Bankhead Highway Historic District

Four separate stretches of old highway in Taylor County, Texas, preserve the original paving of the Bankhead Highway, later State Highway 1 and US 80. Each stretch is just under a mile of 18-foot concrete laid around 1927-1929, with expansion joints every 12 feet. Supporting features include two concrete railroad underpasses dated 1928, drainage culverts, small concrete obelisks that once marked the right-of-way, and a 1936 Texas Centennial marker on a granite base. One section runs parallel to the railroad, showing the close link between rail and road, and another lies beside the former Abilene airport. Interstate 20 replaced the road as the main route, and the late 1950s ended its role as a primary highway. These thirteen resources are the only parts of the first paving in the county that avoided replacement or major loss of integrity. The route is named for Senator John Hollis Bankhead Sr., whose work led to the 1916 Federal Aid Road Act. It was listed for its role in local transportation history from 1927 to 1956.