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| M-144 is a former state trunkline route existing from: 1) November 25, 1929 into 1931, 2) August 17, 1931 until July 13, 1939, and 3) November 12, 1940 to November 1, 1973 |
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| Southern Terminus*: |  Jct M-18 & M-76 in downtown Roscommon at cnr Lake St & Fifth St |
| Northern Terminus*: | M-72/South Down River Rd at cnr McMasters Bridge Rd, 7 miles west of Luzerne |
| Final Length*: | 15.033 miles |
| Maps: | Route Map of Former M-144 |
| Notes: | * The termini and final length for the most recent iteration of M-144 reflect the beginning and ending of the route and its length as of the time of its decommissioning in November 1973. |
 There have been three iterations of M-144 during the period 1929–1973, although the first occurrence of the route only existed on a proposed trunkline which was never built and was cancelled before it was ever signed. In late-1929, a new trunkline route was established in southwest Ionia Co running roughly parallel to and south of the Pere Marquette Railway (later C&O, Chessie System, now CSXT) line between M-39 (now M-50) west of Woodbury, then northwesterly through Lake Odessa to west of Clarksville at a proposed relocation of M-43 or M-66 (the State Highway Dept had not yet finalized route designation plans) running from Hastings due northerly to US-16/Grand River Ave southwest of Saranac. Plans show the State Highway Dept was planning to extend M-39—the route occupying modern-day M-50 from US-16 south of Lowell to Woodbury and M-43 from there easterly through Grand Ledge and Lansing to East Lansing—almost due westerly along the Ionia/Barry and Kent/Barry Co line to M-37 south of Caledonia as well as either extend M-43 due northerly from Hastings to US-16 or route M-66 southerly into Hastings. To replace the existing segment of M-39 (modern-day M-50) west of Odessa, the Department created a replacement route on the angling alignment. However, none of these plans—M-39 west Caledonia, the Hastings-north highway or the proposed M-144 route—were ever constructed. WIthin two years of its initial establishment, the M-144 designation along the proposed Lake Odessa–Clarksville angling route was reassigned as part of a new route for M-50. (The "US" 144 symbol in the map snippet above is in error—it was obviously going to be M-144 and was shown as such on Trunkline Determination Maps from that time.) |
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 The second iteration of M-144 served as a short spur trunkline route from M-39 (later M-43, now M-143) southerly along Harrison Rd to the Michigan State Police Headquaters on the campus of Michigan State College (now MSU). While the Michigan State Troops, also known as the Michigan Cavalry or Michigan Constabulary, had constructed a headquarters complex on land owned by MSC in 1917, a new permanent, modern administration building for the renamed Michigan State Police was completed in 1932. The M-144 spur route was created in an era when many, many short trunkline segments were established leading to state facilities, state parks, and small twns not located directly on trunkline routes. By the late-1930s, sentiment changed and many of these short spurs were cancelled and turned back to local control, including the ½ mile route of M-144. (The Michigan State Police remained headquartered on Harrison Rd in East Lansing until they moved to new base of operations in downtown Lansing in 2010. The former MSP facility was demolished in May 2012.) |
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| The third and most recent iteration of M-144 was created in 1940 as a replacement route designation for what had formerly been part of M-72 from M-76 on the Roscommon/Crawford Co line east of Roscommon northeasterly to M-72 at Luzerne in western Oscoda Co. M-72 was rerouted to run westerly from Luzerne into Grayling and then take over the route of M-76 westerly from there toward Kalkaska and Empire. After several realignments, a shortening and an elongation over the ensuing three-plus decades, the third iteration of M-144 came to an end in 1973 when it was replaced by a northerly extension of M-18 due to the completion of the I-75 freeway in the region. |
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 From |
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| In "State Trunkline Needs, 1960–1980," a set of maps prepared by the State Highway Dept's Office of Planning, Programming Division in 1960 showing possible additions, upgrades and improvements to the state trunkline system over the ensuing twenty years, MSHD staff recommended two realignments for M-144. One realignment running from Flooter Rd to Hunters Lake Rd removing three turns from the route, with a second realignment at Eldorado continuing northerly along an upgraded McMasters Bridge Rd to a new terminus at M-72, removing the route from Oscoda Co in the process. Both of these proposals were ultimately implemented within the next 12–18 months of the publication of the maps, meaning the changes were already in the works at the time. |
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| Controlled Access: | No portion of Former M-144 was freeway or expressway. |
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