Historic Photos Statewide

Interstate 35 (non-urban sections)
Source: TxDOT archive library

June 1970	Waco, IH-35/US77 interchange construction (247 kB) IH-35 was previously completed at this location
November 25, 1968	Temple, construction of elevated viaduct (64 kB)
November 25, 1968	Temple, construction of elevated viaduct (127 kB)
January 15, 1965	Georgetown, construction of overpass (131 kB) The Inner Space Cavern cave was discovered during construction of this section of IH-35. I'm not 100% certain, but this looks like exact location of the cave.
January 15, 1965	Georgetown, San Gabriel River bridge construction (167 kB) This bridge was widened in 2001.
November 11, 1965	Laredo, freeway path at terminus (173 kB) The red lines in the view show the path that the freeway will take. The Rio Grande Rivers appears to be in the background. This quiet village has become one of the busiest US-Mexico Border Crossings.
November 11, 1965	Laredo, freeway path at Laredo (232 kB) The red lines in the view show the path that the freeway will take. Looking north, the right of way of the freeway is already clear, with feeders in place.
February 1970	Completion of freeway in Waco (added 8-May-2001) (276 kB) This image from the inside cover of the February, 1970, Texas Highways Magazine shows the nearly complete freeway through Waco, with the Brazos River crossing in the foreground.

Interstate 10 (non-urban sections) (Photos added 8-May-2001)
Source: TxDOT archive library
Interstate 10 in Texas was completed on May 20, 1983, when the Fort Stockton bypass opened. On that date, Interstate 10 became a limited-access facility from coast-to-coast, although the freeway did not yet follow the officially designated route through Phoenix, Arizona, where it would be built in a cut-and-cover tunnel.

Undated, circa 1950	US 90 near Liberty, Texas (northeast of Houston) (157 kB) US 90 was the predecessor of IH-10. The present IH-10 does not follow this section US 90, however; a more southerly route was taken for IH-10. Notice the very narrow bridge in this photo.
February 1954	US90 (now IH-10) Sabine River Bridge at Texas-Louisiana border (42 kB) This section of IH-10 traverses the Blue Elbow Swamp. Based on the shadows, this photo appears to be looking into Louisiana. Notice how narrow the bridge is. In 1999, construction began on a $39.35 million, 6-lane replacement bridge. As of January 2001, the new bridge was 45% complete.
1954	US90 (now IH-10) near the Sabine River Bridge at Texas-Louisiana border (129 kB)
Undated, circa 1960?	US 290 (now IH-10) in West Texas near Bakersfield (135 kB) This is now the route of Interstate 10.
October 1961	Opening Ceremony for IH-10 between Orange and Beaumont (129 kB)
August 1968	Construction north of Boerne, TX (184 kB) Boerne is about 35 miles northwest of downtown San Antonio.
August 1968	Bridge construction north of Boerne, TX (198 kB)
May 1970	IH-10 bridge over Llano River at Junction, TX (164 kB) Junction is 100 miles west of San Antonio. Even though this region is semi-arid, notice the wide flood plain. To see what can happen, see Llano River flood photos, November 2000.
May 1970	Dynamite drilling near Junction, TX (135 kB) See the Texas Highways Magazine cover image below for a nice color photo.
May 1970	Excavation near Junction, TX (213 kB)
May 1970	Texas Highways Magazine Cover of the May 1970 magazine (273K) Drilling dynamite placement holes near Junction, TX. This is a nice color photo.

Interstate 45 (non-urban sections)
Source: TxDOT archive library

May 1963	Rest Area construction near Huntsville (132 kB) Huntsville is about 60 miles north of downtown Houston. The interstate appears to be complete at Huntsville in 1963.
June 1963	Construction at SH21 intersection at Madisonville (175 kB)
July 1963	Overpass construction near Corsicana (90 kB)
August 1969	Texas Highways Magazine "IH 45 Link Opens" Page 1 (311K) 2 (352K) This article features the dedication of the IH-45 section between Centerville and Buffalo on July 11, 1969. The old US 75 had become very dangerous, as shown by the roadside sign with the fatality count. With the completion of this section, 34 miles between Buffalo and Streetman remained to be completed.
December 1971	Texas Highways Magazine "The End of the Beginning" Page 1 (308K) 2 (404K) 3 (252K) This article features the dedication of the final 12-mile link in IH-45 between Houston and Dallas. Only a small section in Dallas remained to be completed. The article describes how the uncompleted section had become known as "Nightmare Alley" due to its high traffic fatality rate.

Interstate 20, non-urban sections (updated 8-July-2001, add present-day photos to dedication views)
Source: TxDOT archive library

October 18, 1965	Construction in East Texas (181 kB) This photo is labelled as being in TxDOT district 10. I believe this is the Tyler district.
October 18, 1965	Construction in East Texas (148 kB)
May 6, 1967	Dedication ceremony at Longview (updated 8-July-2001) (161 kB) Dedication ceremony at Longview (updated 8-July-2001) (184 kB) These links also include 2001 views of these locations. 2001 photos contributed by Billy Donovan. Thanks! Like most highway completions in the 1960's, this was a big deal. This opening ceremony featured a band and a drill team.

Rio Grande Valley (far south Texas)
Source: TxDOT archive library

December 9, 1966	US83 construction between Mission and Mercedes (182 kB)
December 9, 1966	US83 construction between Mission and Mercedes (115 kB)

Amarillo (Updated 8-May-2001)
Source: TxDOT archive library

June 1958	Construction of US 87 / US 60 (added 8-May-2001) (172 kB)
June 1963	87/287 at 24th Street (109 kB)
January 1966	Construction of Interstate 40 in Amarillo (252 kB)

Nacogdoches/Lufkin Region (added 8-May-2001)
Source: TxDOT archive library

Undated (1950's?)	US 59 near Nacogdoches (160 kB) This is the original US 59, before it became a divided highway. Sometime between 2010 and 2020, Interstate 69 will replace this route as the region's main artery. IH-69 will be constructed on new location for most of its route around Lufkin and Navasota.
Undated (1950's?)	US 59 between Lufkin and Nacogdoches (227 kB)
Undated (1950's?)	US 59 at Livingston (193 kB)
Undated (1950's?)	Highway 21 near Nacogdoches (181 kB) Highway 21 at Attowac River near Nacogdoches (173 kB) Highway 21 at Alto (172 kB) These three photographs of Highway 21 all show old-style truss bridges that existed along this route.
August 1958	Farm Road 147 crossing of Angelina River before Lake Rayburn (183K) This photo seemed curious to me because the river crossing was such a long structure. Then I realized that this photo was taken before water impoundment of Lake Sam Rayburn. So the ground in this photo is now underwater.

Bryan / College Station
Source: TxDOT archive library

December 12, 1966

Overpass Construction at FM60 (Wellborn Road) and FM2164 (University Drive) (202 kB) I added this photo for all fellow A&M alumni out there. This is the intersection near Northgate and the Dixie Chicken.

Waco Photos added 3-July-01
Source: TxDOT archive library

1954	Views of the US 81 corridor through Waco US 81 view 1 (194 kB) US 81 view 2 (146 kB) US 81 view 3 (140 kB) US 81 view 4 (115 kB) US 81 Brazos River Bridge (117 kB) The photos show the original US 81 through Waco, which would later become the Interstate 35 corridor. These photos show the roadway lined with 1950's era fuel stations and commercial establishments.
April 1955	Waco Drive (135 kB)
January 18, 1961	Construction of State Highway 6 Lake Waco Bridge (110 kB) This photo appeared on the cover of Texas Highways magazine, April 1961.
February 1970	Completion of freeway in Waco (added 8-May-2001) (276 kB) This image from the inside cover of the February, 1970, Texas Highways Magazine shows the nearly complete freeway through Waco, with the Brazos River crossing in the foreground.

Wichita Falls
Source: TxDOT archive library

June 10, 1968

Model of proposed Interchange of US287 and US82 (Kell Freeway) (186 kB) In this model view, the Kell freeway goes from the lower right corner of the image to the upper left. US 287/IH-44 goes diagonally from lower right to the left. Notice the wide separation of US287/IH-44 on the left side of the model. This was the transition to IH-44. The elevated viaducts for this freeway finally began construction in 1999. Click here for photos of the construction of the elevated viaduct, taken from the offical TxDOT information page. The connector ramps shown in this model were not constructed.

Kingsland
Source: TxDOT archive library
Kingsland is located on the Colorado River, 40 miles northwest of Austin

November 13, 1963 FM 1431 bridge over Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (166 kB) February 24, 1969 Dynamite placement for blasing in FM 1431, with view of Lake LBJ (190 kB) February 1969 Just after blasing on FM 1431 (82 kB)