State Highway 32 was established November 2, 1920.[1] At this time, it ran from State Highway 8 (present-day U.S. 2) east of Crookston to Greenbush.
By 1923, the road was mostly graveled, with a section of unimproved dirt between Holt and Middle River and another north of Strathcona.[5] All graveling was completed by 1930.[6]
In 1933, the route was extended south, from U.S. 2 to State Highway 34 south of Rollag. This extension was graveled in its entirety.[7]
When U.S. 59 was established in Minnesota in 1935, it ran concurrent with Highway 32 between Thief River Falls and present-day Marshall County State-Aid Highway 28 (north of Holt) until 1960.
South of U.S. 2, the first section of highway to be paved was from the junction with then-Highway 31 (now Highway 200) north of Twin Valley to a point just south of Fertile in 1937;[15][16] paving was extended into both Fertile and Twin Valley in 1940,[17][16] as well as from U.S. 10 to Hitterdal (although part of the latter segment was reverted to gravel in 1943).[18] In 1948, it was paved from U.S. 10 north to Ulen, and then from Ulen to Twin Valley the following year.[18][17] Paving from Highway 102 to U.S. 2 and from Rollag to U.S. 10 was done in 1952 and the final segment from Highway 34 to Rollag in 1954,[19][20] making the route paved in its entirety.[21]
^ abMinnesota State Legislature (2010). "§ 161.114, Constitutional Trunk Highways". Minnesota Statutes. Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
^1955 Official Road Map of Minnesota (Map). Cartography by The H.M. Gousha Co. Minnesota Department of Highways. January 1, 1955. § C-3 through C-10. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
