This is one of the oldest highways in Nevada. The route was first part of the lesser used Sonora Pass branch of the California Trail. The route appeared as a highway on maps since at least as far back as 1919. The highway was first numbered as a portion of State Route 3, a designation in use by 1929. The State Route 3 designation extended from Reno to the California state line in Fish Lake Valley west of Lida. This route is drivable today as U.S. Route 395 Alternate, State Route 529 and U.S. Route 395 to the modern terminus of Route 208. It extended past Yerington via what is now U.S. Route 95 Alternate, U.S. Route 95 and SR 266.