End of US highway 377 |
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1930-1932
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1932-1951
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1951-1968
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1968-1991
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1991-present
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Summa
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c. 1936, TXDoT
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US 377 was commissioned in 1930; at the time its north end was in Denton. Originally it came into town on Locust Street, and junctioned with US 77 approximately where Eagle Drive is today. But US 377 probably did not end there; it almost certainly was overlapped north with US 77 along Locust, ending at the courthouse:
Sanderson, Sep. 2019
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That was looking north on Locust at Hickory Street. There at the courthouse square, US 77 turned left for one block before heading north again on Elm Street. So within a few more years, after US 377 had been upgraded to its current viaduct under the railroad and came into town on Fort Worth Drive, it continued up Elm, ending at the jog in US 77 (one block to the left):
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c. 1961, TXDoT
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Sanderson, Sep. 2019
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This 1942 image was taken looking the opposite direction (south on Elm, approaching Hickory):
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c. 1942 (linked to source)
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In the distance, a barely-legible highway signpost stated that US 77 and TX 24 were to the left on Hickory, while straight ahead was the beginning of US 377:
(detail)
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Still later, starting in the 1950s, US 377 may have been extended north a couple blocks on Elm, ending at McKinney Street:
Sanderson, Sep. 2019
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This photo was taken during that timeframe, but I believe this assembly was located at the historic terminus (south on Elm at Hickory). Note this was also during a brief period during which mainline US 77 traffic was directed around the city via I-35, while the original route of US 77 was signed as Business 77:
c. 1970s (linked to source)
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The original south end of US 377 was at its junction with US 81 in Fort Worth. It is unclear when one-ways were introduced in FtW, but today historic US 81 is split into the one-way couplet of Commerce and Houston Streets, and old 377 splits into the Belknap/Weatherford couplet. Here is a view from what was likely the historic south terminus of US 377:
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Brooks, May 2004
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That was heading west on Belknap, looking at Commerce and the Tarrant County Courthouse. A right turn there was north on US 81, or a left turn on the far side of the courthouse (on Houston) would have been southbound US 81...
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...but it was only two years later that the south end was extended to Stephenville. It is possible that the 377 designation could have ended at its junction with US 281 on the east edge of town, but it seems more likely that the two routes would have been overlapped to the junction with US 67 downtown:
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c. 1936, TX DoT
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This photo was looking west on Washington Street; US 377 was likely signed to this intersection at Graham Street. Southbound US 281 turned left, joining eastbound US 67. Westbound 67 was straight ahead. Note that -- thanks to a couple recent bypasses -- none of the mainline US routes are directed through this intersection anymore, although Washington is Business 377:
Taylor, Aug. 2004
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Here, we are looking the opposite direction (east on Washington). This was formerly northbound US 67 (which came to this point and turned right on Graham). Northbound US 281 came from the right and continued straight ahead. Also straight ahead was the south beginning of US 377:
Sanderson, Aug. 2013
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That lasted about 20 years. Then in 1951 the US 377 designation was extended further south, to its current terminus in Del Rio:
c. 1956, Gousha
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This shot was taken heading south on Veterans Boulevard (renamed from "Avenue F"); it was the last southbound US 377 sign:
Sanderson, Aug. 2013
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At that point, the designation is overlapped with US 90 and US 277. The yellow traffic signal in the distance was where US 377 ended; this photo shows signage at the intersection:
Sanderson, Aug. 2013
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There mainline US 277 turned left (east towards Eagle Pass), whereas Spur US 277 turned right (southwest) to the Mexico border crossing. Garfield is still Spur US 277, despite the signage there (the real TX Spur 277 is in Coupland, way over near Austin). All of this may be relevant because, since the US 277 designation made it to that point until about 1985, it is possible that US 377 was signed to that junction as well. This photo was looking east on Garfield:
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Sanderson, Aug. 2013
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That assembly was a little strange, too: to the left is Spur 297. And there was no mention there of US 377, US 277, or Spur 277. Anyway, it is possible that US 377 once began to the left there. We will now continue that direction and return to the former terminus of US 377; this photo was taken across the viaduct, at the other end of Spur 297:
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Karners, Dec. 2014
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There was no assembly there in 2013. Several of the signposts at that intersection were replaced in 2014, and they were not entirely accurate. The one shown above made it look like 90, 277, and 377 all went both straight and right, but US 377 actually begins straight ahead. In the background was the first northbound confirming marker for 377:
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Taylor, 2000
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Karners, Dec. 2014
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These photos were taken from eastbound Gibbs (TX Spur 239). Lots of information to convey here, so multiple sign trees were used. The south beginning of US 377 is to the left:
Taylor, 2000
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Sanderson, Aug. 2013
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Karners, Dec. 2014
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This shot was from the opposite direction (west on Gibbs). This is westbound US 90 and northbound US 277, each of which continue to the right. Also to the right is the south beginning of US 377:
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Sanderson, Aug. 2013
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In about 1968, US 377 was extended north from Denton. Upon crossing into Oklahoma, it was routed along OK 99 to Madill... at least according to commercial maps. But OKDoT's official state highway maps for the next couple decades did not show a US 377 marker north of the Red River, suggesting that they may not have signed the route in their state. They may have been waiting for AASHTO approval to extend the route further north (more on that below):
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c. 1989, OKDoT (early?)
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c. 1989, OKDoT (later?)
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Originally OK 99 came into Madill via 5th Avenue, then east on Lilley Boulevard and out of town via Main Street. But by the time US 377 was added to OK 99, a bypass had been built along the south edge of town, so US 377 ended where that bypass junctions with US 70:
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Karners, Jan. 2012
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Today US 377 continues to the left, but it once ended there. These photos were taken from the perspective of US 70, looking both north and south (respectively) on First Street. Formerly US 377 began to the south:
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Karners, Jan. 2012
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Karners, Jan. 2012
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c. 1991, OK DoT
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In 1991 OK DoT extended the US 377 designation further north, to its present terminus at Stroud... however, signage there made it difficult to know exactly where. The photo was looking north on US 377/OK hwy. 99 (8th Avenue) at historic US 66/modern OK 66 (3rd Street):
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McMahon, Dec. 2002
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Sign errors were in abundance at this intersection. There, one would get the impression that the US 377 designation continues ahead about a half-mile to the I-44 interchange. Same thing heading east on 3rd...
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McMahon, Dec. 2002
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...and that is correct, based on OK DoT route logs: US 377 does end at I-44. Funny thing is, though: north of there was absolutely no mention of US 377. Even the signage on I-44 mentioned only OK 99, although by 2010 a US 377 shield had been added for the benefit of drivers on I-44:
Stuve, Mar. 2003
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Morrison, Aug. 2010
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Below is the first southbound sign:
McMahon, Dec. 2002
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This approx. 120-mile extension of US 377 north of Madill to Stroud was apparently done without AASHTO's approval. That makes it perhaps the single most blatant example of an AASHTO policy violation. And it is not a good precedent: the uniformity and integrity of the US route system depends on the voluntary cooperation of the state highway departments. But with that said, one should not be too quick to place all the blame on OK DoT: they had been trying to get a US route designation approved for the Madill-Ada corridor for literally decades. Starting in 1952, OK DoT had at least a dozen different proposals rejected by AASHTO. They tried all kinds of approaches, attempting to extend US 177, US 377, and even US 169, such that they would pass through Ada. I have seen a few documents related to this: one stated that an extension was not approved because the road in question needed improvements in order to be considered compliant with standards for a primary route. But another stated that the amount of US routes in that part of Oklahoma was too dense. During ten separate meetings between 1968-1988, AASHTO denied Oklahoma's applications to extend US 377 north from Madill. After 20 years OK DoT must have decided they were getting the run-around, and in 1991 they finally decided to "go rogue" and signpost US 377 anyway.
Research and/or photo credits: Robert Brooks; Karin and Martin Karner; Brian Kosich; Jeremy Lance; Martin McMahon; Jeff Morrison; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson; Eric Stuve; Michael Summa; Stephen Taylor
Page originally created 2000;
last updated Sep. 18, 2019.
last updated Sep. 18, 2019.
