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Description

Depression-era map of Texas' highways, published for the centenary of the Texas Revolution.

Big Bend National Park and various state parks are shaded green.

Photographs of Texas landmarks, including the Art Deco buildings for the Texas Centennial Exposition in Dallas, adorn the border. On the verso is a photo collage—bluebonnets, an oil field, an East Texas rose field, a coyote, missions, a ranch scene—in and around a large Lone Star outline. Between both sides, approximately 160 photographs capture Texas scenes, selected by the highway department out of several thousand.

The French flag of the six flags over Texas consists of fleur de lys set in a cross configuration. Underneath the six flags is the music to, "Texas Over All," a song by state highway engineer Gibb Gilchrist, who wrote it for his own entertainment. It was printed on the map by special request of the highway commission and was performed at some centennial celebrations.

In 1929, Texas had 18,728 miles of highways, 9,271 hard-surfaced. By 1936, there were more than 21,000 miles of highways. This development was overseen by the State Highway Engineer, Gibb Gilchrist. Gilchrist first became the state highway engineer in 1924 but resigned in 1925 after Miriam "Ma" Ferguson was elected governor, wife of impeached governor James Ferguson. Under her administration, highway contracts were allegedly awarded to firms that purchased advertising space in her husband's paper, the Ferguson Forum. He accepted the position again in 1927, under Dan Moody, and stayed through Ross Sterling's administration and "Ma" Ferugson's second term. He resigned again in 1936 during James Allred's governorship. Under Gilchrist's leadership, the beautification of the roadways became an objective. He hired the state's first landscape engineer, Jac Gubbels, in 1933 to oversee the planting of Bluebonnets, Indian Blankets, and native shrubs as well as "remove all commercial and political billboards from the right-of-ways." At the same time, Texas became the first state to build roadside parks, an improvement for which Gilchrist credited a county foreman in Fayette County, who had accepted a piece of land along a road near Smithville and built a small rest area.

Condition Description
Some soiling. Moderate wear on folds, with some holes at crossfolds and a large split (with tape on verso) above "Texas Over All".
Reference
Kirk Kite, “Highway Development,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 12, 2023, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/highway-development.
Shuffler, R. Henderson. "Gibb Gilchrist: Aggies are Different." The Alcalde. November 1971.
Associated Press. "Texas Highway Map Pictures 160 Scenes for Visitors." Austin American-Satesman. Mar. 15, 1936. Pg. 1,3.