U.S. Route 79 in Texas

US Highway 79
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	271.788 mi[1] (437.400 km)
Existed:	1935 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-35 in Round Rock
	I-45 in Buffalo Future I-369/US 59 in Carthage
North end:	US 79 at Louisiana state line
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← US 77 US 80 →

U.S. Route 79 (US 79) is a U.S. highway that begins in the state of Texas at Interstate 35 in Round Rock. The highway travels northeast–southwest through the state, crossing into Louisiana approximately 23 miles northeast of Carthage. US 79 is entwined with two tragedies of country music: Johnny Horton was killed by a drunk driver on the highway near Milano in 1960 and Jim Reeves, killed in a plane crash in 1964, is buried and memorialized on US 79 in his hometown of Carthage.

Route description

U.S. 79 is the main street of Rockdale in Milam County, Texas.

US 79 begins at an interchange with Interstate 35 in the Austin suburb of Round Rock. The highway travels through the town as Palm Valley Boulevard, entering into the town of Hutto just before an interchange with State Highway 130. Leaving Hutto, US 79 takes a more rural route, bypassing the town of Taylor and enters Milam County right before entering the small community of Thorndale. US 79 runs through the town of Rockdale before entering Milano, where it begins an overlap with U.S. Route 190 and a brief concurrency with State Highway 36. The overlap with US 190 ends in Hearne, where an overlap with State Highway 6 begins. US 79 leaves State Highway 6, resuming its northeast–southwest run. The highway runs through several smaller towns, including Franklin and Buffalo, and begins an overlap with US 84 approximately 9 miles southwest of Palestine. Running through the city, the highway intersects US Route 287 and shares a brief overlap with State Highway 19. Leaving Palestine, US 79 travels through a heavily forested area of east Texas serving the towns of Jacksonville and Henderson. Leaving Henderson, the highway runs in an east–west direction before arriving at Carthage, turning back into a more northeast–southwest direction. About 23 miles northeast of Carthage US 79 leaves Texas and enters into Louisiana, running towards Shreveport.

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Williamson	Round Rock			I-35 – Waco, Austin	I-35 exit 253; continuation past I-35 via Sam Bass Road
				Spur 376 north (Mays Street)
				FM 1460 north (A. W. Grimes Boulevard) – Georgetown
	Hutto			SH 130 Toll – Waco, San Antonio	Interchange; SH 130 exit 423
				FM 685 south – Pflugerville
				FM 1660 north – Jonah	South end of FM 1660 overlap
				FM 1660 south – Norman's Crossing	North end of FM 1660 overlap
	​			FM 3349 south – Norman's Crossing
	Taylor			Bus. US 79 north / Loop 397 north – Taylor, Temple	Interchange
				FM 973 south – Manor
				SH 95 – Temple, Elgin	Interchange
				FM 112 – Taylor, Lexington
				Bus. US 79 south – Taylor	Interchange
	​			FM 619
	​			FM 1063 north
Milam	Thorndale			FM 486 – San Gabriel
	​			FM 1786 south
	Rockdale			FM 487 south – Lexington	South end of FM 487 overlap
				FM 908 – Caldwell
				FM 487 north – Cameron	North end of FM 487 overlap
				US 77 – Cameron, Lexington	Interchange
	Milano			US 190 west / SH 36 north – Cameron	South end of US 190/SH 36 overlap
				FM 3242 north
				SH 36 south – Caldwell	North end of SH 36 overlap
	Gause			FM 2095 west
Robertson	​			FM 1644 north – Calvert
	​			FM 50 south – Mumford
	Hearne			US 190 east / SH 6 south / FM 391 east – Bryan, College Station	Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance; north end of US 190 overlap; south end of SH 6 overlap
				FM 485 west – Branchville
	​			SH 6 north – Marlin, Waco	Interchange; north end of SH 6 overlap
	​			FM 2549 south
	Franklin			FM 46 – Bremond, Wheelock
	New Baden			FM 1940 south
	​			FM 2098 north – Bald Prairie
Leon	​			FM 3 south – Normangee
	Marquez			SH 7 – Kosse, Centerville
	​			FM 1512 north – Lake Limestone
	Jewett			FM 39 – Mexia, Flynn	Interchange
	Buffalo			I-45 – Dallas, Houston	I-45 exit 178
				SH 75 – Fairfield, Centerville	Former US 75
				FM 1848 north
	​			FM 832 south
	Oakwood			FM 542 south
Freestone	​			US 84 west – Fairfield	Interchange; no northbound exit; south end of US 84 overlap
Anderson	​			SH 294 east – Elkhart
	​			FM 645 north
	Palestine			FM 1990 south (Knox Street)
				Loop 256
				FM 2394 west (Court Drive)
				US 287 / US 84 east / SH 19 north – Corsicana, Crockett, Rusk	North end of US 84 overlap; south end of SH 19 overlap
				SH 155 north – Tyler
				SH 19 south – Palestine	North end of SH 19 overlap
				Loop 256
	​			FM 2574 east – Neches
	​			FM 2574 west – Neches
Cherokee	​			FM 747 west
	Jacksonville			FM 347 – Tyler
				US 69 – Tyler, Rusk
				SH 204 east – Reklaw
	New Summerfield			SH 110 – Tyler, Rusk
	​			FM 856 north
	​			FM 2274 south – Ponta
Rusk	​			SH 42 north / FM 1798 south – Kilgore
	​			FM 839 south – Reklaw
	​			Loop 571 north – Kilgore
	Henderson			FM 225 south – Cushing
				FM 3310 south
				US 259 south – Nacogdoches	South end of US 259 overlap
				FM 840 – Henderson
				US 259 north / SH 64 west / SH 43 east – Kilgore, Tyler, Tatum	North end of US 259 overlap
				FM 3135 east – Church Hill
	​			FM 348 south – Pine Hill
	​			FM 1798 south – Pine Hill
Panola	​			FM 124 east – Beckville
	​			FM 1970 south – Timpson
	​			FM 959 north
	Carthage			Bus. US 79 north / Loop 436 south – Carthage	Interchange; south end of Loop 436 overlap
	​			SH 149 west / Spur 572 east – Tatum, Carthage	Interchange
	​			I-369 north / US 59 north / Bus. US 59 south – Texarkana, Carthage	Interchange; north end of future I-369/US 59 overlap
	Carthage			I-369 south / US 59 south / Bus. US 79 south / Loop 436 south – Houston, Carthage	Interchange; north end of future I-369/US 59/Loop 436 overlap
	​			FM 123 east
	​			FM 1186 north
	DeBerry			FM 31 – Elysian Fields
	Panola			FM 9 north – Waskom
	​			US 79 north – Shreveport	Continuation into Louisiana
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References