End of US highway 175 |
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c. 1936, TX DoT
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US 175 runs more east-west than north-south, and it is signed east-west... so US x80 would have been a more appropriate number.
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Ever since it was commissioned in 1931, US 175 has run between Dallas and Jacksonville. However, it has terminated at four different intersections in Jacksonville, and it has had at least three different endpoints in Dallas. Photos of the historic downtown endpoints there are shown on the Dallas page.
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After Seagoville Rd was upgraded and became the Hawn Fwy (mid-1960s), the US 175 designation followed that connection to what was then known as S. Central Expwy, and ended there (since that carried US 75 traffic):
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Karners, Jan. 2012
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That was known to locals as "Dead Man's Curve". US 175 formerly ended there, but at the time of that photo it continued to the right (and then in 2020 a new alignment of US 175 opened straight ahead; more on that below). These next photos were looking south on S. Central Expwy/Wright Fwy:
Wiley, 2001
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Wiley, 2001
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That is now designated US 175, which exits to the right, then passes under to the left, becoming the Hawn Frwy, heading towards Kaufman. However, that was formerly US 75 (continuing on what is now TX hwy. 310), and the US 175 designation began at that junction.
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Since about 1988, the US 75 designation no longer makes it this far south, so the US 175 designation was extended north a bit via old US 75 (S. Central/Wright), ending at I-45's interchange 283. This shot was from southbound I-45:
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Wiley, 2001
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Notice the sign read "TO US 175". That took drivers to a transition ramp which served both US 175 and MLK traffic. Where that ramp split, the signs indicated that one was now truly on US 175:
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Wiley, 2001
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These shots show the former north end of US 175, looking north on S. Central/Wright. Historically US 75 continued straight ahead, and followed Central through downtown (that is now called Cesar Chavez, and the new Clearview version of that sign reflects that change). But now US 75 ends on the other (north) side of downtown, so US 175 was extended up to this point:
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Wiley, 2001
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Karners, Jan. 2012
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Just past the bridge was the last US 175 confirming marker, although an "END 175" assembly would have been more appropriate in that location. But in 2020, the US 175 designation was removed from S. Central/Wright. A new direct connection to I-45 was built, such that US 175 now crosses S. Central/Wright in a perpendicular direction.
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Until probably sometime in the 1960s, there was no Jackson Street heading north out of Jacksonville -- instead US 69 traffic used Bolton Street. US 175 came in on Frankston Street (as it still does) but ended at Bolton:
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c. 1961, TX DoT
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This shot was looking north on Bolton, which was formerly US 69. To the left on Frankston was the original east beginning of US 175. At the time, US 69 went south from here on Bolton to Cherokee Street, then went east to Jackson before turning south again:
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Nelson, Aug. 2007
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Later, when Jackson was extended to the north and US 69 traffic was moved off Bolton, US 175 was extended south along the former US 69: south on Bolton, east on Cherokee, ending at Jackson. (There are some photos of this intersection below, taken when US 175 ended there during a later timeframe.)
Before too long a new Jackson Street viaduct was built, so that traffic could pass over the railyards. When this was completed in 1974, US 175 signage was extended down Jackson with US 69, ending at Rusk Street (US 79). This photo was looking north on Jackson at Rusk: |
Nelson, Aug. 2007
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For about 25 years, US 175 began straight ahead with US 69 (US 175 split off onto Cherokee, about four blocks ahead). At the time, US 79 traffic used Rusk east of Jackson, but not west of Jackson (as it does today). Instead, US 79 traffic had to jog one block and follow Larissa Street west out of town.
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In 1999, Rusk was upgraded west of Jackson so that US 79 traffic could stay on Rusk all the way through town. When that happened, US 175 shields no longer appeared on the replacement signage, so the designation was essentially cut back to its former terminus on Cherokee at Jackson. The photo below was looking west on Cherokee from Jackson, which serves as US 69 (as well as a short segment of TX hwy. 135):
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Wiley, 2001
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That was the east beginning of US 175. From there, US 175 continued west on Cherokee for three blocks; then north about a half-mile on Bolton; and then west on Frankston, out of town. Above, the car at left had just reached the east end of US 175. Straight ahead (across Jackson) the driver would have seen the signage shown here:
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Wiley, 2001
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The assembly on the left was for northbound Jackson traffic; it is shown face-on in this photo...
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Wiley, 2001
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...and this photo shows the old beginning from southbound:
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swissJohn, 2000
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On the far side of the overpass is downtown Jacksonville, and the junction with US 79. In 2002, US 175 was extended straight through its intersection with Bolton on a new road called Alexander. It still ends at its junction with US 69, but this is now about a half-mile north of the historic Cherokee terminus. This photo was looking north on Jackson, or US 69:
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Cozart, Apr. 2003
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(detail)
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US 175 begins to the left. That was a new intersection at the time, and signage back then was quite inadequate. As of 2013 the situation still has not changed much. At least there was some advance signage...
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Brooks, Aug. 2011
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...but it did not include a directional tab. Visible at far left is the backside of a big sign for traffic at the east end of US 175; the frontside is shown in this photo:
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Stuve, Mar. 2010
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Research and/or photo credits: Robert Brooks; Justin Cozart; Karin and Martin Karner; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson; Eric Stuve; swissJohn; Mike Wiley
Page originally created 2000;
last updated Feb. 29, 2020.
last updated Feb. 29, 2020.
