State Highway 73 (SH 73) is a Texas state highway that runs from Winnie through Port Arthur to near

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

. In September 2008,

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

forced the closure of SH 73. Among other

road debris Road debris, a form of road hazard, is debris on or off a road. Road debris includes substances, materials, and objects that are foreign to the normal roadway environment. Debris may be produced by vehicular or non-vehicular sources, but in all ...

left by the storm were two 200-ton barges. The storm surge pushed the barges inland before they came to rest on the highway.

History

Previous routes

The original SH 73 was designated on August 21, 1923, from

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, absorbing the eastern half of SH 3A. On October 26, 1932, it was rerouted southwest from Katy to Alleyton, with the portion from Oldenburg to

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

being another section ( FM 109 would connect the two sections later). On November 30, 1932, the section from Katy to Sealy was taken over for maintenance, and plans to construct the section from Sealy to Alleyton were underway. On December 8, 1932, the section from Industry to Oldenburg was transferred to SH 159. On July 15, 1935, the section from Sealy to Alleyton was cancelled. This section was restored on May 19, 1936. On September 26, 1939, SH 73 was extended east to Port Arthur, replacing SH 228, and the stretch from Winnie to Anahuac replaced part of SH 125. On November 24, 1941, the section from Columbus to Houston was canceled and transferred to rerouted

US 90 U.S. Route 90 or U.S. Highway 90 (US 90) is an east–west major United States highway in the Southern United States. Despite the "0" in its route number, US 90 never was a full coast-to-coast route. With the exception of a short-lived ...

. Construction was slow, with only small portions outside Houston, Port Arthur, and the stretch from Winnie to Anahuac (signed as 73-T) completed by 1954. On November 30, 1961, the route was shortened from Port Arthur to Winnie, with the western portions having been replaced by

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

(I-10). SH 73-T was renumbered as SH 65. On July 29, 1982, the route was extended along its current route to Orange, along a concurrent route with SH 87 and SH 62. SH 73A was designated on July 18, 1924, from SH 73 in Fayetteville to Hempstead as a restoration of canceled SH 3C. On March 19, 1930, this route was renumbered SH 159.

In popular culture

SH 73 in Texas is shown as a road sign in the opening 10 seconds of the 1941 movie '' Moon Over Miami'' immediately following the opening credits. There is no mention of the city in that film. A similar road sign of SH 73 is also depicted on the set of ''

The Partridge Family ''The Partridge Family'' is an American musical sitcom starring Shirley Jones and featuring David Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a music career. It ran from Se ...

''.

Major intersections

References

External links