State Highway 9 (
SH 9) was one of the original 25 Texas highways proposed on June 21, 1917, overlaid on top of the
Puget Sound-Gulf Highway. In 1919 the routing follows the present day
U.S. Highway 87 from
Amarillo, through
Canyon,
Plainview,
Lubbock,
Big Spring,
San Angelo,
Brady,
Mason,
Fredericksburg, into
San Antonio. From San Antonio, it follows
U.S. Highway 181 from San Antonio, to
Sinton and terminated in
Corpus Christi. In 1919 the direct segment between San Angelo and Brady had not yet been built, so SH 9 was rerouted through Paint Rock for a short time (The segment would be completed by 1922). Much like other highways at the time, multiple alternate routings has been created using the same number, and
SH 9 was no exception. From San Antonio, the second route left the city south via Pleasanton Road, merging with present-day
U.S. Route 281 from
Las Gallinas through
Pleasanton splitting off onto present day
Interstate 37 into
Oakville. It continued west on
SH 234 into
Odem, and south on
U.S. Route 77 back to I-37 to its terminus in Corpus Christi. The split date is unknown. On February 17, 1920, SH 9A was designated on the more direct route from San Angelo to Brady. On April 18, 1921 a third routing, signed as SH 9A was created alongside the previous two, overrunning the ambitious
SH 12 route from
Skidmore to
Alice, and continuing south to its terminus in
Pharr. On August 21, 1923, the original routing was resigned as
SH 16 and had
U.S. Route 181 overlaid on top of that. The second routing retained the SH 9 designation, continuing the numbering into Corpus Christi that way. The third routing was given its SH 12 assignment back from Skidmore to Alice and given a new assignment of SH 12 from Alice to Pharr. SH 9 was rerouted over SH 9A from San Angelo to Brady, which was cancelled. The old route through Paint Rock was cancelled (San Angelo to Paint Rock would be restored as
SH 268 on May 24, 1938). The south end was truncated to
Mathis. On April 21, 1924, SH 9 was to be rerouted from
Three Rivers to Alice when right of way is acquired and the bridges were dedicated to the state of Texas. In 1926,
U.S. Route 385 (now US 87) was overlaid on the original routing from Amarillo to San Antonio. On December 21, 1926, a split to the Oakville-Mathis Road west of the Nueces River was added. On June 23, 1928, the road was extended to Alice. On April 25, 1929, SH 9 was extended back to Corpus Christi. On March 19, 1930, the road from Three Rivers to Alice was renumbered as
SH 145. On December 2, 1931, SH 9 was extended north from Amarillo to
Stratford, replacing
SH 115. On November 30, 1932, SH 9 was extended north to the
Oklahoma state line. On February 8, 1933,
SH 9 Loop was designated in
Tulia. The section from Amarillo to Oklahoma would eventually be overlaid with
U.S. Route 287. On June 11, 1935, a new route through
Comfort was created, and the old route is now
Old No. 9 Highway. On July 15, 1935, the section of
SH 9 from Stratford to Oklahoma was cancelled (as it was not built yet). On September 26, 1935,
SH 9 Loop was designated in
O'Donnell. On January 21, 1936,
SH 9 Spur was designated in Ackerly. On August 1, 1936, the section from Stratford to Oklahoma was restored. On September 26, 1939, most of SH 9 was cancelled, leaving only the
Three Rivers-Corpus Christi segment to the old highway. The
SH 9 Loop and
SH 9 Spur routes became
Loop 67 (Ackerly),
Loop 76 (O'Donnell), and
Loop 77 (Tulia). On April 24, 1958, SH 9 was to be cancelled in Corpus Christi when I-37 was completed in Corpus Christi. On February 26, 1965, SH 9 was truncated to I-37 at Loma Alta Road in Corpus Christi, with the section east of there redesignated as
Spur 407 (but was signed as Business SH 9). On May 31, 1971, a minute order said SH 9 will be cancelled with the completion of I-37. When I-37 was completed, SH 9 was cancelled, with the sections that were not replaced by I-37 redesignated as
FM 3024 and
Spur 459. ==Future==