SH 35 was originally proposed on November 19, 1917 as a route from
Paris to
Houston. On September 17, 1918, the section of the road from
Liberty to Houston was cancelled (as it overlapped
SH 12), and the road was rerouted south to
Anahuac. On January 20, 1919, the highway was rerouted through Coldspring, Cleveland, and Humble to end in Houston, while the old route was replaced by the new
SH 35A. On August 21, 1923, the northern half of the highway had been renumbered as
SH 49, with the new northern end now going east to the
Louisiana state line. On November 14, 1927, it was extended to
Alvin. On April 10, 1934, it had been extended southwest along cancelled
SH 58 and
SH 57, ending in Gregory.
SH 35 Spur was designated from 35 to the
Retrieve Prison Farm. This SH 35 Spur was cancelled on July 15, 1935. On February 21, 1938, a new SH 35 Spur was designated to Danbury, as SH 35 was rerouted to bypass Danbury. On September 26, 1939, the section north of Houston was removed when it was renumbered as
U.S. Highway 59 and
U.S. Highway 84. SH 35 Spur was renumbered as
Spur 28. On October 5, 1972, SH 35 was extended to Corpus Christi along US 181. On January 15, 1986, an Angleton bypass opened, with the old route becoming Loop 558. On February 25, 1987, SH 35 was rerouted back over Loop 558, and the bypass became Loop 558 instead (now FM 523). On April 27, 1995, another bypass opened, so that SH 35 no longer goes through Aransas Pass or Rockport. On March 29, 2007, an Old Ocean bypass opened, with the old route becoming Loop 419 (now Spur 419).
SH 35A was a proposed spur route off SH 35 designated on March 18, 1918, with a route splitting off at
Livingston, and travelling west to
New Waverly. On January 20, 1919, the section of SH 35A south of Coldspring was cancelled, and the section north of Coldspring became the main route. The section of SH 35 from Livingston via
Liberty to
Anahuac was routed through
Devers and was renamed SH 35A. On August 21, 1923, the section from Anahuac to Devers was renumbered as
SH 61, and the section north of Devers was cancelled. On August 21, 1923, this was renumbered as
SH 49. An overlap of SH 35 with the Gulf Freeway was constructed in the 1980s. This portion extends from Spur 5 to Dowling Street (now Emancipation Avenue), a distance of about . This section contains three elevated lanes in each direction (briefly four southbound lanes near the southern terminus). This overlap section is 22 lanes wide, including mainlanes, feeder roads, and a reversible HOV lane. ==Future==