This map shows that there were very few roads in rural areas in 1917 and most rural towns relied on railroads for transportation. Automobile roads are shown in red. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

This map includes a directory of the trail and highway markings that were used prior to the adoption of the highway numbering system. The numbers on the routes in the map correspond the the trail names in the index directory. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

The legend for this map also includes a trail marker directory, similar to the 1924 map. The red numbers on the maps correspond to the trail directory entries. Highways were also designated with the first generation of number designations, so many highways had both a number designation and a trail marker. Humble Oil is now part of ExxonMobil. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

This map has detailed maps of cities. There is no indication of trail markers, so the trail marker system appears to be phased out by this time. This map also includes a map of the Texas Centennial Exposition at Fair Park in Dallas. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

Note that the map cover illustration is a generic city scene, not representing El Paso. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

This map was published by the transit company, Dallas Railroad and Terminal, which provided bus and streetcar service. The main purpose of this map is to show the bus and streetcar routes. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

The 1942 highway system was dominated by the US Highway routes. There were no freeways in Texas in 1942; the first freeway in Texas was Houston's Gulf Freeway in September 1948, and the first section of Central Expressway in Dallas opened on August 20, 1949. Humble Oil is now ExxonMobil

Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

Compared to the 1950 Humble Oil map, this 1951 Humble map has a detailed view of the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

This map includes a guide to Texas road signs, showing the style used at that time. Map scans courtesy of Terry Palmer.

The first item on the listing of points of interest on the cover (click on cover for larger view) refers to "Zilker Springs". The description for Zilker Park also refers to Zilker Springs with the accompanying text "formerly Barton Springs". So apparently the name was changed to Zilker Springs, and then back to Barton Springs.

Compared to the 1950 map, this 1954 Humble map greatly expanded coverage of the DFW and Houston metropolitan areas.

The Chevron map has less detail in the urban areas compared to the Humble map.

This map shows the planned alignments of many freeways in Houston, including Loop 610, US 59 Southwest Freeway, and Interstate 10.

This is a city street map for both Dallas and Fort Worth.

As of Spring 1965 the Interstate Highway System was approximately 50% complete.

By the late 1960s, many oil company map covers were becoming very plain. Of course, by the early 1970s most oil companies stopped providing free highway maps.

This 1972 Houston map was issued by the Houston Chamber of Commerce, which explains the "City of Tomorrow" designation

The great freeway-building binge of the 1960s was over, but there were still plenty of missing links and unbuilt freeways that would need to wait for funding in an era of greatly diminished resources for highway construction. As highway construction slowed, my observation is that map companies updated their maps less frequently and therefore maps were more likely to have errors or be out-of-date. However, this 1973 Exxon map is quite accurate.