Response to ACHP PC

NCSHPO

The National Conference of
State Historic Preservation Officers

Texas Historic Roads and Highways Program

Erik Hein Avatar

Erik Hein

—

2 minutes

In 2009, House Bill 2642 established the Texas Historic Roads and Highways Program, the goal of which is to identify, designate, interpret, and market historic roads and highways in Texas. The Texas Historical Commission (THC) and the Texas Department of Transportation jointly administer the program with the goals of identifying and commemorating historic highways in Texas, and producing a series of interpretive publications to encourage heritage tourism. The Texas Historic Roads and Highways Program is made possible by Federal Transportation Enhancement Program funds provided by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.

The inaugural effort of the Texas Historic Roads and Highways Program, now underway, is the preparation of a historic context detailing the development of the Bankhead Highway and other named highways in Texas. The program’s primary focus is the Bankhead, a transcontinental roadway that travels from Washington, D.C. to San Diego, CA, crossing Texasvia Texarkana to El Paso roughly following the routes of historic highways US 67 and US 80.Anticipated program outcomes include a survey report that identifies, documents, and evaluates historic resources along the Bankhead Highway, an upgraded version of the THC’s online Historic Sites Atlas, and the development of an online portal to distribute information to the public.

Since August, a team of professional historians and architectural historians has been conducting a series of public outreach meetings and field survey trips to document historic buildings and structures along the Bankhead Highway. The public outreach meetings will wrap up by December, and program staff will continue to receive input and materials until Spring 2014. The project is scheduled for completion by July 2014.

“The Bankhead Highway played a major role in helping to build and grow many of our local communities, and this project reminds us all that transportation infrastructure is truly the underpinning of our daily lives,” said State Rep. George Lavender (R-Texarkana). “It connects family and friends, helps ensure that goods and services get to market, and that first responders can effectively serve their communities. As a member of the House Transportation Committee, I appreciate this effort to document and record the historic impact of our highways.”

Follow us on Facebook for more news

Follow Us

Previous News

  • Education: Students in Preservation-Related Fields

    One of the objectives of the SC state preservation plan is to “enhance education of students in preservation-related fields”, by increasing communication and collaboration with educational institutions, and providing field experiences for students while assisting communities. Focusing on this objective has been beneficial to the SHPO and to the preparation of new professionals. SC believes it is […]

  • Cherokee Trail of Tears Properties Added to National Register of Historic Places

    Properties associated with the Native Americans who occupied present-day Oklahoma from earliest times or who were moved to Indian Territory in the nineteenth century are among Oklahoma’s most important historic resources. Of Oklahoma’s twenty-two National Historic Landmarks (NHL), thirteen of them are associated with these groups. Among the twelve Oklahoma NHL’s designated before passage of […]

  • World Heritage Nomination – Poverty Point

    The Louisiana State Historic Preservation Office has led the multi-year effort to have the Poverty Point archaeological site nominated for the World Heritage List. Poverty Point is a 3400-year-old earthworks site in northeast Louisiana. The original plan included four mounds; six enormous, nested, C-shaped ridges; and a large, flat, interior plaza that contained circles of […]

  • The Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory

    In the mid-1970s, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources began awarding matching subgrants using funds from the National Park Service (NPS) for the identification of historic buildings and structures. The Indiana Historic Sites and Structures Inventory (IHSSI) program officially began in 1976 with the first two counties being systematically surveyed to identify and document every […]