U.S. Route 51
Encyclopedia
U.S. Route 51 is a north–south United States highway that runs for 1,286 miles (2,070 km) from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 to within 100 feet (30.5 m) of the Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

-Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 border. Much of the highway in Illinois and southern Wisconsin runs parallel to or overlaps Interstate 39
Interstate 39
Interstate 39 is a highway in the midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois at Interstate 55 to Highway 29 in Rothschild, Wisconsin, approximately six miles south of Wausau. I-39 was designed to replace US Highway 51, which in the early 1980s was one of the busiest two-lane...

. The highway's northern terminus is between Hurley, Wisconsin
Hurley, Wisconsin
Hurley is a city in and the county seat of Iron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,818 at the 2000 census. It is directly across the Montreal River from Ironwood, Michigan.-History:...

 and Ironwood, Michigan
Ironwood, Michigan
Ironwood is a city in Gogebic County in the U.S. state of Michigan, about south of Lake Superior. The population was 6,293 at the 2000 census. The city is on US 2 and is situated opposite the Montreal River from Hurley, Wisconsin. It is the westernmost city in Michigan, situated on the same line...

, where it ends with a T interchange at U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada...

. Its southern terminus is Laplace, Louisiana
Laplace, Louisiana
LaPlace is a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the east bank of the Mississippi River in the New Orleans metropolitan area. The population is 32,134 at the 2010 census....

, ending at U.S. Highway 61.

In addition to singing about U.S. Highway 61 on his album Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...

, musician Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 also commemorated Highway 51, covering Curtis Jones'
Curtis Jones (pianist)
Curtis Jones was an American blues pianist.-Biography:Jones played guitar whilst young but switched to piano after a move to Dallas. In 1936 he relocated to Chicago, where he recorded between 1937 and 1941 on Vocalion, Bluebird, and OKeh...

 folk song "Highway 51 Blues" on his eponymous album Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (album)
Bob Dylan is the debut album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in March 1962 on Columbia Records. It features two original compositions, the rest being old folk standards, and was produced by Columbia's legendary talent scout John H...

. The North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars is a Southern rock/blues jam band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is composed of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson , and Chris Chew...

 also paid tribute to the highway in the title track of their album 51 Phantom.

In Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, all of U.S. 51 south of South Parkway East
Memphis Parkway System
The Memphis Parkway System, locally known as the Parkway System, The Parkways, or simply by their individual names is a system of parkways that formed the original outer beltway around Memphis, Tennessee. They consist of South Parkway, East Parkway, and North Parkway. Designed by George Kessler,...

 was renamed from Bellevue Boulevard to Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 Boulevard. Graceland
Graceland
Graceland is a large white-columned mansion and estate that was home to Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tennessee. It is located at 3764 Elvis Presley Boulevard in the vast Whitehaven community about 9 miles from Downtown and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as...

 sits on this highway, in the subdivision of Whitehaven
Whitehaven, Memphis
Whitehaven is a predominantly African-American community in Memphis, Tennessee, first organized in the late 19th century. Its current population is about 50,000.-Geography:...

.

In 2004, the six states that Highway 51 traverses banded together as the Explore Hwy 51 Coalition to help promote this "All-American Road". The group now offers visitor information for traveling the length of the road.

Louisiana

U.S. 51 crosses the Mississippi/Louisiana border a few miles north of Kentwood and continues to parallel Interstate 55 until just below its interchanges with LA 3234 and U.S. 190 it joins I-55 just south of Hammond
Hammond, Louisiana
Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University...

 at Exit 28. From Hammond, the two highways, cosigned, cross the swamps between Ponchatoula
Ponchatoula, Louisiana
Ponchatoula is a city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,180 at the 2000 census. Ponchatoula calls itself the "Strawberry Capital of the World". It is part of the Hammond Micropolitan Statistical Area. The current mayor is Bob Zabbia.-Geography:Ponchatoula is...

 and Laplace on viaducts to Interstate 10, where I-55 ends. The old highway is located to the east of the interstate and is still used for local traffic. U.S. 51 continues southwestward into Laplace where it meets its end at U.S. 61 (Airline Highway). In the 1930s, this highway was called Jefferson Davis Highway
Jefferson Davis Highway
The Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway was a planned transcontinental highway in the United States in the 1910s and 1920s that began in Washington, D.C. and extended south and west to San Diego, California; it was named for Jefferson Davis, who, in addition to being the first and only President of...

.

Before the construction of I-55, U.S. 51 was routed along what is now U.S. 51 Business between Hammond and Ponchatoula. U.S. 51 Business ends at the joined I-55/U.S. 51 south of Ponchatoula. From this point southward, while U.S. 51 is joined with I-55, the former routing of U.S. 51 lies at ground level just to the east of I-55/U.S. 51 and carries no designation. While the southern terminus of U.S. 51 is in Laplace at U.S. 61, it was once co-signed with U.S. 61 into downtown New Orleans. However, it was originally slated to head toward New Orleans along the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain via the New Orleans-Hammond Highway
Old Hammond Highway
Old Hammond Highway is the designation for what was the main traffic route between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Hammond, Louisiana, United States, for a short time in the early 20th century. It was largely replaced by U.S. Highway 51...

 (old LA 33), which was never completed.

Mississippi

U.S. 51 enters the Magnolia State from Tennessee at Southaven
Southaven, Mississippi
-Households And Families:As of the census of 2000, there were 28,977 people, 11,007 households, and 8,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 857.9 people per square mile...

 and parallels Interstate 55
Interstate 55
Interstate 55 is an Interstate Highway in the central United States. Its odd number indicates that it is a north–south Interstate Highway. I-55 goes from LaPlace, Louisiana at Interstate 10 to Chicago at U.S. Route 41 , at McCormick Place. A common nickname for the highway is "double...

 to the east for much of its length, except for the section between the Tennessee line and Grenada
Grenada, Mississippi
Grenada is a city in Grenada County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,879 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Grenada County.-History:...

, where it parallels the highway to the west. From Memphis, U.S. 51 passes through Senatobia
Senatobia, Mississippi
Senatobia is a city in and the county seat of Tate County, Mississippi, United States, and is the 15th largest municipality in the Memphis Metropolitan Area. The population was 8,165 at the 2010 census....

, Batesville, Grenada, Winona and Canton
Canton, Mississippi
Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi. The population was 12,911 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of the metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson....

 before reaching Jackson.
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...



At the Jackson-Ridgeland
Ridgeland, Mississippi
Ridgeland is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 20,173 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...

 line, U.S. 51 overlaps I-55 from Exit 103 (County Line Road) to Exit 96A (Pearl Street) downtown. The split is only temporary as the highway traverses Pearl, Pascagoula and State streets and meets I-55 again at Exit 93 (Interstate 20
Interstate 20
Interstate 20 is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I‑20 runs 1,535 miles from near Kent, Texas, at Interstate 10 to Florence, South Carolina, at Interstate 95...

/I-55/State Street interchange). The Natchez Trace parkway is crossed near Clinton. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444 mile (715 km) long parkway, in the form of a limited-access two-lane road, in the southeastern United States. The southern end of the route is in Natchez, Mississippi, at an intersection with Liberty Road; the northern end is northeast of Fairview, Tennessee, in the suburban community of Pasquo, Tennessee, at an intersection with Tennessee 100. The road links the cities of Natchez, Mississippi, and Nashville, Tennessee, via Jackson and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Florence in northwestern Alabama. [1]

The two highways run together until Exit 72 (North Crystal Springs). The highway then parallels the interstate through Hazlehurst
Hazlehurst, Mississippi
Hazlehurst is a city in and the county seat of Copiah County, Mississippi, United States, located about 30 miles south of the state capital Jackson along Interstate 55. The population was 4,400 at the 2000 census...

, Brookhaven
Brookhaven, Mississippi
Brookhaven is a small city in Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 9,861 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County...

 and McComb
McComb, Mississippi
McComb is a city in Pike County, Mississippi, United States, about south of Jackson. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 13,644. It is the principal city of the McComb, Mississippi, Micropolitan Statistical Area...

 until it reaches the Louisiana border.

The Mississippi section of U.S. 51 is defined at Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.

Tennessee

US 51 travels through Memphis and up to the Kentucky border in the Mississippi valley. It is planned to become or be bypassed by Interstate 69
Interstate 69
Interstate 69 is an Interstate Highway in the United States. It exists in two parts: a completed highway from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and a mostly proposed extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas...

 through Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

.

Kentucky

U.S 51 enters Kentucky at Fulton, and continues north through the towns of Clinton, Bardwell and Wickliffe to the Ohio River, where it is multiplexed with U.S highways 60 and 62 over the Ohio.

Illinois

U.S Highway 51 enters Illinois from Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 in a concurrency with Interstates 90 and 39. The concurrency with Interstate 90 is for 17 miles. There is a toll plaza
Toll house
A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road or canal. Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and early 19th centuries...

 on this stretch. It costs $1 for cars and 50 cents for those with I-Pass
I-Pass
I-PASS is the electronic toll collection system used by the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority on its toll highways. It uses the same transponder as the E-ZPass system used in the Northeastern US, and the Indiana Toll Road's i-Zoom program....

 transponders. The highway makes a brief 3 mile concurrency with U.S. Highway 20 then heads south in a concurrency with Interstate 39 to Normal. At Normal, the highway makes a concurrency with Interstate 55 and Interstate 74, bypassing Normal and Bloomington
Bloomington, Illinois
Bloomington is a city in McLean County, Illinois, United States and the county seat. It is adjacent to Normal, Illinois, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area...

. South of Bloomington, the highway is an expressway until Decatur, where it makes a concurrency with Interstate 72, bypassing Decatur. The highway is an expressway from south of Decatur until Radford
Radford, Illinois
Radford is an unincorporated community in Christian County, Illinois, United States. It lies at ....

 where it becomes a 2 lane road for most of the way to Interstate 57, with the exception of 10 miles between Centralia
Centralia, Illinois
Centralia is a town located in Marion, Washington, Clinton, and Jefferson Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 13,032 at the 2010 census. The town was founded because it was the point where the two original branches of the Illinois Central Railroad, built in 1853, converged....

 and Interstate 64. There is a concurrency with Interstate 57 for 23 miles. The highway then passes through Cairo
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...

 before crossing the Cairo Ohio River Bridge
Cairo Ohio River Bridge
The Cairo Ohio River Bridge is a cantilever bridge carrying US 51, US 60 and US 62 across the Ohio River between and Wickliffe, Kentucky and Cairo, Illinois...

 concurrently with U.S. Highway 60 and U.S. Highway 62.

U.S. Highway 51 has intersections and concurrencies with Interstate 90
Interstate 90 in Illinois
In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 90 runs roughly northwest through the northern end of the state, from the Indiana border to Wisconsin. I-90 traverses a variety of settings, from farmland west of the Fox River Valley to medium-density suburban west of O'Hare International Airport, to the...

, Interstate 39, Interstate 55
Interstate 55 in Illinois
In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 55 is a major north–south Interstate Highway that connects the St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago metropolitan areas. It runs from the Poplar Street Bridge in East St. Louis to U.S. Route 41 near downtown Chicago...

, Interstate 74
Interstate 74 in Illinois
In the U.S. state of Illinois, Interstate 74 is a major northwest-southeast Interstate Highway that runs across the northern portion of the state. It runs from the Iowa state line at the Mississippi River southeast to the Indiana state line east of Danville, Illinois. This is a distance of 220.34...

, Interstate 72, Interstate 70
Interstate 70 in Illinois
Interstate 70 is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Cove Fort, Utah to Baltimore, Maryland. In the U.S. state of Illinois, the Interstate highway runs from the Missouri state line at the Mississippi River in East St. Louis east to the Indiana state line near Marshall...

, Interstate 64, and Interstate 57.

Wisconsin

In the state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, U.S. 51 enters from Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 at Beloit. U.S. 51 splits off from Interstate 39
Interstate 39
Interstate 39 is a highway in the midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois at Interstate 55 to Highway 29 in Rothschild, Wisconsin, approximately six miles south of Wausau. I-39 was designed to replace US Highway 51, which in the early 1980s was one of the busiest two-lane...

 in Beloit and continues north through Janesville
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville is a city in southern Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat of Rock County and the principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 62,998.-History:...

 and Edgerton
Edgerton, Wisconsin
Edgerton is a city in Dane and Rock Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 4,933 at the 2000 census. Known locally as "Tobacco City U.S.A.," because of the importance of tobacco growing in the region, Edgerton continues to be a center for the declining tobacco industry in the...

. In Edgerton, U.S. 51 rejoins Interstate 39 and Interstate 90
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 is the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It is the northernmost coast-to-coast interstate, and parallels US 20 for the most part. Its western terminus is in Seattle, at Edgar Martinez Drive S. near Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field, and its eastern terminus is in...

 for three and a half miles before splitting off towards Stoughton
Stoughton, Wisconsin
Stoughton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States and is a neighbor of Madison. It straddles the Yahara River about 20 miles southeast of the capital, Madison. Stoughton is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 and McFarland
McFarland, Wisconsin
McFarland is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States, on the eastern shore of Lake Waubesa. The population was 7,808 at the 2010 census...

. U.S. 51 runs almost parallel to Interstates 39 and 90 through the eastern portion of Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....

, crosses the interstate in DeForest, and finally rejoins the interstate at Portage
Portage, Wisconsin
Portage is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,662 at the 2010 census making it the largest city in Columbia County...

. U.S. 51 runs concurrently with Interstate 39
Interstate 39
Interstate 39 is a highway in the midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois at Interstate 55 to Highway 29 in Rothschild, Wisconsin, approximately six miles south of Wausau. I-39 was designed to replace US Highway 51, which in the early 1980s was one of the busiest two-lane...

 until I-39's terminus in Wausau
Wausau, Wisconsin
Wausau is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city. The city is adjacent to the town of Wausau.According to the 2000 census, Wausau had a population of 38,426 people...

 and continues on as a freeway until just north of the intersection with U.S. Route 8
U.S. Route 8
U.S. Highway 8 is a United States Highway that runs primarily east–west for , mostly within the state of Wisconsin. It runs from Interstate 35 in Forest Lake, Minnesota to US 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the border with Wisconsin. Except for the short freeway...

. From there through Hazelhurst
Hazelhurst, Wisconsin
Hazelhurst is a town in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,267 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Hazelhurst is located in the town.Hazelhurst describes itself as the "Quiet side of the North Woods."-Geography:...

, U.S. 51 is a two-lane road with sporadic three-lane sections (which were recently constructed in 2008). U.S. 51 expands to four lanes with a central fifth turn lane from Hazelhurst to Arbor Vitae
Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin
Arbor Vitae is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,153 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Arbor Vitae is located in the town.-Geography:...

; north of Arbor Vitae it returns to two lanes and continues to its northern terminus in Hurley where it junctions with US 2
U.S. Route 2 in Wisconsin
US Highway 2 is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from Everett, Washington, to St. Ignace, Michigan. The highway enters runs east–west across the northwestern part of the state and re-enters the state in the northeast part. It runs from the Richard I...

.

External links

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