Project Name: USH 20 (including parts of the Grant, Blue
Pole and Antelope Trial highways)
Project Location: South Sioux City to the
Nebraska/Wyoming state line
Project Client: Nebraska State Historic Preservation
Office.
Project Summary: Much of the USH 20 route across northern
Nebraska had previously been part of the Blue Pole, Grant or Antelope Trail
highways. It appears, however, that USH 20 was the first roadway designated to
cross the entire northern portion of the state, having been named when the
federal highway system was identified in 1926. Indeed, USH 20 was part of a
national roadway that came to be known as "the last transcontinental." Since its
designation, USH 20 has changed much in Nebraska. Parts of the old road have
been abandoned, while others portions carry only local traffic. But it remains
today, an artifact of Nebraska’s transportation history.
Survey Results: Over 150 surveyable examples of roadside
architecture, or of the old roadway itself, were identified on the alignments
studied for the USH 20 project. All properties were appropriately noted and
included in the record and report provided at project conclusion.
