US 8 was created with the beginnings of the United States Numbered Highway System on November 26, 1926. The highway was originally shown on maps running between Forest Lake, Minnesota and Powers, Michigan. At the time, its planned routing was not previously designated as part of the State Trunkline Highway System in Michigan. The trunkline connection from Quinnesec south into Wisconsin was part of M-57, which met WIS 57 at the state line. US 8 ended at WIS 57 in Pembine at the time, with no connection into Michigan shown on official maps. A map by the American Automobile Association does show the highway continuing east through Faithorn and Hermansville in Michigan to end at US 2. The Wisconsin Highway Commission previously indicated an unnumbered state highway on their 1925 state map that connected Pembine with the Menominee River near Hermansville. A later extension in 1927 moved US 8 to run along US 141, which had replaced WIS 57 and M-57, ending in Quinnesec at US 2. By the next year, the highway was shifted to end in Norway, utilizing a separate crossing of the Menominee River to enter Michigan.