Trunk Highway 1
Length:	346 mi (557 km)
Formed:	1933
West end:	ND 54 at the Red River, at Oslo, the Minnesota — North Dakota state line, near I-29
Major junctions:	U.S. 75 at Warren U.S. 59 , MN 32 at Thief River Falls MN 89 at Red Lake U.S. 71 , MN 46 at Northome MN 38 at Effie MN 65 at Togo U.S. 53 at Cook MN 169 at Vermilion Lake Twp. and Ely
East end:	MN 61 at Lake Superior, at Illgen City, in Beaver Bay Township, near Silver Bay
Minnesota State Highways < I-694 US 2 >

Minnesota State Highway 1 is a highway in northwest and northeast Minnesota, which runs from North Dakota Highway 54 at the North Dakota state line (at the Red River in Oslo) and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with Minnesota Highway 61 at the unincorporated town of Illgen City in Beaver Bay Township on the North Shore of Lake Superior. At 346 miles (557 km) in length, Highway 1 is the longest state route in Minnesota.

[edit] Route description

State Highway 1 serves as an east–west arterial route between Oslo, Warren, Thief River Falls, Red Lake, Northome, Cook, Tower, Ely, and Beaver Bay Township.

The route passes through the counties of:

State Highway 1 passes through the following forests:

• Finland State Forest in Lake County
• Superior National Forest in Lake and Saint Louis counties
• Bear Island State Forest in Lake and Saint Louis counties
• Kabetogama State Forest in Saint Louis County
• George Washington State Forest in Itasca County
• Koochiching State Forest in Koochiching County

Intersection of Highways 1 and 169 in Ely

The route runs concurrent with State Highway 169 for 26 miles (42 km) from Vermilion Lake Township (west of Tower) to Ely.

State Highway 1 also runs concurrent with State Highway 89 for 28 miles (45 km) on the southwest side of Red Lake. This is the longest concurrency with another state highway within Minnesota.

[edit] History

Most of State Highway 1 was authorized in 1933, except for a section between U.S. 75 and State Highway 32 at Thief River Falls.

The route was given the Highway 1 designation because it was one of the longest trunk highways, and would allow re-use of the Route 1 markers removed from along U.S. 61 and U.S. 65 in 1934.

As recently as 1963, significant portions of Highway 1 were unpaved.

Highway 1 still had an unpaved segment in 1996, between U.S. 53 and State Highway 169 in northern Saint Louis County. At that point it was swapped with paved Saint Louis County Road 22.

[edit] References

• Adam Froehlig (December 1, 2002). Minnesota Highway 1. MN Highway Endings. Accessed August 27, 2004.
• Steve Riner (July 26, 2003). Details of Routes 1-25. Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed August 27, 2004.