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U.S. Route 87

U.S. Numbered Highway in the United States

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ410730
Source-derived summary

U.S. Highway 87 (US 87) is a north–south United States highway (though it is signed east–west in New Mexico) that runs for 2,005 miles (3,227 km) from northern Montana to southern Texas, making it the longest north–south road to not have a "1" in its number and the third longest north–south road in the country, behind U.S. 41 and U.S. 1. Most of the portion from Billings, Montana to Raton, New Mexico is co-signed along Interstates 90 and 25. It is also co-signed along the majority of I-27 in Texas and future plans call for the interstate to be extended along the US 87 corridor. As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is in Havre, Montana, at US 2 and its southern terminus is in Port Lavaca, Texas, at SH 238.

Route description

Texas

In Texas, US 87 is a north–south highway that begins near the Gulf Coast in Port Lavaca, Texas, and heads north through San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo, and Dalhart to the New Mexico state line near Texline.

New Mexico

US 87 continues in a northwesterly direction in New Mexico and is signed by NMDOT primarily as an east–west route. It merges with US-64 (and thus the Santa Fe Trail National Scenic Byway) in Clayton, shortly after entering New Mexico. It continues to the northwest until Des Moines, when it takes a more westerly approach to Raton. In Raton, it separates from US 64 and merges with Interstate 25 and US 85, with which it remains concurrent through Raton Pass and into Colorado, though it is unsigned on much of the concurrency.

Colorado

US 87 remains concurrent with I-25 throughout the state of Colorado, which is a rare occurrence for a US highway to have a concurrency with an Interstate in its entirety within state boundaries.

Editorial summary

“U.S. Route 87” enters the record as u.S. Numbered Highway in the United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Route, Numbered and Highway can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1926. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Route, Numbered and Highway.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“U.S. Route 87” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Route, Numbered and Highway provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q410730. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. 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.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “U.S. Route 87”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow U.S. Route 87 primary sources, U.S. Route 87 archive and Route research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “U.S. Route 87”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from U.S. Route 87” 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.