Texas State Highway 1

For other highways in Texas numbered 1, see Farm to Market Road 1, Texas Loop Highway 1, NASA Road 1, Texas Park Road 1, Ranch Road 1 and Texas Spur Route 1.

State Highway 1
Texarkana, Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso Highway
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	837.421 mi[1] (1,347.698 km)
Existed:	c. 1917[2] – 1952[3]
History:	Replaced by US 80 and several other highways in 1939 Designated to short spur route located in Dallas in 1939 Cancelled and redesignated to State Loop 260 in 1952
Major junctions
West end:	New Mexico state line, near El Paso
	US 70 in El Paso US 62 in El Paso US 90 in Van Horn US 290 US 385 in Big Spring US 83 / US 277 in Abilene US 283 in Cisco US 377 in Fort Worth US 81 in Fort Worth US 67 in Dallas US 77 in Dallas US 80 in Dallas US 271 in Mount Pleasant US 77
East end:	Arkansas state line, in Texarkana
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← SH OSR SH 2 →

State Highway 1 (SH 1) was a Texas state highway that traveled across the U.S. state of Texas. The highway traveled from Texarkana on the eastern border to El Paso on the western border, via Dallas and Fort Worth, Abilene, and Midland–Odessa. SH 1 was approximately 842 miles (1,355 km) long, and was one of the original 26 Texas state highways, which were designated in 1917.^[4] In 1920, the entire length of the highway was designated as part of the Bankhead Highway, a transcontinental Auto trail. In the Texas Department of Transportation's 1939 state highway renumbering, most of SH 1 was redesignated as U.S. Route 80, as well as U.S. Route 287, Texas State Highway 16, and others. Most of these highways were replaced by Interstate 10, Interstate 20, and Interstate 30. The only portion of SH 1 that existed after 1939 was a short spur located in Dallas. Texas State Highway 1 was officially cancelled on September 19, 1952. Due to the highway's historic value, a highway can not be designated as Texas State Highway 1 unless by the order of TxDOT Executive Director or by the Transportation Commission.^[3]

Texas State Highway 1 had several long spur routes. Most of these were simply numbered as State Highway 1, and were renumbered within a few years. Two of these spurs were separately numbered. They were Texas State Highway 1A, which was a long alternate route of SH 1 that traveled from Abilene to just west of Palo Pinto, and Texas State Highway 1B, which was a short spur located in Dallas that was redesignated as SH 1 in 1939.

Route description

In terms of today's Interstate Highways, the routing of SH 1 is followed by Interstate 10 (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.

U.S. Route 80 in Dallas in 1965. This was formerly SH 1

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 Arkansas at Texarkana and ran west through Dallas, Fort Worth, Albany, Abilene, Big Spring and Van Horn to end in El Paso.^[5] By 1919, it had been extended northwest from El Paso to the New Mexico border.^[6] In February 1920,^[7] the whole of SH 1 was included in the transcontinental Bankhead Highway, a marked auto trail.^[8][9]

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.^[10]

By 1936, US 80 had been moved off SH 1 west of downtown Dallas.^[11] 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).^[12] (Commerce Street and Elm Street later became a one-way pair.)^[13]

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).^[3][14] In 1952, the route was renumbered to Loop 260 and signed as U.S. Route 80 Business. Loop 260 was removed from the State Highway System and turned over to the City of Dallas in 1991.^[15]

Branches

In the original 1917 definition, SH 1 had a split between Abilene 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.^[5] 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 in 1919, and a branch was added from Texarkana north to the Red River (the Arkansas border). The old route of SH 1 from Sulphur Springs to Greenville became part of State Highway 11. By 1933, SH 1 was rerouted back on the direct route between Sulphur Springs and Greenville. By 1922 the spur to Douglassville was State Highway 1-B, and the piece north from Texarkana was an extension of SH 1-A.^[6][16]

The southern route between Abilene and Palo Pinto was improved first.^[16] 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,^[17][18][19] and by 1926 it was State Highway 1-A.^[20] By 1933, SH 1 was rerouted back on the direct route between Sulphur Springs and Greenville. The old route from Sulphur Springs and Commerce^[21] became part of SH 11. At the beginning of 1939, US 80 was rerouted onto the direct route between Ranger and Weatherford (formerly State Highway 89^[22]), 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.^[23][24]

The other branches, located east of Dallas, were all renumbered by 1926:^[20]

• The piece of SH 1-A from Commerce east to Daingerfield, became part of State Highway 11. This road still carries SH 11.
• State Highway 1-A from Daingerfield to Hughes Springs became part of State Highway 49. The piece of SH 1-A from Hughes Springs east to Atlanta became State Highway 48. State Highway 1-C and the section of SH 1-A from Atlanta north through Texarkana to the Red River became State Highway 47. State Highway 1-B became part of State Highway 77. By 1930, the section of SH 47 that was on SH 1-C became an extension of SH 77. SH 47 was instead routed along former SH 1-A to Daingerfield, eliminating SH 48. 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 concurrency.) SH 11 was truncated to Linden in 1947, when the rest became part of U.S. Highway 59.^[25]

Major junctions

County	Location	mi[1][22]	km	Destinations	Notes
El Paso	Vinton	0.000	0.000	New Mexico state line / US 80	Western terminus. Western end of US 80 concurrency
	El Paso	21.763	35.024	US 70 / SH 33	Southern terminus of TX 33
		23.695	38.133	US 62 / SH 130	Western terminus of US 62 and TX 130
Culberson	Van Horn	141.593	227.872	US 90 / SH 3 / SH 54	Southern terminus of TX 54, northern terminus of both US 90 and TX 3
Reeves	​	189.241	304.554	US 290 / SH 27	Western terminus of TX 27 and US 290
	Pecos	229.576	369.467	SH 17
Ward	Pyote	254.372	409.372	SH 115	Southern terminus of TX 115
	Monahans	263.922	424.741	SH 82
Ector	Odessa	299.548	482.076	SH 137
Howard	Big Spring	359.041	577.820	US 385 / SH 9
Mitchell	Colorado	390.185	627.942	SH 101	Southern terminus of TX 101
Nolan	Roscoe	417.966	672.651	SH 7	Southern terminus of TX 7
	Sweetwater	189.241	304.554	SH 70
Taylor	Abilene	466.898	751.399	US 83 / US 277 / SH 1A / SH 4 / SH 30	Southern terminus of TX 1A
Eastland	Cisco	511.937	823.883	US 283 / SH 23
	Eastland	521.188	838.771	SH 67
Palo Pinto	​	555.454	893.917	SH 1A	Eastern terminus of TX 1A
	Mineral Wells	576.022	927.018	SH 66	Southern terminus of TX 66
Tarrant	Fort Worth	611.074	983.428	US 377 / SH 10	Western end of TX 10/US 377 concurrency
		623.046	1,002.695	US 81 / US 377 / SH 2 / SH 10	Eastern end of TX 10/US 377 concurrency
		624.697	1,005.352	SH 34	Northern terminus of TX 34
Dallas	Dallas	652.680	1,050.387	US 67 / SH 68	Northern terminus of TX 68. West end of US 67 concurrency
		653.824	1,052.228	SH 6
		654.431	1,053.205	US 75 / US 77 / SH 40	Western end of TX 40 concurrency
		656.620	1,056.727	US 175 / SH 40	Eastern end of TX 40 concurrency
		659.372	1,061.156	US 80 / SH 15	Eastern end of US 80 concurrency
	Garland	668.440	1,075.750	SH 114 / SH 78
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• Texas portal
• U.S. Roads portal

References