1941 Stene Highway Map of Texas

This is a 1941 Robert Martin Stene and Texas Highway Department highway map of Texas. Texas' extensive highway network is illustrated in detail.

A Closer Look

The map informs users of different road surfaces, varying from pavement to all-weather gravel and shell surfaced roads, to improved and unimproved dirt roads. Roads that are not maintained by the highway department even appear and are illustrated by two parallel dashed lines. Green highlights national forests, state parks, and, paradoxically, oil and gas fields. Thirteen inset maps focus on important metropolitan areas, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, Amarillo, El Paso, and Waco. An alphabetic index of Texas towns occupies the upper right outside the map's border and provides users with each town's location using the map's grid index and their 1940 population.

Verso Content

Twenty-seven printed photographs adorn the verso and a numerical index informs users what each one represents and many provide short captions. Information about Texas state parks and highway signs appear as well.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Robert Martin Stene and published by the Texas Highway Department in 1941. Our research indicates that the Texas Highway Department published at least three highway maps per year, a Spring Edition, a Summer Edition, and an Autumn Edition, each of which would be updated with the most recent information. The present example is the 1941 Summer Edition and was corrected to May 1, 1941. Numerous Texas highway maps by Robert Martin Stene are cataloged in OCLC, but none correspond with the present 1941 Summer Edition.