Bankhead Highway in Collin County

Royse City's own numbers show the Bankhead era. The Handbook of Texas counts forty businesses in 1914, fifty-four in 1936 and fifty-five in 1950, then forty-five by 1960 even as the population ticked up to 1,243. Interstate 30 was built just south of town in the mid-1960s. State Highway 66 took its current number in 1961, replacing FM 7 and US 67, which was moved onto the interstate, according to Wikipedia's account of the route. The Texas Historical Commission says the Bankhead roughly followed US 67 across this part of the state.

What the plaque says

Bankhead Highway in Collin County Known as the Broadway of America and one of the nation's earliest transcontinental highways, the Bankhead highway was created through the federal aid road act of 1916. The roadway extended from Washington, D.C., to San Diego, California, by way of eastern and southern states. In Texas, the Bankhead highway was completed in the 1920s and is still used today. Crossing approximately 850 miles in the state, the Bankhead, also known historically as State Highway 1, provided an engineered roadway for local and regional traffic and promoted tourism. The Bankhead includes segments of roads and trails forged during Spanish colonial, Republic of Texas and statehood eras. Between Greenville and Rockwall, the Bankhead is now known as state highway 66, including the section through Collin county. The highway became main street in Royse City, and the commercial downtown area developed along the road. Commercial resources included auto repair garages, gas stations, diners and cafes, tourist camps and courts, motels and hotels, and highway markers. Many communities along the Bankhead can attribute their development to this historic highway, supporting commerce and growth through the 1950s. The exponential growth of automobile traffic led to wider, safer and faster interstate systems. As one of the most important transportation corridors in the state's history, the Bankhead highway played a critical role in the economic vitality of the state and the region. (2019)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Rockwall County Historical Foundation & Museum — 8.7 mi
  A small museum in Harry Myers Park that keeps the evidence on Rockwall's rock wall, sandstone dikes that geologists call natural and folk tales call built.
• Audie Murphy / American Cotton Museum — 16 mi
  A Greenville museum of Hunt County's military heroes, including Audie Murphy, and of cotton, which keeps the engine of what it says was the world's largest inland cotton compress.
• No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum — 19 mi
  A free museum at Terrell's airport where about 2,200 RAF cadets learned to fly between 1941 and 1945, with logbooks, uniforms, letters and original training aircraft.
• Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary — 21 mi
  A 289-acre sanctuary in McKinney that Bessie Heard founded at the age of 80, with five habitats, a 50-acre wetland and 6.5 miles of trails.

More markers nearby

• First United Methodist Church of Royse City — 1.0 mi
• Nevada — 4.8 mi
• Empire Masonic Lodge — 4.9 mi
• Nevada Baptist Church — 4.9 mi