Texas State Highway 2

State Highway 2, or SH 2, is a deleted Texas highway.

SH 2 was one of the original twenty-six state highways proposed in 1917, overlaid on top of the Meridian Highway and Gulf Division Highway. From 1919 the routing mostly followed present day Interstate 44 (I-44) from Oklahoma to Wichita Falls, and U.S. Highway 287 (US 287) to Fort Worth. It continued on, routed along present day I-35W and I-35 to Waco. From here, the road divided into two branches, both signed as State Highway 2.

The western branch followed the Meridian Highway from Waco, roughly following I-35 through Austin and San Antonio, and terminating in Laredo.

The eastern branch followed the Gulf Division Highway from Waco, routed along present day State Highway 6 through Bryan to Hempstead and into Houston. From there the routing follows US 75 into Galveston, Texas.

In 1926, US 81 was routed over SH 2 from Oklahoma to Laredo, while the Gulf Division branch was given a newly rerouted State Highway 6 number (cancelling the Eastern SH 2) from Waco to Houston. The remainder from Houston to Galveston was US 75. While the western routes were marked concurrently, by 1939, SH 2 was deleted in favor of US 81.

Spur routes

The route had numerous spurs and alternate routings during its lifetime.

For the initial 1917 Texas routing proposal, while the main route continued southwest from Cleburne to Meridian, and then southeast to Waco, State Highway 2-A ran southeast from Cleburne to Hillsboro, where it met State Highway 6. By 1919, the routing of SH 2A remained similar, except the split from the main route happened at Burleson, travelling southeast through Alvarado to HIllsboro. In 1926, the main route of SH 2 had been rerouted over 2A section from Burlseon to Itasca, while SH 2A was reassigned to the old alignment of SH 2 from Burlseon to Cleburne and to the old alignment of SH 2E. The SH 2A designation was deleted in 1939 and was replaced by portions of SH 174, SH 171, and SH 291.

In 1922, new spur routes were formed off of the main SH 2:

State Highway 2-B was a spur in McLennan County running from Riesel northeast to Mart. By 1933 it was renumbered as SH 164.

State Highway 2-C was a more direct route through central Texas betweel Temple and Round Rock, bypassing Taylor to the west. In 1926, the main route of SH 2 had been rerouted over it, with the old route of SH 2 transferred to SH 95 and SH 43.

State Highway 2-D was a spur route in north Texas branching off the main route at Bowie and travelling north through Ringgold and crossing into Oklahoma. In 1926, the main route of SH 2 had been rerouted over it, with the old route of SH 2 transferred to SH 50, SH 5, and SH 30.

State Highway 2-E was a short connector route between Cleburne and Itasca, connecting the main route and SH 2A. In 1926, SH 2E was reassigned to SH 2A.

State Highway 2-F was a planned spur routing splitting from the main route in Taylor and travelling south to Elgin. In 1926 the route had been transferred to SH 95.