Texas State Highway 17 - History

History

SH 17 was one of the original 26 highways proposed in Texas in 1917. The original route was to be from another proposed route State Highway 12 running along the Rio Grande to Sanderson, then through Fort Stockton and Pecos to the New Mexico state line. By 1922, the new plan for SH 17 was then from Sanderson to Fort Stockton to Grandfalls ending at Monahans with a spur from Grandfalls to Barstow, and with a separate route, SH 17A, running from Alpine through Fort Davis, Balmorhea, and Pecos to New Mexico.

All route descriptions before 1924 were merely proposals. The Texas Highway Department, a precursor of the Texas Department of Transportation, did not have the authority to assume maintenance of roads from the counties until 1924, nor the authority to plan, survey, or build new roads until 1925. By 1926, SH 17 had been transferred to SH 82, while SH 17A was reclassified as the main route of SH 17. By 1933, SH 17 was rerouted through Marfa to end in Presidio, replacing SH 118, which was reassigned on the old route. By 1936, the stretch from Pecos to New Mexico had been transferred to SH 27. By 1939,the stretch from Presidio to Marfa was transferred to U.S. Highway 67.