Historic US highway endpoints in Amarillo TX

Highway	Approx. time period
US 366 [I]	1926-1932
US 164 [I]	1928-1930
US 60	1930-1932
US 370	1931-1939

Photo credits: Steven Nelson

Amarillo may well be the grand champion of decommissioned highways (or grand loser, depending how you look at it): of the eight US routes that have served the city, five of them no longer exist.

That could be a misleading statement, though, so let me clarify: it's not that the roadways themselves have disappeared. Rather, Amarillo was originally served by several shorter branch routes, which were later swallowed up by extensions of longer routes. As a result, several US route numbers that once graced the streets of Amarillo have been retired - in fact, offhand, I'd guess more than most cities.

When the US routes were first commissioned in 1926, Amarillo found itself at the junction of north-south US 385 [I] (which ran along Fillmore Street), and east-west US 66 (which headed west of Fillmore via South 6th Avenue, and originally went east of Fillmore using South 10th Avenue). Also, US 366 [I] came into town heading northeast from El Paso. It met US 385 at Canyon (about 16 miles south of Amarillo), but according to route logs, instead of ending there, it was co-signed with US 385 up to Amarillo. So it came in on Fillmore, and it may have ended where it junctioned US 66 at S. 10th. But it also may have been signed up to the main highway junction at the center of town: S. 6th and Fillmore.

Then in 1928, US 164 [I] was commissioned: it served traffic coming into Amarillo from the northeast. US 164 arrived via North 8th Avenue (now Amarillo Boulevard), so the designation could've ended where it met US 385 (at Fillmore). However, I think it's more likely that US 164 would've been co-signed down to meet US 66 at S. 6th (possibly the same endpoint as US 366, which makes one wonder why US 164 wasn't instead numbered as a northeastward extension of US 366).

Anyway: by the late 1920's, Amarillo was served by those four US routes, which led out of the city in five different directions, and which branched out to seven within a 16-mile radius. But as soon as the 1930's rolled around, the route numbers began to change, and by the end of that decade, four of them were history.

In 1930, US 60 was extended eastward from Missouri to Amarillo. The westernmost segment of this extension was along what had been US 164, so that was the first of Amarillo's route numbers to be retired. US 60 would've had the same endpoint as US 164 for a year or two, before it was extended again: this time westward out of Amarillo. And since this extension was along US 366, it was what brought about the demise of that route.

However, Amarillo also gained a US route designation right about this time: US 370 came northwestward from Wichita Falls. Originally it met US 66 at "Claude" (according to route logs, but actually it seems more likely that Washburn was the exact terminus - see my US 370 page). Although this junction is about 16 miles east of Amarillo (same distance as Canyon), for some reason US 370 was not multiplexed into Amarillo (like US 366 was). Rather, it ended in Washburn until about 1931. At that time, US 66 was straightened east of Amarillo, such that it no longer went through Washburn (it now left town using N. 8th, rather than S. 10th). It was then that US 370 was extended into Amarillo, along the route of former US 66. In other words, it would've come into town on S. 10th, meeting US 385 at Fillmore. It could've ended there, but again, I believe it would've made more sense to co-sign it north on Fillmore to end at the "new" US 66 at S. 6th.

That lasted until 1940, which is when a southeastward-expanding US 287 eliminated the US 370 designation. Meanwhile, it was about 1935 when US 385 was replaced by a southern extension of US 87. And the fifth (and final) US route to be removed from Amarillo was US 66, which was decommissioned in 1985. What this means is: every one of the seven original US routes that branched out of Amarillo in the 1920's has been renumbered.

So: did you pick up on the pattern? While it's possible that some routes ended at Fillmore north of downtown (on N. 8th) and others may have ended to the south (on S. 10th), I tend to believe that all four of them would've been signed to the central highway junction (at S. 6th). Below are photos of all three intersections; this first one is looking north on Fillmore at S. 10th:

Nelson, Jan. 2006

This was northbound US 385 (and later eastbound US 60). Until 1931, westbound US 66 came in from the right, and then continued straight ahead before turning west again on S. 6th. So US 366 (which was co-signed with US 385) could've ended here. After 1931, when US 66 no longer used S. 10th, US 370 came in from the right. Again, it could've ended here, but I think it would've made sense to co-sign both routes ahead four blocks, to S. 6th.

Below we're looking east on Amarillo Blvd (nee N. 8th):

Nelson, Jan. 2006

Running across the photo on Fillmore was US 385 (Fillmore originally ran both directions). It's possible that US 164 (and later US 60) began straight ahead, but I think it's more likely that they were both co-signed south on Fillmore to S. 6th.

So how about a photo of Amarillo's central highway junction? Here it is, looking west on 6th:

Nelson, Jan. 2006

I'm not sure why there's a US 66 sign here - I haven't found any evidence that US 66 ever used 6th east of Fillmore. However, straight ahead (on the other side of Fillmore) was westbound US 66. Eastbound was to the left before 1931, but to the right after then. Also to the right (I believe) was the west beginning of US 164 from 1928 to 1930, and the west beginning of US 60 from 1930 to 1932. To the left was probably the north beginning of US 366 from 1926 to 1932, and the west beginning of US 370 from 1931 to 1939.