End of US highway 96

1939-present

North: Tenaha, TX
South: Port Arthur, TX

Texas has a few oddball intra-state US routes, and US 96 is one of them. It runs about as north/south as they come, but it has an east/west number. Compare that with US 57: even though it clearly runs east/west, it has a north/south number, and it is signed north/south, too. The universe would be much more harmonious if the numbers on these two routes could be switched. In fact, if those two numbers were reversed, they would fit so perfectly into the "grand design" of the US route numbering system that one has to wonder whether some kind of mistake was made, in which the two route numbers were accidentally switched and assigned to the wrong highways. But the fact is, US 96 had been around for decades before US 57 was commissioned in 1970... and US 57's number came from the route it replaced: TX 57 (which in turn came from Mexico hwy 57, to which it connects). In the opinion of US Ends .com, US 96 should be renumbered... but not as US 57 (click here for details).

Today's US 96 was commissioned in 1939, the same year US 96[i] was retired. It was signed along the highway which since 1934 had been designated US 59 between Tenaha and Port Arthur (which probably explains where the number "96" came from: Texas simply re-applied its old number to a route that needed a new number). The south end of US 96 was (and still is) in Port Arthur.

Likewise, the north end of US 96 has always been in Tenaha. However, the exact location of the terminus has changed. Originally, US 96 came into town on Center Street, which is now designated Loop 157:

c. 1940, TXDoT

The route ended at its junction with Bowers Drive, which carries US 59 and US 84:

Nelson, Feb. 2006

This photo was looking east on US 59-84. FM 947 begins to the left, but Loop 157 actually begins to the right ahead:

Nelson, Feb. 2006

In about 1989, a bypass was built around the south and east sides of town. US 96 traffic was rerouted onto the bypass, so the terminus changed. This photo shows the current north end of US 96 in Tenaha, at its junction with US 59 and US 84:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

Here, we are looking south on US 59; if a traveler stays straight, they will soon be on the north beginning of US 96:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

And finally, here is the assembly for the beginning of US 96 as seen from westbound US 84:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

Research and/or photo credits: Justin Cozart; Steven Nelson; Dale Sanderson

Page originally created 2001;
last updated Jan. 11, 2017.