Highway 45 – our little lesser known highway in Fond du Lac County is bigger than you think.

The lesser travelled brother of Interstate 41, Highway 45, is most known in Fond du Lac County for the best way to get to Eden and Kewaskum to the south or up to Oshkosh to the north. But have you ever looked to see what the highway does past those cities?

The highway actually runs 1,297 miles long, starting in the upper peninsula of Michigan, only five blocks from Lake Superior in the small town of Ontonagon, and ending in Mobile, Alabama, about two miles shy of Mobile Bay which connects to the Gulf of America.

In Wisconsin, Highway 45 enters the state in southeast Wisconsin in Kenosha County, running parallel to Interstate 94. It runs concurrent with Interstate 894 and Interstate 41 through the west side of metro Milwaukee to form a major artery through the metropolitan area. It then runs north to Fond du Lac via West Bend. The highway runs along the western shore of Lake Winnebago through Oshkosh. It continues north through Wittenberg, Antigo, and Eagle River, as well state and national forests until it leaves the state at Land O’ Lakes where it enters Michigan.

Other notable moments associated with the highway include, it was the first paved road in the south. A 49-mile segment in Lee County, Mississippi, opening November 15, 1915. Today it’s a major hurricane evacuation route running four lanes through Mississippi from the Alabama state line up into Tennessee.

In the state of Illinois, U.S. 45 runs a length of 428.99 miles making it the longest numbered route in Illinois.

In total, the highway runs through seven states. Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.