Route 74 is a highway in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri

Cape Girardeau County, Missouri

Cape Girardeau County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county's population was 75,764. While the largest city in the county is Cape Girardeau, the county seat is actually Jackson, which was the first city named in honor of President...

. Its eastern terminus is at the Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 state line at the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 at Cape Girardeau

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Cape Girardeau is a city located in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in Southeast Missouri in the United States. It is located approximately southeast of St. Louis and north of Memphis. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 37,941. A college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri...

 where it overlaps Route 34. The western terminus is at Route 25 in Dutchtown

Dutchtown, Missouri

Dutchtown is a village in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, United States, located at the intersection of Routes 25 and 74. The population was 99 at the 2000 census...

. The road continues into Illinois as Illinois Route 146

Illinois Route 146

Illinois Route 146 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Illinois. It serves the extreme southern region of the state, commonly called Little Egypt or the Illinois Ozarks. IL-146 is long. An east–west highway, it serves Hardin County, Pope County, Johnson County, and...

. No other towns are on the route.

Route 74 is one of the original state highways. It has remained unchanged since it was created in 1922.