Texas State Highway 7

State Highway 7
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length: 212.7 mi[1] (342.3 km)
Existed: 1939[1] – present
Major junctions
West end: I-35 in Bruceville-Eddy
 

US 77 in Chilton
US 79 in Marquez
I-45 in Centerville
US 287 in Crockett
US 69 in Pollok
US 59 in Nacogdoches

US 96 in Center
East end: US 84 in Joaquin
Highway system

Highways in Texas
Interstate • U.S. • TX (LoopsSpursRecFM)

SH 6 SH 8
SH 138 SH 139 SH 140 →

State Highway 7 is an east–west state highway that runs from Interstate 35 south of Waco to U.S. Highway 84 about 3 miles (5 km) west of the Texas-Louisiana state line. Between Crockett and Nacogdoches, SH 7 passes through the Davy Crockett National Forest.

Contents

History

SH 7 was one of the original 26 state highways proposed in 1917, proposed as a 'Central Texas Highway.' In 1919 the routing was mostly proposed between San Angelo and Goldthwaite, but only the segment to Paint Rock was created. From Goldthwaite, the road parallels U.S. Highway 84 to Waco. The remainder follows SH 164 to Buffalo, was unbuilt between Buffalo and Jasper, and U.S. Highway 190 to the State Line.

Possibly due to the amount of construction necessary to build this route as proposed, by 1919 the road was completely rerouted via the current U.S. Highway 84 through Lubbock to Sweetwater. Between Sweetwater and Coleman, the road was not constructed as proposed. SH 7 returns to US 84, through Waco to Palestine, heads south on U.S. Highway 287 to Crockett, turns to Lufkin via the current SH 7 then SH 103 and finally onto Jasper and Newton via present day U.S. Highway 69, SH 63 and US 190.

In 1926, U.S. Highway 70, 80, and 67 were overlaid over pieces of SH 7. While the entirety of the SH 7 maintained its number, the road had been realigned yet again, mainly due to constructions issues. The Sweetwater-Coleman road was never built, and SH 7 was rerouted over existing roads into Abilene. The road's east terminus was shortened to Long Lake. By 1933, the highway was extended east across SH 294 into Alto, SH 21 to Nacogdoches, ending in Joaquin via current SH 7, replacing SH 76.

By 1939 most of the highway had been overrun by a patchwork of US Highways, leaving only a small portion from Joaquin to Crockett remaining, rerouted yet again to a more southerly route from Nacogdoches. The road was slowly extended northwest, absorbing SH 139 from Chilton to Marquez (originally ended in Marlin) in 1948, reaching its current routing by 1990.

SH 7A was a spur route of SH 7 that split off at Coleman and traveled southwest through San Angelo to Fort Stockton. It was transferred to portions of SH 23, SH 30, and SH 99 by 1933.
SH 7B was a spur route of SH 7 that split off at Lufkin and traveled southwest through Groveton to Trinity.  By 1933 it had been renumbered SH 94.

Route description

SH 7 begins at an intersection with Interstate 35 and FM 107 in extreme southern McClennan County in central Texas. The highway travels east until it reaches an intersection with US Route 77. It briefly travels south with US 77 around the western side of Chilton before turn east again through town. The highway continues east through sparsely populated farmland before reaching Interstate 45 at Centerville. The highway continues east, passing through Crockett before turning northeast and passing through the center of the city of Nacogdoches. The highway continues to its final location, ending at US 84 in extreme northeast Shelby County, just short of the Louisiana State Line.

Junction list

County Location Mile[2] Junction Notes
McLennan Eddy I-35 / FM 107
Falls FM 2643
US 77 / Bus. SH 7-B West end of US 77 concurrency
FM 1950
US 77 East end of US 77 concurrency
Bus. SH 7-B
FM 434
FM 935
SH 320
Marlin Bus. SH 6-N (Williams Street)
FM 147 (Walker Street)
SH 6
FM 2958
FM 3144
FM 1771
FM 2745
Limestone Kosse SH 14 (Mignonette Street)
FM 2749
Robertson FM 979
FM 937
Leon Marquez US 79
FM 1147
FM 39
Centerville I-45 – Dallas, Houston
SH 75 (Commerce Street)
FM 1119 (Cass Street)
FM 811
FM 1511
FM 542
Houston FM 132
SH 21 West end of SH 21 concurrency
Crockett Loop 304
FM 229 (Durrette Drive)
SH 19
US 287 (5th Street) / SH 21 East end of SH 21 concurrency
Loop 304
FM 232
FM 1733
Kennard FM 2781
FM 357 (Main Street)
FM 227
Angelina SH 103
FM 1819
US 69
Nacogdoches FM 2782
Nacogdoches US 59 (Stallings Drive)

US 59 Bus. (South Street)
West end of US 59 Bus. concurrency

US 59 Bus. (North Street) / SH 21 (Main Street)
East end of US 59 Bus. concurrency, west end of SH 21 concurrency
FM 1275 (University Drive)
SH 21 (Main Street) East end of SH 21 concurrency
Loop 224 (Stallings Drive)
FM 2112
FM 2713
FM 95
San Augustine No junctions in San Augustine County
Shelby FM 2913
FM 711
Loop 500
Center US 96 (Hurst Street, Southview Circle)
SH 87 (Shelbyville Street)
FM 2788 (Sardis Road)
Loop 500
FM 1656
FM 2608
FM 3082
Joaquin FM 139
US 84

References