Texas State Highway 51 is a short state highway located entirely in Hansford County

Hansford County, Texas

Hansford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 5,613. The county is named for John M. Hansford, a Texas state congressman and judge. Hansford County is one of 30 prohibition, or entirely dry, counties in the state of Texas. Its seat is...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, just south of Spearman

Spearman, Texas

Spearman is a city in Hansford County, Texas, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,368. It is the county seat of Hansford County, and is known for its collection of windmills from the J.B. Buchanan windmill collection. The city was named for Thomas E...

.

Route description

SH 51 begins at southeast of Spearman and travels east through unincorporated Hansford County approximately 5.7 miles (9.2 km). It is a two-lane route for its entire length, and has no intersections with other state-maintained routes until its terminus at , which continues to the east and south, and , which travels north to Spearman.

History

The original SH 51 was designated by 1926 as a route from Sagerton

Sagerton, Texas

Sagerton is an unincorporated community in Haskell County, Texas, United States. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had an estimated population of 115 in 2000.-External links:...

 to Crowell

Crowell, Texas

Crowell is a city in Foard County, Texas, United States. It serves as the county seat, and the population was 1,141 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Crowell is located at ....

, replacing a portion of SH 28. It was canceled by 1933, being replaced by SH 16

State Highway 16 (Texas)

State Highway 16, or SH 16, is a north–south state highway that runs from U.S. Highway 281 24 miles south of Wichita Falls to Zapata on the Texas-Mexico boundary...

. The second SH 51 was designated by 1933 as a route from Dalhart northward to the Texas–Oklahoma state line. It was extended south to McCamey

McCamey, Texas

McCamey is a city in Upton County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,805 at the 2000 census. The Texas legislature has declared McCamey "the Wind Energy Capital of Texas" because of the many wind farms that have been built in the area. Its history, however, is primarily that of an oil...

 by 1936, replacing SH 143 from Channing

Channing, Texas

Channing is a city in Hartley County, Texas, in the United States.It is the county seat of Hartley County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 356. A July 1, 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 327.-Geography:...

 to Brownfield

Brownfield, Texas

Brownfield is a city in Terry County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,940 at the 2009 census. It is the county seat of Terry County near Lubbock in West Texas.-Geography:...

 and the majority of SH 137 from Brownfield to McCamey. In 1956 the highway was rerouted southwest over the former route of to the entrance of Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park

Big Bend National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Texas. Big Bend has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States, which includes more than 1,200 species of plants, more than 450 species of birds, 56...

. This entire route was canceled in 1959 when was transferred to the west. The current SH 51 was designated in 1974; its routing has remained unchanged.

Major intersections