How Newport became the beginning of Route 20

by
Newport Oregon

How did Newport, Oregon become the beginning of Route 20? The story goes back to a road trip.

The BEGIN sign on US 101 facing south at the intersection of US Route 20 in Newport, OR

While Boston, MA has always been the eastern terminus of US Route 20 the western terminus has moved five times since the highway was first proposed in November, 1925.

The western termini have been:

  • Astoria, OR – only in the 1925 proposed route.
  • Eastern Entrance Yellowstone National Park – 1926 to 1940
  • Albany, OR – 1940
  • Corvallis, OR – 1940 to 1943
  • Newport, OR – May 19, 1943

So this begs the question, How does Newport, Oregon get to claim their end as a beginning?

The story actually stems from a family road trip in the 1990’s. Nancy McLean-Cooper, her husband Darren and then seven year old son took the cross country road trip from Newport to Boston. When they arrived in Boston, they noticed that there was a large END sign in Kenmore Square. When they returned home, they noticed that there was no BEGIN sign in Newport and logic would state that it should be the beginning.

The family contacted the Oregon Department of Transportation to find out if there was a way to put up a BEGIN sign and within a few weeks, ODOT placed two signs on either direction of US 101 to indicate that 20 Begins here.

While it is not common for the Highway Departments to place BEGIN signs on highways, Route 20 can claim to have a beginning and an end, it just may be opposite from what you think.

Source – Unknown date from newspaper article in the Lincoln County Historical Society Archives.

GPS Coordinates: 44.6364722738976, -124.05316020644666

4 thoughts on “How Newport became the beginning of Route 20”

  1. Route 20 goes through the center of my town Richfield Springs, New York. A few years ago a hundred miles of Route 20 was declared a scenic byway. Knowing that I write songs, Jay Bernhardt the then publisher of the Richfield Springs Mercury asked me to write a song about the longest road in the United States. Why not? Route 66 had its song. So, here it is sung by a guy who happens to live in Oregon.

    https://youtu.be/XI3Raa4r7LY

    Reply

  3. I have an original song about the road that takes me home—-Route 20. It doesn’t seem to load into your comment space so please let me know how to send it or take a look on Youtube for “Route 20 Takes Me Home.”

    Reply

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