And here came the highway...

October 18, 1929 – A crowd of over 7,000 people in Adrian celebrated completion of the pavement on US 71 between Nevada, Missouri and Kansas City. Completion of the slab north of Nevada left 28 miles of detours between Carthage and Nevada. There was an 18-mile detour between Nevada and Sheldon and a ten-mile detour between Carthage and Jasper. - courtesy Missouri's Historic Highways