Texas State Highway 2

State Highway 2
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Existed	April 4, 1917–September 26, 1939
History	Eastern branch became SH 6 in 1923 Main route and western branch became US 81 in 1939
Location
Country	United States
State	Texas
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec
← I-2 → Loop 2

State Highway 2 (SH 2) was a Texas state highway.

SH 2 was one of the original twenty-five state highways proposed on April 4, 1917, overlaid on top of the Meridian Highway and Gulf Division Highway.^[1] From 1919 the routing mostly followed present day Interstate 44 (I-44) from Oklahoma to Wichita Falls, and U.S. Highway 287 (US 287) to Fort Worth. It continued on, routed along present day State Highway 174 and State Highway 6 to Waco. From here, the road divided into two branches, both signed as State Highway 2.

The western branch followed the Meridian Highway from Waco, roughly following I-35 to Temple, State Highway 95 to Taylor, U.S. Highway 79 to Round Rock, and I-35 through Austin and San Antonio, and terminating in Laredo.

The eastern branch followed the Gulf Division Highway from Waco, routed along present day State Highway 6 through Bryan to Hempstead and follows US 290 into Houston. From there the routing follows US 75 into Galveston. On August 21, 1923, the Gulf Division branch became part of State Highway 6 from Waco to Galveston. SH 2 was rerouted north of Bowie to Oklahoma along current US 81, replacing SH 2D, while the old route to Henrietta was renumbered State Highway 50, the sections from Henrietta to Wichita Falls were already part of State Highway 5, and the section north of Wichita Falls became an extension of State Highway 30. SH 2 was rerouted along current I-35W and I-35 through Hillsboro and concurrent with SH 6 to Waco, replacing SH 2A, with the section of the old route from Meridian to Waco being renumbered as part of SH 67, and the section from Cleburne to Meridian was renumbered as SH 89, and the section from Cleburne to Burleson became part of the new SH 2A. On December 17, 1923, SH 2 was rerouted along current I-35W from Temple to Round Rock, replacing SH 2C, while the old route through Taylor was redesignated as SH 2B.

In 1926, US 81 was routed over SH 2 from Oklahoma to Laredo. On March 19, 1928, SH 2 extended south replacing all of SH 12B to Pharr.^[2] On March 18, 1929, this extension was changed back to SH 12B.^[3] On September 22, 1936, routes called SH 2 Loop through Buda and Kyle were added.^[4] On December 22, 1936, routes called SH 2 Bypass through Waco and New Braunfels were added.^[5] On December 21, 1938, SH 2 Loop and SH 2 Tap were designated in Ringgold.^[6] While the routes were marked concurrently, on September 26, 1939, SH 2 was removed in favor of US 81. The loops, bypasses, and taps became Loop 2 (Waco), Loop 3 (New Braunfels), Loop 4 (Buda), Loop 5 (Kyle), and Loop 19 and Spur 19 (Ringgold).