U.S. Route 97 in Washington
highway in Washington
U.S. Route 97 (US 97) in the U.S. state of Washington is a 322-mile (518 km) route which traverses from the Oregon state line at the northern end of the Sam Hill Memorial Bridge in Maryhill, north to the Canada–US border in Okanogan County near Oroville. The highway serves major cities such as Goldendale, Yakima, Ellensburg and Wenatchee before continuing towards the Alaska Highway at the Yukon border as British Columbia Highway 97. Along the length of the roadway, US 97 is concurrent with State Route 14 (SR 14) in Maryhill, Interstate 82 (I-82) and US 12 between Union Gap and Ellensburg, I-90 briefly in Ellensburg, US 2 between Peshastin and rural Douglas County and SR 20 near Omak. An alternate route connects the highway with Chelan.
The first segment of what is now US 97 in Washington to be included in the state highway system was a road extending from Wenatchee to Twisp, designated in 1897. Since, four early highways formed the modern route of the roadway: State Road 8, State Road 3, State Road 2 and State Road 10, all signed in 1923. The United States Numbered Highways were established in 1926 and US 97 was co-signed with all four state roads, including two concurrencies with US 410 and US 10. The state roads became Primary state highways in 1937, keeping their numbers from the previous system and US 10 was moved south in 1940 and its original alignment, including the concurrency, became US 2 in 1946. The Sam Hill Memorial Bridge, originally named the Biggs Rapids Bridge, was first opened on November 1, 1962, but the river has been crossed by a ferry at the same location since the early 1920s. During the 1964 highway renumbering, all four highways were replaced by US 97 and in 1956, the Interstate Highway System was established, including two highways (I-82 and I-90) concurrent with US 97.
The public source identifies “U.S. Route 97 in Washington” as highway in Washington. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Route, Washington and highway.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “U.S. Route 97 in Washington”, the useful work is to connect “highway in Washington” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q833257. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1897, 1923, 1926 and 1937.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “U.S. Route 97 in Washington”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow U.S. Route 97 in Washington primary sources, U.S. Route 97 in Washington archive and Route research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “U.S. Route 97 in Washington”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “U.S. Route 97 in Washington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.