesota, U.S. Highway 55 followed along Main Street and present-day Minnesota Highway 50 to Farmington. Within Farmington, the highway had a shared segment with what was then U.S. Highway 65 (now Minnesota Highway 3) to Elm Street in Hampton.

From Farmington, U.S. Highway 55 headed westward to Burnsville via present-day 212th Street West, Lakeville Blvd, 210th Street West, Kenwood Trail, and Burnsville Parkway to Lyndale Ave (now Interstate 35W). Following the decommissioning of U.S. Highway 55, the portion of the route between Farmington and Burnsville was subsequently designated as a portion of Minnesota Highway 50, and transferred to County control in 1994 as Dakota County Road 50. From Burnsville, U.S. Highway 55 again turned northwards, following Lyndale Avenue across the Minnesota River and into Downtown Minneapolis via Lyndale Avenue, Lake Street, and 3rd Avenue.

History[]

When the route was designated in 1926, its northern terminus was in Minneapolis at an intersection with U.S. Highway 12, near the Mississippi River. Its southern terminus was in Dubuque, Iowa, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 61 (or possibly U.S. Highway 20). In 1932, US 55 was extended south to Davenport, Iowa, to another intersection with US 61. While US 61 followed a more direct route from Dubuque to Davenport, the new US 55 extension followed the western shore of the Mississippi River.

Just two years later, in 1934, US 55 was deleted entirely. U.S. Highway 67 was extended through Davenport to Dubuque, absorbing the 1932 extension of US 55. The northern half of this stretch was co-signed with an extension of U.S. Highway 52, which took over the US 55 designation to Hampton, Minnesota. From Hampton, US 52 was routed to Saint Paul via Minnesota Highway 56 to Inver Grove Heights and Robert Street into downtown Saint Paul. The remainder of U.S. Highway 55 north and west of Hampton was designated as U.S. Highway 65. The prior routing of U.S. Highway 65 into from Farmington to Saint Paul was redesignated as U.S. Highway 218 for one year, and subsequently redesignated as Minnesota Highway 218, and later as Minnesota Highway 3.

The number "55" was later proposed for the route which would become U.S. Highway 56.^[4]

Major intersections[]

State	County	Location	mi[1][2]	km	Destinations	Notes
Iowa	Scott	Davenport	0	0.0	US 61
	Clinton	Clinton	38	61	US 30 west	Southern end of US 30 overlap
			40	64	US 30 east / Iowa 136 north	Northern end of US 30 overlap
	Jackson	Union Township	55	89	Iowa 117
		Bellevue	76	122	Iowa 62 west
	Dubuque	Key West	97	156	US 61 south	Southern end of US 61 overlap
		Dubuque	101	163	US 20
			102	164	US 61 north	Northern end of US 61 overlap
		Luxemburg	127	204	Iowa 10 west / Iowa 188 south
	Clayton	Garnavillo Township	152	245	Iowa 128 west
		Farmersburg Township	161	259	Iowa 13 south	Southern end of Iowa 13 overlap
		Giard Township	162	261	US 18 east / Iowa 13 north	Southern end of US 18 overlap; northern end of Iowa 13 overlap
	Allamakee	Postville	180	290	Iowa 51 north
		Post Township	181	291	US 18 west	Northern end of US 18 overlap
	Winneshiek	Calmar	199	320	Iowa 11 south / Iowa 24 west
		Decorah	210	340	Iowa 9
			225 0	362 0.0	Iowa–Minnesota state line
Minnesota	Fillmore	Canton Township	1	1.6	TH 44 east
		Preston Township	16	26	US 16 east	Southern end of US 16 overlap
		Fountain Township	21	34	US 16 west	Northern end of US 16 overlap
	Olmsted	Rochester	49	79	US 14 east	Southern end of US 14 overlap
			51	82	TH 59
			53	85	US 14 west	Northern end of US 14 overlap
	Goodhue	Zumbrota	76	122	TH 58 north
		Minneola Township	78	126	TH 21 west
		Cannon Falls	97	156	TH 20 north / TH 50 north	Northern end of TH 20 overlap; southern end of TH 50 overlap
	Dakota	Farmington	113	182	US 65
	Hennepin	Fort Snelling	135	217	TH 52
		Minneapolis	143	230	TH 12
			145	233	US 10 / US 12 / TH 3 / TH 50 south	Northern end of TH 50 overlap
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References[]

• Information regarding routes of the U.S. Highways within Minnesota was obtained from vintage maps provided by the Mid-West Map Company (1929) and H.M. Gousha Company (1935 and 1940).

External links[]

• Endpoints of US highway 55