The Texas Department of Transportation turned 100 years old this year and the Lubbock District is celebrating with an event at the district’s first headquarters office located on the Panhandle South Plains fairgrounds at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 2. The event will feature a traveling exhibit with a refurbished 1918 Liberty Truck and will highlight the agency’s ongoing mission of connecting Texans to what matters most – the people and places they love. The public is invited to attend.
“While our name, appearance and some responsibilities have evolved over time, our agency was founded on the basic idea of ‘getting the farmer out of the mud,’” said Lubbock District Engineer Steve Warren, P.E. “It is because of our employees, past and present, and the relationships we have forged with our transportation partners, that we long-ago surpassed that vision to become the premier transportation agency in the nation. As we celebrate our past, we look forward to delivering new projects that will keep Texans moving for the next 100 years.”
As the state’s economy and population continue to grow, TxDOT remains committed to meeting Texas’ ongoing and ever-changing transportation needs. In the early 1900s, the goal was connecting farms and ranches to market; today, it’s safely moving goods and a population of more than 27 million across a nation-leading 80,000 miles of state-maintained roadways – even in the midst of historic growth in our population and trade.
To commemorate this 100-year milestone, TxDOT invites the public to visit its centennial website. The public also is invited to “Track the Truck” and join in the celebration as a refurbished, 27-foot-long 1918 Liberty Truck makes its way across the state as part of a traveling exhibit that tells the district-by-district story of the agency’s 100-year history. Along with the truck, the exhibit will feature historical photos and a visual timeline highlighting significant dates and achievements.
During it’s time in the Lubbock District, June 1-5, the Liberty Truck will also make additional stops at:
June 1 – TxDOT Lubbock District headquarters
10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
135 Slaton Road, Lubbock, TX
June 3 – Amigos United Supermarket
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
2403 N. Columbia Street, Plainview, TX 79072
June 5 – Dawson County Courthouse (north lawn)
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
400 S. 1st Street, Lamesa, Texas 79331
“Our traveling centennial exhibit affords us a great opportunity to thank the public and share a uniquely historical perspective of how our roadways have evolved from their early beginnings into the expansive network we know today,” Warren said.
The TxDOT Story
Born as the Texas Highway Department on April 4, 1917, the earliest incarnation of the Texas Department of Transportation was tasked with a challenge that continues today – there’s a lot of ground to cover in Texas.
In its first nine months, the Texas Highway Department registered nearly 200,000 automobiles and drew the first official map showing the routes of 8,865 miles of improved roadways that would tie Texas together.
For more information, contact TxDOT Public Information Officer Dianah Ascencio at (806) 748-4472.
(News release from TxDOT, Lubbock District)
