U.S. Route 431 - History

History

U.S. Route 241 was created in 1930, splitting from US 41 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and heading south to US 231 in Dothan, Alabama. The route of the highway, starting at Murfreesboro, TN, went south through Shelbyville and Fayetteville to Huntsville. From Huntsville, the highway snaked through Owens Cross Roads and New Hope (on a road currently named "Old Highway 431") on its way to Guntersville, then through Albertville and Boaz (on what is now AL 205) on its way to Gadsden, then to Anniston and Oxford. After US 231 was extended through north Alabama and Tennessee through Huntsville to Murfreesboro around 1952, the northern terminus of US 241 became Huntsville. In 1953, since US 241 began and ended in Alabama, it was decommissioned. However, US 431 was being extended southward from Kentucky through Tennessee and Alabama, so the lost section from Huntsville to Oxford gained the US 431 designation. However, from Oxford, the US 241 route ran through Talladega, Sylacauga, Goodwater, Alexander City, and Opelika, but US 431 was not routed onto this section, but onto the AL 37 route, which was a shorter route to Opelika. However, the Sylacauga to Opelika section did gain the US 280 designation. From Opelika, US 241 ran south to Phenix City and this section gained the US 431 designation.