The road from
SR-15 (now
SR-9 and
SR-17) at
La Verkin Junction south to
Hurricane was added to the state highway system in 1912, and in 1914 it was extended southeast via
Big Plain Junction to
Arizona. In the 1920s, the entire route was numbered
State Route 16. A connection from SR-15 (now SR-9) in
Rockville south to SR-16 at Big Plain Junction became a state highway in 1925. In 1927, SR-16 was moved to the Rockville-Arizona route, and the roadway between La Verkin and Big Plain Junctions became part of the new
SR-17, which also went southwest from Hurricane to
SR-1 (
US-91, now
I-15). The Hurricane-Big Plain Junction branch was split from SR-17 in 1931, becoming a new State Route 59. The entirety of SR-16 was deleted in 1935, permanently removing the Rockville-Big Plain Junction road from the state highway system; the highway beyond Big Plain Junction to Arizona was also removed, but was re-added in 1941 as part of SR-59, forming the present extent of that route. SR-59 was almost completed relocated in 1962, including a new crossing of the state line; it had ended at the west end of Uzona Avenue, which extends west along the border from
Colorado City/
Hildale, but now crosses within the city limits. ==Major intersections==