After seeing H. B. Elkins's Fun Facts About Kentucky Highways for the 3,000th time, I decided to make a similar page for Mississippi. (The layout is very similar to H. B. Elkins's layout. In other words, this is a rip-off. :-) ) Adam Froehlig's Magnolia Meanderings is a great source for all things Mississippi, including a route log, exit lists, and photos (including state highway end photos). Joe Gillis has some information on the Interstates and US routes as well as an 1895 (!) map of Mississippi scanned in. Chris Lawrence has information on some construction projects and some photos as well. The rest of my road site has road photos I've taken. I got some info from Robert Droz's US highways site as well. MDOT also has a web site. Mississippi doesn't have as many web sites as many other states, but we're working on that. :-)
Primary routes have 1 or 2 digits(such as 4 or 35)
Odd routes are N-S and even routes are E-W, no major exceptions
Existing ranges are 1-69 and 2-50 (76 is an out of place number)
Longer or older E-W routes get lower numbers (like 8 or 26), shorter or newer E-W routes get higher numbers (like 30 or 42)
Low even numbers (2-26) increase as you go south (10 was changed to 50 and 20 was changed to 28)
Higher evens are probably arbitrary and are less important routes
Odd numbers in north part of state go from 1 on the Mississippi river to 25 linking Iuka to Jackson, these are looser in pattern
Odd numbers in south part of state go from 27 to 63(67 was originally 55 and 69 is out of place, although they do have to use new numbers), though some 3x and 4x routes can be found in the north part as well
Major violations include 17 (between 7 and 9), 41 (runs E-W between Okolona and New Wren), and 76(hopefully a temporary number, with US278)
Secondary routes have 3 digits(such as 145 or 336)
Odd routes are usually N-S and even routes are usually E-W, and they are almost always signed this way, even if they violate the rule
1xx routes are old routes of US highways(like 145 and 178 in Tupelo)
There is only one 2xx route, 245, a bypassed section of US45A
3xx routes are in north part of state, 4xx routes are in north-central part of state, 5xx routes are in south-central part of state, 6xx routes are in south part of state
"Secret" routes (which are occasionally signed) get 7xx numbers in north, 8xx numbers in middle, and 9xx numbers in south; they frequently do not follow directional rules
Major violations include 315 (over half this route is E-W, although it's signed N-S, plus it's too dang long), 363 (east-west route signed north-south), 370 (too long and confusing; nobody would travel this route from end to end), many 39x routes and 49x routes(they constantly intersect), 407 (runs east-west AND is a broken route), 433 (primarily east-west), 468 (C-shaped route), 487 (another C-shaped route), 513 (N-S route with W extension that might as well be 514), 547 (route is E-W on a map), and 604 (entire route is N-S, though it's probably signed differently)
State Highway Numbers The Interstates Stole
10: Former number of MS-50. Did not run east of Columbus. The original plan was to multiplex this with MS-15 and US-45 so both ends would touch US-82 and then to renumber this to MS-82N.
There was never a MS-110 or a MS-220, unless there were older conventions for assigning numbers to secondary highways that I don't know about.
Gulf Coast Renumbering
When the Interstates came into Mississippi, many N-S state routes in the Gulf Coast area were renumbered. I do not know what year this occurred. Here are the routes with their old and new numbers.
53 stayed 53
55 became 67
57 became 15 (which originally connected to the original 15 N of Beaumont but is currently separated)
59 became 57
63 stayed 63, but was later rerouted S of Lucedale with the original route becoming 613, anyway
Any other info I can find on this can be helpful. If you have any more info, please e-mail me.
Other Major Renumberings And Reroutings
Mississippi's routes have been more static than those of many other states (which makes historical info much less interesting than that of, say, California, but we've still had some major renumberings and reroutings that weren't covered in the Gulf Coast Renumbering.
2: In 1934, this route ran along current US-72 W of Corinth and its current routing E of Corinth. Before 1939, US-72 was rerouted, and MS-2 was truncated (and was only a few miles long). Later on, it was extended southwest to Hickory Flat (but MS-2 is not signed between Blue Mountain and the 2/4 split E of Ripley).
3: MS-3 has had at least four (if not five) separate routings, with three currently existing (they're all considered the same routing by the state, however). The northernmost routing took modern MS-301 S from the TN line until modern MS-304, where it went west to US-61 at Robinsonville. The next routing of it originally ran S from Crenshaw to Tutwiler (and was later extended N to US-61 near Newport after the decommissioning of the first routing). It then restarted at Yazoo City and ran S thru Vicksburg and Utica to Crystal Springs, partially along modern MS-27. The MS-3 in Sunflower County was added later. According to Adam Froehlig, most of the original route from Yazoo City to Tutwiler became US-49W.
15: It was replaced by US-98 E of Beaumont and then later extended in the Gulf Coast Renumbering.
23/25/45W: In 1934, MS-25 ran along its current routing until the junction with modern US-45 ALT, where it turned south and ran along modern US-45 ALT and US-45 to Macon. (US-45 followed an entirely different route between Columbus and Macon.) MS-23 was modern US-45 ALT N of the MS-25 junction, plus a multiplex to West Point and an old road (now several county roads and a bridge that disappeared) to Starkville. This was changed in the 1950's. There is currently now no direct road, state or county, between West Point and Starkville, despite the fact that one is shown in Rand McNally's atlas. Sometime in the 1950's or 1960's it was renumbered MS-45W, then it was upgraded to US-45 ALT in the 1970's. Now MS-23 is a road from Smithville to the state line near Red Bay, Alabama. More info is available below.
24: It was replaced by US-98 between McComb and McLain and by MS-57 from McLain to Leakesville. I wonder if the second was related to the Gulf Coast Renumbering or not.
43: Originally multiplexed with US-11 S of Picayune and then took MS-607's current course (except that it went thru what is now Stennis Space Center).
US Highway Trivia
11: Original south terminus of US-11 was in Santa Rosa, Mississippi. It was extended into Louisiana because of a new bridge built on US-90 over the Pearl River.
45: The original proposal for US-45 terminated in Meridian, but when actually approved in 1927 it ended in Mobile. Apparently, MS-39 replaced part of it. I'm wondering if this is in Meridian or north of Meridian, since to me MS-39 looks like a much shorter route for US-45 to originally take (but in 1934, MS-39 did not extend north of De Kalb as far as I know).
45 ALT: US-45 ALT was originally numbered MS-45W, being upgraded in the 1960's. Before that it was MS-25 S of West Point and MS-23 N of West Point.
49: US-49 originally ran only south of Jackson, then was extended north to Clarksdale in 1928. In 1963 it was extended into Arkansas. The current split has been around since 1932, but there was formerly another split from Hattiesburg to Brooklyn as well between 1930 and 1935. US-49E went thru McLaurin and US-49W went thru Stump. According to http://www.us-highways.com/usdiv.htm#US49W1, one county road that replaced US-49W (it was a short split) was called Old Highway 19. Seeing as 19 has always run thru Meridian and Philadelphia since at least 1934 (and the current numbering system originated in 1929 or 1930 AFAIK), was there a short-lived pre-1930 numbering system? Or was this a misprint? Anyway, the current US-49W (not the old one I was just talking about) may have replaced part of the chaotic MS-3.
65: US-65 is still certified south of Natchez along US-61, but not signed. Apparently, the south terminus is the MS/LA state line. I think having US-65 in Mississippi at all is stupid (since it's all multiplexed with other roads), but that's just me. :-)
72: US-72 used to multiplex with US-45 N of Corinth to Selmer, TN, going west from there to Memphis along modern US-64. The original MS-2 involved current US-72 W of Corinth as well as the current MS-2 NE of Corinth. It was truncated at Selmer in 1932 and extended to Memphis along the former MS-2 in 1935.
82: US-82 originally only existed W of Columbus when commissioned in 1932. In 1934 it was extended east to Tuscaloosa.
84/86: US-84 originally did not enter Mississippi, terminating at Dothan. The original MS-22 ran along this route before being placed on a new route from Edwards to Canton. Only in 1933, US-86 ran from Natchez, MS to Wagarville, AL, when it was then replaced with US-84. Much later, US-84 was rerouted from its former routing (multiplexing S with US-45 to State Line, going E on MS-42/AL-56 to US-43, and going N on US-43 back to its current routing) to a more direct route.
98: Originally, US-98 did not enter Mississippi. US-98 E of McComb was originally MS-24 W of McLain and MS-15 E of Beaumont. US-98 W of Summit was originally part of MS-44. It was extended in 1955. It then multiplexed with US-84 to the LA state line, but was cut back in 1998 to Bude.
278: The original route for US-278 in Mississippi was from Tupelo to the AL line, replacing MS-41 W of Amory and MS-6 E of Amory. It was commissioned in 1952. In the 1970's it was truncated at New Wren. In 1998, however, it was extended once again to Tupelo and also west along MS-6, south along US-61, and west along US-82 to the Arkansas border, terminating in Wickes, AR. This extension is still not signed in Mississippi as of 2001, and I have plenty of photos of the non-signage of it. US-278 is, however, signed quite prominently in Arkansas.
Any business routes: A traveler thru Mississippi may notice that there are no signed business US routes in Mississippi. Most were changed to 1xx routes (such as MS-145 in Tupelo), with a few being decommissioned entirely (such as US-82 in Greenwood). There is actually (to contradict my previous statement) a signed BUSINESS US-45 in Meridian and Marion, but it's signed and maintained by city/county authorities.
State Highway Oddities
I don't know why there is no 31, 34, 36, or 40. (Forgot to ask about 38 :-) ) These roads have never existed. In my opinion, if they need to create any new 2-digit routes, they should use these numbers (following the even/odd rule, of course), but I doubt they will.
24/48: For some reason, MS-24 takes a convoluted route thru Gloster to get from Centreville (that is how they spell it) to Liberty, with MS-24 taking the more logical, shorter route. It has always been this way. I think MS-24 and MS-48 should be switched between MS-33 and Liberty, thus eliminating a multiplex.
41: I have no idea why this number was picked out for this road, as its original routing was more E-W than N-S. Even still, MS-41 is E-W E of Okolona (and signed N-S), and that E-W part should be part of MS-32!
315: MS-315 runs much more E-W than N-S, yet it is signed as N-S even when going "north" means going directly south. I don't know why this road got an odd number.
370: Only a roadgeek would actually travel this route end-to-end to get between Ashland and Kirkville. It's 75 miles long or so (IF that is one route and not three) and makes absolutely no sense. I could MAYBE see traveling from Ripley to Baldwyn on this, but it's not signed along its multiplex (that may not exist) with MS-30. It's also not signed along its possible multiplexes with MS-15 or MS-4, BUT it is signed along the multiplex with MS-9. Oddly enough, it is not signed on the locally maintained section between MS-9 and the Lee County line, so in short, there is an isolated signed section that is entirely multiplexed with MS-9. Someday I want to travel this route end to end. :-)
468: One of Mississippi's weirdest highways. It runs SW from Brandon to Whitfield, NW from Whitfield to Pearl, and NE from Pearl to Flowood. In typical Mississippi fashion, the entire route is signed E-W, even when you're actually going the exact opposite direction from what the sign says. (The reassurance isn't great on the highway, anyway.)
Multicolored Route Markers
From about the 1950's until sometime in the 1970's, there were multicolored route markers used in Mississippi. (I suspect that in some areas they didn't go down until much later. My hometown, Pontotoc has a lot of signs from 1985, for example.) Unlike in other states, however, these markers were only used in cities. I wish they still did this, but unfortunately very few examples of this remain. It's amazing that a state that doesn't want to forget its past preserves so few old signs. </politics> Thanks to various people on the USENET newsgroup misc.transport.road for some of this info. An example that still stands in Greenwood is here. Here were the colors, as far as I can tell (on the routes I have info for):
The highest-numbered MS highway is MS-994. The highest regularly signed one as far as I know is MS-619 (the former MS-991). The lowest-numbered MS highway is MS-1. If anybody's curious, there are no numbers between 76 and 145 being used right now. Mississippi does not officially have duplicate highway numbers. This means that three routes with the same number are legally part of the same route, even if that routing would make absolutely no sense.
Here are some other facts, courtesy of a Froggie post on misc.transport.road in 1999 (courtesy of Google Groups):
Longest highway in Mississippi is MS 15, at 328.24 miles.
Longest US highway (and 2nd longest highway) is US 61, at 319.316 miles.
Longest Interstate (and 3rd longest highway) is I-55, at 290.414 miles.
Shortest signed highway is MS 591, at 0.19 mile (just over 1,000 feet).
It's in Pike County.
Shortest hidden highway is MS 915, at 0.07 mile (about 370 feet). It's
effectively a single block between MS 42 and MS 43 in New Hebron.
If you have anything to add or any corrections you would like me to make, please e-mail me. This page is not an official source from MDOT, and in times of disagreement with other sites, is not necessarily right. I would like to eventually know a definite year for the beginning of the highway numbering, when MS started doing secondary routes, and why they numbered them starting with 301 instead of 101, but that information may be very hard to find out.
