State Highway 1 (Texas)
Encyclopedia
State Highway 1 was a state highway
in the U.S. state
of Texas. There has been no State Highway 1 since 1952 (when the remaining piece was renumbered Loop 260); the number "may only be assigned by the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation
or the Transportation Commission."
at Texarkana
and ran west through Dallas
, Fort Worth
, Albany
, Abilene
, Big Spring
and Van Horn
to end in El Paso
. By 1919, it had been extended northwest from El Paso to the New Mexico
border. In February 1920, the whole of SH 1 was included in the transcontinental Bankhead Highway
, a marked auto trail
.
In late 1926, the United States Numbered Highways
were assigned. State Highway 1 kept its number, but was also assigned U.S. Highway 80 from New Mexico to Dallas and U.S. Highway 67
from Dallas to Texarkana.
By 1936, US 80 had been moved off SH 1 west of downtown Dallas. While SH 1 angled northeast on Fort Worth Avenue from Cockrell Hill
, crossing the Trinity River
on the Commerce Street Bridge, US 80 continued east on Davis Street, turning north on Zang Boulevard and over the Houston Street Viaduct. In downtown, US 80 turned east on Commerce Street (State Highway 15), and US 67, which had joined US 80 along Davis Street, turned east on Elm Street (SH 1). (Commerce Street and Elm Street later became a one-way pair
.)
In the 1939 general redescription, SH 1 was truncated to only this short piece west from downtown Dallas. It split from US 80 (Davis Street) and ran northeast on Fort Worth Avenue and Commerce Street. Upon entering downtown Dallas, it split into the one-way pair of Commerce and Elm Streets, ending at US 80 (Houston Street). In 1952, the route was renumbered to Loop 260 and signed as Business U.S. Highway 80. Loop 260 was removed from the State Highway System and turned over to the City of Dallas in 1991.
and Palo Pinto
(west of Mineral Wells
). Another split was present between Sulphur Springs
and Texarkana
, and a branch ran from the northern route at Naples
east to State Highway 8 at Douglassville
. By 1919, the southern route between Sulphur Springs and Texarkana had become State Highway 1-A, and a new State Highway 1-C ran southeast from SH 1-A at Atlanta
to the Louisiana
state line. A road from Sulphur Springs northwest to State Highway 34 at Commerce
was also a section of SH 1, and a branch was added from Texarkana north to the Red River
(the Arkansas border). By 1922 the spur to Douglassville was State Highway 1-B, and the piece north from Texarkana was an extension of SH 1-A.
The southern route between Abilene and Palo Pinto was improved first. Thus it was designated as part of US 80 in 1926. The north route was designated US 80N (later U.S. Highway 80 Alternate) in 1932, and by 1933 it was State Highway 1-A. At the beginning of 1939, US 80 was rerouted onto the direct route between Ranger
and Weatherford
(formerly State Highway 89), and US 80 Alternate was extended east to Weatherford. The SH 1-A designation was removed in the 1939 general redescription, and US 80A was replaced in 1943 by State Highway 351
and U.S. Highway 180.
The other branches, located east of Dallas, were all renumbered by 1933:
(I-10) from New Mexico to east of Van Horn, I-20
to west of Fort Worth, and I-30 to Texarkana. The only major difference was between east of Ranger
and Weatherford
, where SH 1 used what is now designated SH 16 and U.S. Highway 180.
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Texas. There has been no State Highway 1 since 1952 (when the remaining piece was renumbered Loop 260); the number "may only be assigned by the Executive Director of the Texas Department of Transportation
Texas Department of Transportation
The Texas Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas. Its stated mission is to "work cooperatively to provide safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state...
or the Transportation Commission."
History
SH 1 was assigned in 1917 as one of the original 26 state highways. Known as the Texarkana, Dallas, Fort Worth and El Paso Highway, it crossed from ArkansasArkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
at Texarkana
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
and ran west through Dallas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
, Albany
Albany, Texas
Albany is a city in Shackelford County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,034 at the 2010 Census. It is the county seat of Shackelford County.-History:...
, Abilene
Abilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
, Big Spring
Big Spring, Texas
Big Spring is a city in and the county seat of Howard County, Texas, United States, at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 87 and Interstate 20. With a population of 25,233 at the 2000 census, it is the largest city between Midland to the west, Abilene to the east, Lubbock to the north, and San Angelo...
and Van Horn
Van Horn, Texas
Van Horn is a town in and the county seat of Culberson County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,435 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Van Horn is located at ....
to end in El Paso
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
. By 1919, it had been extended northwest from El Paso to the New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
border. In February 1920, the whole of SH 1 was included in the transcontinental Bankhead Highway
Bankhead Highway
The Bankhead Highway was a United States cross-country automobile highway connecting Washington, D.C. and San Diego. It was part of the National Auto Trail system. The road was named for Alabama politician John Hollis Bankhead, a leader in the early national road building movement. In later years,...
, a marked auto trail
Auto trail
The system of auto trails was an informal network of marked routes that existed in the United States and Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Marked with colored bands on telephone poles, the trails were intended to help travellers in the early days of the automobile.Auto trails were...
.
In late 1926, the United States Numbered Highways
United States Numbered Highways
The system of United States Numbered Highways is an integrated system of roads and highways in the United States numbered within a nationwide grid...
were assigned. State Highway 1 kept its number, but was also assigned U.S. Highway 80 from New Mexico to Dallas and U.S. Highway 67
U.S. Route 67 in Texas
U.S. Route 67 is a major U.S. highway in the state of Texas. It runs from the US-Mexico Border south of Presidio to Texarkana at the Texas-Arkansas border. US 67 is part of the La Entrada al Pacifico international trade corridor from its southern terminus to US 385 in McCamey.-US-Mexico Border to...
from Dallas to Texarkana.
By 1936, US 80 had been moved off SH 1 west of downtown Dallas. While SH 1 angled northeast on Fort Worth Avenue from Cockrell Hill
Cockrell Hill, Texas
Cockrell Hill is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,443 at the 2000 census. It is completely surrounded by the city of Dallas.-Geography:Cockrell Hill is located at ....
, crossing the Trinity River
Trinity River (Texas)
The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....
on the Commerce Street Bridge, US 80 continued east on Davis Street, turning north on Zang Boulevard and over the Houston Street Viaduct. In downtown, US 80 turned east on Commerce Street (State Highway 15), and US 67, which had joined US 80 along Davis Street, turned east on Elm Street (SH 1). (Commerce Street and Elm Street later became a one-way pair
One-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or just couplet is a pair of parallel, usually one-way streets that carry opposite directions of a signed route or major traffic flow, or sometimes opposite directions of a bus or streetcar route....
.)
In the 1939 general redescription, SH 1 was truncated to only this short piece west from downtown Dallas. It split from US 80 (Davis Street) and ran northeast on Fort Worth Avenue and Commerce Street. Upon entering downtown Dallas, it split into the one-way pair of Commerce and Elm Streets, ending at US 80 (Houston Street). In 1952, the route was renumbered to Loop 260 and signed as Business U.S. Highway 80. Loop 260 was removed from the State Highway System and turned over to the City of Dallas in 1991.
Branches
In the original 1917 definition, SH 1 had a split between AbileneAbilene, Texas
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in west central Texas. The population was 117,063 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
and Palo Pinto
Palo Pinto, Texas
Palo Pinto is an unincorporated town in Palo Pinto County, Texas, United States. It is the county seat , and has an estimated population of 425.-History:...
(west of Mineral Wells
Mineral Wells, Texas
Mineral Wells is a city in Palo Pinto and Parker counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 16,946 at the 2000 census. The city is named for mineral springs in the area, which were highly popular in the early 1900s...
). Another split was present between Sulphur Springs
Sulphur Springs, Texas
Sulphur Springs is a city in Hopkins County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 14,551. It is the county seat of Hopkins County.-Geography:Sulphur Springs is located at ....
and Texarkana
Texarkana, Texas
Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
, and a branch ran from the northern route at Naples
Naples, Texas
Naples is a city in Morris County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,410 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Naples is located at ....
east to State Highway 8 at Douglassville
Douglassville, Texas
Douglassville is a town in Cass County, Texas, United States. The population was 175 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Douglassville is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
. By 1919, the southern route between Sulphur Springs and Texarkana had become State Highway 1-A, and a new State Highway 1-C ran southeast from SH 1-A at Atlanta
Atlanta, Texas
Atlanta is a city in Cass County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 5,745.-Geography:Atlanta is located at ....
to the Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
state line. A road from Sulphur Springs northwest to State Highway 34 at Commerce
Commerce, Texas
Commerce is a city in Hunt County, Texas, United States, located in rural East Texas. The population was 7,669 at the 2000 census, however recent growth and its proximity to Interstate 30 and the eastern Metroplex has put the population around 9750...
was also a section of SH 1, and a branch was added from Texarkana north to the Red River
Red River (Mississippi watershed)
The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...
(the Arkansas border). By 1922 the spur to Douglassville was State Highway 1-B, and the piece north from Texarkana was an extension of SH 1-A.
The southern route between Abilene and Palo Pinto was improved first. Thus it was designated as part of US 80 in 1926. The north route was designated US 80N (later U.S. Highway 80 Alternate) in 1932, and by 1933 it was State Highway 1-A. At the beginning of 1939, US 80 was rerouted onto the direct route between Ranger
Ranger, Texas
Ranger is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,584 at the 2000 census. Ranger College, a community college, is the second largest employer in the community....
and Weatherford
Weatherford, Texas
Weatherford is a city in Parker County, Texas, United States, and a western suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 19,000 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Parker County and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Geography:...
(formerly State Highway 89), and US 80 Alternate was extended east to Weatherford. The SH 1-A designation was removed in the 1939 general redescription, and US 80A was replaced in 1943 by State Highway 351
Texas State Highway 351
State Highway 351 or SH 351 is a Texas state highway that runs from Abilene northeast to an intersection with U.S. Highway 180 west of Albany. The route was designated in 1943 as a replacement for U.S. Highway 80A.-Route description:...
and U.S. Highway 180.
The other branches, located east of Dallas, were all renumbered by 1933:
- The branch of SH 1 from Sulphur Springs northwest to Commerce, and the piece of SH 1-A from Commerce east to DaingerfieldDaingerfield, TexasDaingerfield is a city in Morris County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,517 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morris County....
, became part of State Highway 11. Those roads still carry SH 11. - State Highway 1-A from Daingerfield to Hughes SpringsHughes Springs, TexasHughes Springs is a city in Cass and Morris Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 1,856 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Hughes Springs is located at ....
became part of State Highway 49. From Hughes Springs east and north through Texarkana to the Red River, SH 1-A became State Highway 47. In the 1939 redescription, SH 11 (which had gone north from Daingerfield) was extended east from Daingerfield along former SH 1-A to the Red River, eliminating SH 47. (The short piece of SH 49 became a concurrencyConcurrency (road)A concurrency, overlap, or coincidence in a road network is an instance of one physical road bearing two or more different highway, motorway, or other route numbers...
.) SH 11 was truncated to LindenLinden, TexasLinden is a city in Cass County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,256 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Cass County.-Geography:Linden is located at ....
in 1947, when the rest became part of U.S. Highway 59U.S. Route 59 in TexasIn the U.S. state of Texas, U.S. 59 is named the Lloyd Bentsen Highway, after Lloyd Bentsen, former U.S. Senator from Texas. In northern Houston, US 59 is the Eastex Freeway...
. - State Highway 1-B and State Highway 1-C both became parts of State Highway 77, and both still carry that number.
Route description
In terms of today's Interstate Highways, the routing of SH 1 is followed by Interstate 10Interstate 10 in Texas
Interstate 10 is the major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. In the U.S. state of Texas, it runs east from El Paso, near the border with New Mexico, through San Antonio and Houston to the border with Louisiana in Orange, Texas....
(I-10) from New Mexico to east of Van Horn, I-20
Interstate 20 in Texas
Interstate 20 in Texas is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, running east from a junction with Interstate 10 east of Kent, Texas, through the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the border with Louisiana near Waskom, Texas...
to west of Fort Worth, and I-30 to Texarkana. The only major difference was between east of Ranger
Ranger, Texas
Ranger is a city in Eastland County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,584 at the 2000 census. Ranger College, a community college, is the second largest employer in the community....
and Weatherford
Weatherford, Texas
Weatherford is a city in Parker County, Texas, United States, and a western suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 19,000 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Parker County and is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.-Geography:...
, where SH 1 used what is now designated SH 16 and U.S. Highway 180.