Minnesota State Highway 266 was a highway

Highway

A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 in southwest Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 that had connected the communities of Wilmont

Wilmont, Minnesota

Wilmont is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 339 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land...

 and Reading

Reading, Minnesota

Reading is an unincorporated community in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States.-Geography:Reading is northwest of Worthington. According to A.P Rose's History of Nobles County, Reading is nearer to the geographic center of the county than any other community...

 to the city of Worthington

Worthington, Minnesota

Worthington is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,764 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nobles County.The city's site was first settled in the 1870s as Okabena Station on a line of the Chicago, St...

. It was decommissioned

Decommissioned highway

A decommissioned highway is a highway that has been removed from service, shut down or has had its authorization as a federal or state highway removed. Decommissioning can include the complete or partial demolition or abandonment of an old highway structure because the old roadway has lost its...

 in 2004, and was renumbered Nobles County Road 25.

Route description

Highway 266 was a northwest–southeast route connecting Wilmont

Wilmont, Minnesota

Wilmont is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 339 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land...

, Larkin Township, Bloom Township, Summit Lake Township, Reading

Reading, Minnesota

Reading is an unincorporated community in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States.-Geography:Reading is northwest of Worthington. According to A.P Rose's History of Nobles County, Reading is nearer to the geographic center of the county than any other community...

, and Worthington Township to Interstate 90

Interstate 90 in Minnesota

In the U.S. state of Minnesota, Interstate 90 traverses the southern side of the state, parallel to the Minnesota-Iowa state line. The route connects the cities of Worthington, Albert Lea, and Austin. The cities of Rochester and Winona are also in close proximity to I-90, with Winona about 10...

 on the northern border of the city of Worthington

Worthington, Minnesota

Worthington is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,764 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nobles County.The city's site was first settled in the 1870s as Okabena Station on a line of the Chicago, St...

. The entire route was located in Nobles County

Nobles County, Minnesota

Nobles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 21,378. Its county seat is Worthington.-Geography:...

 in southwest Minnesota.

The roadway was legally defined as Legislative Route 266 in the Minnesota Statutes § 161.115(197).

The route had followed 7th Street in Wilmont and 160th Street in Larkin Township.

History

Highway 266 was authorized on July 1, 1949. The route was removed from the state highway system in 2003.

The roadway was paved between Reading and Worthington at the time it was marked. The remainder was paved in 1950. It originally terminated at U.S. Highway 16

U.S. Route 16

U.S. Route 16 is an east–west United States Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming....

 (now County Road 35) until that part of it was replaced by Interstate 90 in 1969. It then ran into Worthington city proper along Diagonal Road, terminating at U.S. 59

U.S. Route 59

U.S. Route 59 is a north–south United States highway . A latecomer to the U.S. numbered route system, U.S. 59 is now a border-to-border route, Part of NAFTA Corridor Highway System. It parallels U.S. Route 75 for nearly its entire route, never much more than away, until it veers southwest...

 / State Highway 60

Minnesota State Highway 60

Minnesota State Highway 60 is a highway in southern Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 60 at the Iowa state line and continues east-northeast to its eastern terminus at the Wisconsin state line , where the route becomes Wisconsin Highway 25 upon crossing the Mississippi River.Highway 60 is...

. It was shortened to end at I-90 in the late 1980s.

Major intersections

County	Location	Destinations
Nobles Nobles County, Minnesota Nobles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 21,378. Its county seat is Worthington.-Geography:...	Wilmont Wilmont, Minnesota Wilmont is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 339 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land...
	Bloom Township	north
	Summit Lake Township	south, east
	Reading Reading, Minnesota Reading is an unincorporated community in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States.-Geography:Reading is northwest of Worthington. According to A.P Rose's History of Nobles County, Reading is nearer to the geographic center of the county than any other community...
	Worthington Township

External links

• Highway 266 at the Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page