U.S. ROUTE 20

U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. Spanning 3,365 miles, it is the longest road in the United States. In the eastern U.S. the route is roughly parallel to Interstate 90 (I-90), which is the longest Interstate Highway in the U.S. There is a discontinuity in the official designation of US 20 through Yellowstone National Park, with unnumbered roads used to traverse the park.  The highway's eastern terminus is in Boston, Massachusetts, at Kenmore Square, where it meets Massachusetts Route 2. Its western terminus is in Newport, Oregon, at an intersection with US 101, within a mile of the Pacific Ocean.

U.S. ROUTE 20

SIGN AT WESTERN ORIGIN IN NEWPORT, OREGON

ASTORIA-MEGLER BRIDGE

The Astoria-Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge that spans the lower Columbia River, Between Astoria, Oregon, and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. It opened in 1966 and is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.  The bridge is 21,474 feet in length and carries one lane of traffic in each direction. The cantilever-span section, which is closest to the Oregon side, is2,468 feet long and its main (central) span measures 1,233 feet. It was built to withstand 150 mph wind gusts and river water speeds of 9 mph.

City of Astoria, Oregon in the foreground with the Astoria-Megler Bridge spanning the Columbia River to Washington State.

By Klaus with K - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3737035

CHRISTMAS TREE SALES

 

WIDEST MEDIANS ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM

WIDEST MEDIANS ON THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
Interstate	Location	Width of Median
I-24	Southeast of Monteagle, Tennessee (Mile Marker 135)	1.86 Miles
I-84	Deadman Pass, Oregon (Mile Marker 226)	1.86 Miles
I-8	In-Ko-Pah Gorge, Imperial County, California (Mile Marker 123)	1.43 Miles

I-24 in Tennessee

I-84 in Oregon

I-8 in California

PORTLAND, OREGON WAS NAMED “PORTLAND” BECAUSE OF THE OUTCOME OF A COIN TOSS.

Portland, Oregon is named after Portland, Maine. The settlement that eventually became Portland, Oregon was originally referred to as “Stumptown” and “The Clearing” because of the many trees cut down to allow for its growth. In 1845, the land came to be owned jointly by Asa Lovejoy of Boston and Francis W. Pettygrove of Portland, Maine. Both Pettygrove and Lovejoy wished to rename “The Clearing” after their respective hometowns. The controversy was settled with a coin toss which Pettygrove won in a series of two out of three tosses, thereby providing Portland with its namesake. The coin used for this decision, now known as the Portland Penny, is on display in the headquarters of the Oregon Historical Society.

THE FARTHEST YOU CAN BE AWAY FROM A MCDONALD'S IN THE U.S.

The farthest point you can be from a McDonald’s in the U.S. is a point within the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwest Nevada. The closest McDonald’s are in Winnemucca, Nevada, Hines, Oregon and Klamath Falls, Oregon. All 3 are 115 miles away as the crow flies.

OREGON STATE FLAG

Oregon is the only state to feature a double-sided flag.

U.S. COUNTIES IN MORE THAN ONE TIME ZONE

COUNTY	TIME ZONE	TIME ZONE	COMMENTS
Cherry County, Nebraska	Central Time	Mountain Time	Eastern third, including county seat of Valentine is in the Central Time Zone. Western two-thirds are in the Mountain Time Zone.
Elko County, Nevada	Pacific Time	Mountain Time	West Wendover is in the Mountain Time Zone. Other cities “unofficially” observe Mountain Time due to proximity and economic ties to neighboring Idaho.
Gulf County, Florida	Eastern	Central	Split by the Intracoastal Waterway.
Idaho County, Idaho	Pacific	Mountain	Time zones are divided by the Salmon River. Most of the county is in the Pacific Time Zone, but those areas south of the Salmon River are in the Mountain Time Zone
Malheur County, Oregon	Mountain	Pacific	Most of the county is in the Mountain Time Zone, but a small portion in the south is in the Pacific Time Zone.

TIME ZONES

If person A is in Pensacola, FL and wants to call person B who is Ontario (Malheur County), Oregon, there is only a one hour time difference, despite the fact that Florida borders the Atlantic Ocean and Oregon borders the Pacific Ocean.