End of US highway 380

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Photo credits: James Allen; Justin Cozart; Steven Nelson; Mark Roberts; Stephen Taylor; me

Approx. time period East terminus West terminus
1932-1953 Albany, TX San Antonio, NM
1953-1971 Cisco, TX San Antonio, NM
1971-present Greenville, TX San Antonio, NM

Ever since US 380 was commissioned in 1932, its west end has been in San Antonio NM. However, for about the first 30 years of its existence, there was no I-25, so the west end was at US 85, which is now NM hwy. 1. After I-25 was built through this part of New Mexico, the US 380 designation was extended about a mile to the west, to its current terminus at interchange 139:

me, Mar. 2010

The photo below shows what used to be the first US 380 sign heading eastbound, posted immediately after exiting the freeway. It was lying on the ground(!) so James was holding it up:

Allen, 2000

From what I've seen, that's par for the course in New Mexico: not much attention given to road signs. That sign was never replaced; by 2004 the first confirming marker was about a half-mile ahead, at the junction with NM 1 in San Antonio...

Roberts, May 2004

...and when I was there in 2010, there was no confirming marker until after the junction with NM 1:

me, Mar. 2010

Before I-25 was built, today's NM 1 was US 85. When the US routes were initially commissioned in 1926, it was actually US 566 that began straight ahead. That was the case until about 1932, when US 566 became part of the new, longer US 380. So from then until the opening of I-25, the west beginning of US 380 was straight ahead. The first confirming marker is shown close-up below:

me, Mar. 2010

The green sign in the distance gives mileage to Carrizozo (64) and Roswell (153). That same intersection is shown below, approaching from the south:

me, Mar. 2010

That's looking north on NM 1, or old US 85. To the right was historically the beginning of US 566, and later US 380. This next shot is looking west:

me, Mar. 2010

That's the original west end of US 380, and before that, the end of US 566. Now US 380 has been extended ahead to I-25; the last westbound marker is not far ahead:

me, Mar. 2010

In these photos, the lower, yellowish hills in the distance are the Chupadera Mountains; while the higher, bluish ones beyond that are the Magdalena Mountains. In the middleground above, you can see the interchange that marks the west end of US 380. In the gore separating northbound traffic from southbound, the sign below used to be posted...

Allen, 2000

...but by 2004 that had been replaced with the version shown below:

me, Mar. 2010

Originally US 380 ran eastward from San Antonio to Albany TX. The highway pretty much followed its current route to Old Glory TX (between Aspermont and Haskell), but then angled southeast along today's TX hwy. 6 and east along modern US 180, to end at US 283 in Albany. Here's an historic map:

TX DoT c. 1940; scan by Taylor

This first shot is looking north on Main Street at South 2nd Street:

Taylor, June 2004

US 380 ended there; northbound US 283 was straight ahead, while southbound was to the right. Below we're looking the opposite direction:

Taylor, June 2004

Southbound US 283 used to continue to the left here, and straight ahead was the east beginning of US 380.

In 1953 the east end of US 380 was extended southeast from Albany (along modern TX 6) to Cisco, ending at its junction with US 80 and US 183. The photo below is looking north on Avenue "D", which is US 183:

Allen, May 2001

The next intersection is 8th Street, which used to be US 80. The US 380 designation began at that point. Two blocks further north, US 183 splits off to the right on 6th Street. That's where today's TX 6 (and historic US 380) continue on their own up Av "D" towards Albany.

In 1971, US 380 was truncated back to Old Glory, removing most of modern TX 6 between there and Cisco from the US highway system. The US 380 designation was instead extended essentially due east from Old Glory, to end in Greenville TX. Robert Brooks did some research and found that already by then the US 69 bypass had been built around Greenville (though it was signed as "Loop 315" at the time), so likely the US 380 designation has followed it down to the I-30 interchange ever since then. Here's a photo from eastbound I-30...

Nelson, Apr. 2006

...and here's a photo from the opposite direction:

Nelson, Apr. 2006

If you take that exit, you're directed to the east beginning of US 380 thus:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

In the photo below, the assembly at left is for traffic exiting eastbound I-30 (which is co-signed with US 67 through these parts); note how US 380 is only to the left with northbound US 69:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

The first westbound US 380 sign is shown below:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

That was actually on the south side of I-30, just before the overpass. Justin reports that the last US 380 sign on its mainline is at the junction with TX 34:

Cozart, Apr. 2003

That's heading east, about a half-mile west of the I-30 interchange.