United States Highway 26 is an east-west United States highway. It started in Ogallala, Nebraska and gradually grew to reach the west coast in Oregon. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming but by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho and Oregon.
Much of the highway follows the path of the historic Oregon Trail. At its peak, immediately before the establishment of the interstate highway system, US 26 was 1557 miles in length, and terminated in Astoria, Oregon.
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2 States Traversed 3 Related US Routes 4 See also 5 Sources |
Termini
As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is in Ogallala, Nebraska at an intersection with Interstate 80. Its western terminus is in Astoria, Oregon at an intersection with U.S. Highway 30. The route's last 20 miles are co-signed with U.S. Highway 101 from the highways' junction between Seaside and Cannon Beach near the Pacific Ocean.
Its westernmost segment, in Oregon between Portland and the coast, is known as the Sunset Highway. While many people may think it received its name because it stretches towards the sunset from Portland, it was officially named January 17, 1946 for the US 41st Infantry Division of the United States Army, also known as the "Sunset Division." Some local historians think that it was more than a coincidence that a logging complex in western Washington County, near the path of US 26, was called Sunset Camp many years before the highway was built.
States Traversed
The highway passes through the following states:
Nebraska
(t.b.d.)Wyoming
(t.b.d.)Idaho
(t.b.d.)Oregon
The segment starting at its intersection with U.S. Highway 35 near Government Camp, Oregon and continuing westward to Sandy, Oregon, has served to define was is sometimes called the Mt. Hood Corridor.Related US Routes
See also
Sources
