End of US highway 83

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Bob Otterson; Stephen Taylor; me

Historic northern segment
Approx. time period North Terminus South Terminus
1926-1931 (near Bismarck, ND) (near Pierre, SD)
Historic southern segment
Approx. time period North Terminus South Terminus
1930-1931 (near Norton, KS) Liberal, KS
Single route (joined segments)
Approx. time period North Terminus South Terminus
1931-present (near Westhope, ND) Brownsville, TX

US 83 was an original 1926 route, but at the time it measured less than 200 miles in length. Its north end was at US 10 outside Bismarck ND, at Sterling (where historic US 10 runs about a mile south of I-94). The photo below is looking north on US 83:

Otterson, Aug. 2004

I-94's interchange 182 is barely visible in the distance (behind the US 83 marker); Bismarck is about 20 miles to the west (left). The crossroad in the foreground is old US 10 (now CR 10), so this intersection once marked the north end of US 83. Below we're looking eastbound on old US 10:

Otterson, Aug. 2004

The stop signs in the middleground are at US 83's mainline, and the curve to the right is a connector to southbound US 83: that was the original north beginning of US 83. Normally a county road like this wouldn't have guide signage for an intersecting highway, so that assembly is probably a remnant from the era during which this was still US 10.

The original south end of US 83 was probably at its junction with US 14 northeast of Pierre, near the town of Blunt. Originally eastbound US 14 out of Pierre followed today's SD hwy. 1804 northward. Near Oahe Dam, where 1804 veers northwest, US 14 continued due north on what is now CR 153, to the community of Gray Goose. There, US 14 turned due east along today's CR 805, which joins the modern alignment of US 14 about two miles west of Blunt. Three miles west of Blunt is the junction with US 83 - and my guess is that was the original south terminus of US 83. The photo below is looking north on US 83:

Google Maps Street View, 2008

Running across the photo is 198th Street, or CR 805. That was the original route of US 14, so the south beginning of US 83 was probably straight ahead.

1930 saw the appearance of a separate southern leg of US 83, which ran between Norton and Liberal KS. Norton? That's right: at the time, US 83 was signed along what is now KS hwy. 383 southwest out of Norton, joining the current US 83 near Selden. Presumably US 83 ended at its junction with US 36, just west of Norton. The south end of the south segment of US 83 was in Liberal KS; you can view photos from there on this page.

In 1931, the two segments of US 83 were joined through Nebraska*. Moreover, the north terminus of US 83 was extended from Bismarck up to Canada, and the south terminus was extended all the way through Texas to a Mexican border crossing. So it was 1931 when US 83 joined the big-leagues and became an international highway. It's now about 1900 miles long, making it one of the longest north-south US routes. You can view lots of photos and info about the south end of US 83 on my page about US highway ends in Brownsville TX. (I should point out that, while US 83 appears to be signed as a north-south road in Brownsville, I'm told it is signed east-west elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley, perhaps between Harlingen and Roma.)

*From Norton, US 83 went northeast on modern K-383; north on US 183 to Elm Creek NE; east with US 30 to Kearney; north on NE hwy 10; northwest on NE 2; north via US 183 all the way up to Presho SD; and west with US 16, connecting with the current US 83 at Vivian. Jesse Whidden informs me that it was in the late 1930's when US 83 and US 183 were changed to more closely resemble their modern routes through the area.

At its north end, US 83 serves a Canadian port of entry north of Westhope ND. There was no "End" sign, but the photo below shows the spot where US 83 crosses into Canada at its north end:

Taylor, 2000

The sign at right is shown close-up below:

Taylor, 2000

US 83 continues as Manitoba hwy. 83. The shot below shows the first US 83 sign as one heads south from the international border:

Taylor, 2000

The green sign in the middleground indicates that the junction with ND hwy. 5 is six miles ahead.