Minnesota State Highway 44 (MN 44) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

in southeast

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, which runs from its

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

with U.S. 52 in Canton Township, near Prosper, and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 16 in Hokah, near La Crescent. Highway 44 is in length.

Route description

Highway 44 serves as an east–west route between

Mabel Mabel is an English female name derived from the Latin ''amabilis'', "lovable, dear".Reclams Namensbuch, 1987, History Amabilis of Riom (died 475) was a French male saint who logically would have assumed the name Amabilis upon entering the prie ...

, Spring Grove,

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the forested region in the central and western Scottish Highlands, particularly stretching through parts of what are now Lochaber, Badenoch, Strathspey, and possibly as ...

, and Hokah in southeast Minnesota. The section of Highway 44 between Caledonia and Hokah passes through the Richard J. Dorer State Forest. Highway 44 runs

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with State Highway 76 for three miles at

. Beaver Creek Valley State Park is located near the

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of Highways 44 and 76 at the north edge of Caledonia. The park entrance is located four miles west on County Road 1 via Highway 76. MN-44 through Caledonia

History

Highway 44 was authorized in 1920. The route was paved in its entirety by 1940. The route was originally designated as an

auto trail The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on utility poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in t ...

named the ''Southern Minnesota Air Line'' in a 1919 application. The ''Southern Minnesota Air Line'' continued west from Preston to the

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

state line on a route that later followed old U.S. Highway 16. At one time, Highway 44 had continued farther west, extending over what is now ''County Highway 44'' in Fillmore County. The section of present-day ''County 44'' between

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

and U.S. Highway 63 (south of Spring Valley) was designated Highway 44 between 1972 and 1995.

Major intersections

References

*Steve Rine
Details of Routes 26 to 50.
Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page. Accessed January 21, 2008. {{reflist 044 Transportation in Fillmore County, Minnesota Transportation in Houston County, Minnesota