Texas State Highway 1

:"For other highways in Texas numbered 1, see Farm to Market Road 1, Loop 1 (Mopac Expressway), NASA Road 1, Park Road 1, Ranch Road 1 and Spur 1."Infobox TX State Highway
type=State
route=1
formed=1917
history=Replaced by US 80 (New Mexico to Dallas) in 1939
Replaced by US 67 (Dallas to Texarkana) in 1939
Replaced by Loop 260 (Dallas) in 1952
decommissioned=1952
previous_type=State
previous_route=OSR
next_type=Historic
next_route=2

State Highway 1 (SH 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."Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0001.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway 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.State Highway Department, . [ [http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/midgetmap.htm Midget Map of the Transcontinental Trails of the United States] , 1923]

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. [American Association of State Highway Officials, United States Numbered Highways, 1927]

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).Texas State Highway Department, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=4838 General Highway Map - Dallas County, Rockwall County, Texas] , 1936] (Commerce Street and Elm Street later became a one-way pair.)Texas State Highway Department, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5105 General Highway Map - Dallas County, Rockwall County, Texas] , 1954, state highways revised to January 1, 1961]

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). [http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1954-state.html 1954 TXDOT map] ] 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.Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sl/sl0260.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway Loop 260] ]

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. 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.Texas State Highway Department, ]

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, [ [http://www.us-highways.com/usdiv.htm U.S. Highways: Divided (Split) Routes] ] [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/us/us0080.htm Highway Designation File - U.S. Highway 80] ] [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ua/ua0080br.htm Highway Designation File - U.S. Highway 80 Alternate (Breckenridge)] ] and by 1933 it was State Highway 1-A.State Highway Commission, , [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/us/us0180.htm Highway Designation File - 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 Daingerfield, became part of State Highway 11. Those roads still carry SH 11.
*State Highway 1-A from Daingerfield to Hughes Springs 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 south 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. [Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0011.htm Highway Designation File - State Highway 11] ]
*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 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.

References