[1][2] It is also the subject of numerous musical works, with the route inspiring the album Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan.

Although the road fronts the former terminal of Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and passes near Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, the name originally referred to the highway's straight route in contrast to that of the winding Jefferson Highway, which often paralleled the Mississippi River.

Legend has it that former Louisiana Governor Huey Long advocated the construction of the "airline" highway to provide him with a quick means of access from the capitol building in Baton Rouge to the bars and other pleasure establishments in New Orleans.

The highway south of Vicksburg to Natchez is mostly divided and four-lane; only short sections through Port Gibson are two lane.

widening the highway between Vicksburg and Leland to four lanes, beginning with replacement of the Yazoo River bridge at Redwood in Warren County.

The former junction of US 61 and U.S. 49 in Clarksdale (North State Street and Desoto Avenue) is designated as the famous crossroads where, according to legend, Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for mastery of the blues.

It was on this stretch of highway that blues singer Bessie Smith died as a result of a car crash on September 26, 1937.

Like Route 66 in the Western U.S., the iconic US 61 sign is so strongly identified with the Clarksdale area that it is used to market different products and services.

US 61 runs through the state for 76 miles (122 km) from West Memphis to just north of Blytheville, near the Missouri border.

The route skirts the northwest edge of the city, briefly meeting Interstate 40 before continuing north with I-55, US 63 and US 64.

US 61 enters Missouri south of Steele, passing under a concrete arch that was constructed by the Mississippi County, Arkansas highway department in 1924.

Crossing Route 32 at "one of the oldest French Colonial settlements west of the Mississippi River (1735)", Ste.

It continues in a general northwesterly route, meeting US 54 at Bowling Green and US 36 and I-72 at Hannibal, an intersection which is I-72's western terminus.

US 61 continues north until near Wayland, where the highway turns east at Route 27 and the overlap with the Avenue of the Saints ends.

US 61 runs along the western side of the Mississippi River between Memphis, Tennessee, and Dubuque, Iowa, and therefore never enters the state of Illinois.

A project to widen a five-mile (8.0 km) segment between the Louisa–Muscatine county line near Letts and the south junction of Iowa 92 near Grandview to a four-lane expressway was completed in December 2017.

The remaining segments between Iowa 92 and Mediapolis, and between the northern end of the Keokuk bypass and the Missouri state line have not been programmed yet[when?]

On the opposite bank of the Mississippi, US 61 and US 151 enter Grant County, with US 61 going north through Wisconsin about 120 miles (190 km) to La Crosse.

The 120 miles (190 km) section of US 61 from La Crescent to Cottage Grove is officially designated the Disabled American Veterans Highway.

The portion of US 61 north of Duluth is now part of the Minnesota State Highway system, bearing the designation MN 61 since 1991.

The resulting boom in casino development in Tunica County, coupled with dramatic population and development growth in DeSoto County south of Memphis has led to relocating most of the highway and expanding to a divided four-lane highway.

The present-day course of US 61 south of St. Louis largely follows the original course of the Spanish colonial road El Camino Real.

[5] The sole rationale for the Camino Real was a military road to connect the several district posts for defense and administrative purposes.

[8] King's Highway or Kingshighway continues as street names in present-day St.Charles, St.Louis, Perryville, Cape Girardeau, Sikeston and New Madrid.

The changes came as follows: The final stretch completed a continuous multi-laned link between Dickeyville, Wisconsin south to Grandview.

Prior to the construction of the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge, US 61 passed through a short distance through Jo Daviess County between Dubuque and Wisconsin, concurrent with US 151.

Now both highways cross the Mississippi on the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge, which directly connects Wisconsin and Iowa, with neither US 61 nor US 151 passing through Illinois.