Lost Highway: Fischer Ave and 280th St

The original alignment of the highway between Hampton and Cannon Falls was along what are now Fischer Avenue and 280th Street (County Road 86), which became part of the trunk highway system as State Highway 50 in 1921. US Highway 55 was routed onto State Highway 50 in late 1926. A more direct highway was constructed the following year, reducing the distance between Hampton and Cannon Falls by a little over a mile. The grade constructed in 1927 was paved in 1928. The highway between Hampton and Cannon Falls was eventually redesignated US Highway 52 in 1934.

Since being bypassed, 280th Street has been reconstructed and paved as part of County Road 86. Fischer Avenue on the other hand has remained a primitive gravel road, much as it was in the early 1920's. Both ends of the old alignment have been modified due to the upgrade of US 52 to four lanes during the 1960's.

The junction of County Road 86 with US 52 was rebuilt in 1966 as part of the construction of the Cannon Falls bypass (see above). Note how Rochester Boulevard, the old road to Cannon Falls, once connected directly with the original alignment to Hampton.

Fischer Avenue's junction with US 52 was modified in 1963 to meet the new four-lane highway. Fischer Avenue originally continued straight north into the alignment constructed in 1927, a surviving portion of which still exists as a service drive.

Data available from U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD