# U.S. Route 259

U.S. Route 259 (US 259) is a north–south spur of U.S. Route 59 that runs for 250 miles (400 km) through rural areas of northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. The highway's southern terminus is near Nacogdoches, Texas, at an interchange with its parent route, US 59. Its northern terminus is in the Ouachita Mountains, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of Heavener, Oklahoma, where it reunites with US 59. For most of its length, US 259 lies 30–50 miles (48–80 km) to the west of its parent route.

## Route description
### Texas

US 259 begins at an intersection with its parent, US 59 (future Interstate 69), on the north side of Nacogdoches, Texas. The highway continues due north, passing through Mount Enterprise, and around the eastern side of Henderson and Kilgore. In Kilgore, Texas, US 259 is known as the Charles K. Devall Memorial Highway, as named by the Texas Legislature. It then has a concurrency with Interstate 20 of about 6 miles (9.7 km), then continues north around the eastern edge of Longview along Eastman Rd. The highway continues due north, crossing Interstate 30 in northern Morris County, and crossing into Oklahoma in northwest Bowie County.

### Oklahoma

After crossing into McCurtain County, Oklahoma, US-259 immediately meets State Highway 87, and continues north through Harris. Maps indicate that US-259 and SH-87 overlap to Idabel, but officially, this is not the case, and ODOT signage does not reflect a concurrency.
US-259 bypasses Idabel to the south and east, concurring with U.S. Highway 70 Bypass. East of Idabel, the bypass route ends, and US-259 begins a concurrency with mainline US-70 and SH-3. The three highways continue north to Broken Bow, where US-70 splits to the east toward DeQueen, Arkansas, and SH-3 splits to the west, bound for Antlers. US-259 continues north alone, taking a winding path through the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The route passes Broken Bow Lake on its west side, with State Highway 259A serving as an access loop to the lake and Beavers Bend State Resort. Near the lake, US-259 crosses through the Ouachita National Forest for the first time. Near Smithville, the highway serves as the western terminus of State Highway 4.
North of the SH-4 junction, US-259 crosses into Le Flore County. The U.S. route then serves as the eastern terminus of SH-144 near Octavia. US-259 reenters the national forest north of this junction, and intersects SH-63 at Big Cedar. It then has a junction with SH-1, the Talimena Drive. The highway reunites with US-59 about 10 miles (16 km) south of Heavener, reaching its northern terminus.

## History

In Texas, the highway was designated in 1962 and assumed the entire route of a previous iteration and alignment of State Highway 26, which was then cancelled. (The SH 26 designation has since returned, on another roadway elsewhere in the state.)
Prior to 1985, US 259 between Kilgore and Longview followed the current route of Texas State Highway 31. It entered Longview from the southwest at the intersection of South Street and Spur 63. It then followed Spur 63 to US 80. US 259 then ran concurrently with US 80 to Eastman Road. At the US 80/Eastman Rd. intersection, the previous alignment of US 259 turned left to go north on Eastman. In 1985, US 259 was rerouted to its current route along Interstate 20 to Eastman Road, then left to go north, along the eastern edge of Longview, bypassing the central business district.

## Major intersections

| State | County | Location | mi | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Texas | Nacogdoches | Redfield | 0.00 | 0.00 | | Future I-69 / US 59 / I-69 BL south / Bus. US 59 south (North Street) – Nacogdoches, Garrison, Lufkin, SFASU | Interchange; southern terminus; road continues as Bus. I-69 south/Bus. US 59 south (North Street); U.S. 59 is the future Interstate 69 |
| Texas | Nacogdoches | ​ | | | | FM 698 west | |
| Texas | Nacogdoches | ​ | | | | SH 204 west – Cushing | |
| Texas | Nacogdoches | ​ | | | | FM 2664 east | |
| Texas | Nacogdoches | ​ | | | | FM 1087 east | |
| Texas | Rusk | Mount Enterprise | | | | US 84 (Rusk Street) – Rusk, Timpson | |
| Texas | Rusk | Mount Enterprise | | | | SH 315 east – Carthage | |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | FM 2496 west | |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | FM 1798 – Laneville, Minden | Interchange |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | FM 3310 north | |
| Texas | Rusk | Henderson | | | | US 79 south – Jacksonville, Palestine | South end of US 79 overlap |
| Texas | Rusk | Henderson | | | | Bus. US 79 south / FM 840 south – Downtown Henderson | |
| Texas | Rusk | Henderson | | | | US 79 north / SH 43 north / SH 64 west – Tyler, Tatum, Carthage | North end of US 79 overlap |
| Texas | Rusk | Henderson | | | | FM 782 east – Oak Hill | |
| Texas | Rusk | Henderson | | | | SH 322 north – Airport | |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | Loop 571 south (Landon Alford Loop) | |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | FM 2276 south | South end of FM 2276 overlap |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | FM 2276 north | North end of FM 2276 overlap |
| Texas | Rusk | Jacobs | | | | FM 850 – Overton | |
| Texas | Rusk | Pitner Junction | | | | FM 918 west – Overton | |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | Bus. US 259 north – Kilgore | Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Texas | Rusk | ​ | | | | FM 1249 | Interchange |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | | FM 2204 | Interchange |
| Texas | Gregg | Kilgore | | | | FM 349 | Interchange |
| Texas | Gregg | Kilgore | | | | Bus. US 259 south (SH 31 west) – Kilgore | Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of SH 31 overlap |
| Texas | Gregg | Kinsloe | | | | SH 31 east to I-20 west | North end of SH 31 overlap |
| Texas | Gregg | Kinsloe | | | | I-20 west – Dallas | South end of I-20 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-20 exit 589; southbound entrance via Post Oak Road |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | 591 | FM 2087 (Old Kilgore Highway) / FM 2011 | Exit numbers follow I-20 |
| Texas | Gregg | Longview | | | 595 | SH 322 south (Estes Parkway) / Loop 281 north – Downtown, Longview, Amtrak | Split into exits 595A (south) and 595B (north) northbound |
| Texas | Gregg | Longview | | | | I-20 east / SH 149 south (Eastman Road south) – Carthage | North end of I-20 overlap; south end of SH 149 overlap; I-20 exit 596 |
| Texas | Gregg | Longview | | | | SH 149 ends / US 80 (Marshall Avenue) – Downtown Longview, Hallsville, Marshall, Kilgore College | Northern terminus of SH 149; north end of SH 149 overlap |
| Texas | Gregg | Longview | | | | FM 2208 (Alpine Street) – Harleton | |
| Texas | Gregg | Longview | | | | Loop 281 | Interchange |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | | FM 1844 west | |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | | FM 2751 | |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | | Spur 502 south – Downtown Longview | |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | | FM 449 east | |
| Texas | Gregg | ​ | | | | FM 1650 west – Gilmer | |
| Texas | Upshur | Diana | | | | FM 3245 east | |
| Texas | Upshur | Diana | | | | SH 154 – Gilmer, Marshall | |
| Texas | Upshur | Old Diana | | | | FM 726 – Lake O' The Pines, Jefferson | |
| Texas | Upshur | Ore City | | | | FM 450 south / FM 1649 west – Harleton, Lake O' The Pines | |
| Texas | Upshur | ​ | | | | SH 155 – Linden, Gilmer | Interchange |
| Texas | Upshur | ​ | | | | FM 557 west – Pittsburg | |
| Texas | Camp | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions | No major junctions |
| Texas | Morris | Lone Star | | | | FM 729 east (Lone Star Boulevard) – Jefferson, Lake O' The Pines North Shore | |
| Texas | Morris | Lone Star | | | | FM 250 north (Industrial Boulevard) – Hughes Springs | |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | FM 3421 east | |
| Texas | Morris | Jenkins | | | | FM 144 north / FM 997 south – Cason | |
| Texas | Morris | Daingerfield | | | | SH 11 east / SH 49 east (W.M. Watson Boulevard) – Hughes Springs, Linden, Jefferson, Daingerfield State Park | South end of SH 11 / SH 49 overlap |
| Texas | Morris | Daingerfield | | | | SH 11 west (W.M. Watson Boulevard) – Pittsburg | North end of SH 11 overlap |
| Texas | Morris | Daingerfield | | | | FM 130 east | |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | SH 49 west – Mount Pleasant | North end of SH 49 overlap |
| Texas | Morris | Rocky Branch | | | | SH 338 north – Naples | |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | Spur 284 west | |
| Texas | Morris | Omaha | | | | US 67 – Mount Pleasant, Texarkana, Omaha Business District | |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | FM 144 south | |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | SH 77 east | |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | I-30 – Dallas, Texarkana | I-30 exit 178 |
| Texas | Morris | ​ | | | | FM 71 west – Talco | |
| Texas | Bowie | ​ | | | | FM 561 east – Dalby Springs | |
| Texas | Bowie | ​ | | | | FM 44 east / FM 992 east | South end of FM 44 overlap |
| Texas | Bowie | ​ | | | | FM 44 west to FM 992 | North end of FM 44 overlap |
| Texas | Bowie | ​ | | | | FM 1701 west | |
| Texas | Bowie | De Kalb | | | | US 82 – De Kalb, Clarksville | Interchange |
| Texas | Bowie | Spring Hill | | | | FM 114 west / FM 2735 south – Clarksville | |
| Oklahoma | Red River | Red River | 151.10.00 | 243.20.00 | | Bridge over the Red River | Bridge over the Red River |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | ​ | 1.9 | 3.1 | | SH-87 east – Foreman Ark. | Western terminus of SH-87 |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Idabel | 19.6 | 31.5 | | US 70 Byp. west (SW Lincoln Road) | Southern end of US-70 Byp. concurrency; serves McCurtain County Regional Airport |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Idabel | 22.6 | 36.4 | | SH-3 east (Washington Street) – Haworth | Southern end of SH-3 concurrency |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Idabel | 24.5 | 39.4 | | US 70 Byp. ends / US 70 west – Southeastern Oklahoma State University McCurtain Campus, Hugo | Eastern terminus of US-70 Byp.; northern end of US-70 Byp. concurrency; southern end of US-70 concurrency |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Broken Bow | 32.3 | 52.0 | | US 70 east (Martin Luther King Drive) / SH-3 west (Veterans Way) – Antlers, DeQueen Ark. | Northern end of US-70 / SH-3 concurrency |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Broken Bow | 38.6 | 62.1 | | SH-259A east – Beavers Bend | Clockwise terminus of SH-259A |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Broken Bow | 40.6 | 65.3 | | SH-259A – Beavers Bend, Broken Bow Dam | Counterclockwise terminus of SH-259A |
| Oklahoma | McCurtain | Smithville | 70.7 | 113.8 | | SH-4 east – Smithville | Western terminus of SH-4 |
| Oklahoma | Le Flore | ​ | 75.4 | 121.3 | | SH-144 west – Octavia | Eastern terminus of SH-144 |
| Oklahoma | Le Flore | Big Cedar | 89.6 | 144.2 | | SH-63 – Talihina, Mena | |
| Oklahoma | Le Flore | ​ | 94.6 | 152.2 | | SH-1 (Talimena Scenic Drive) | Interchange via connector road |
| Oklahoma | Le Flore | ​ | 98.9 | 159.2 | | US 59 / US 270 | Northern terminus |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access ||||||||

## Special routes
### Kilgore business route

US-259 has one Business route in Texas. In 2006, a new bypass was completed around the eastern side of Kilgore. The bypass had been proposed as early as 1965, but funding did not become available until the late 1990s. The new bypass was designated as US-259, while the previous route through the Kilgore business district was designated as a business route. The new business route was approved by the AASHO in September 2006.

### Idabel bypass

Formerly, US-259 continued into downtown Idabel, and the southeast portion of the Idabel bypass was double-designated as US-70 Bypass and US-259 Bypass. On 6 March 2000, the bypass route was decommissioned, and mainline US-259 was moved onto the bypass. However, as of 2008, some bypass signage is still in place, including signage indicating the former terminus of Bypass US-259 at US-70/SH-3.

### SH-259A

SH-259A, an Oklahoma state highway, is a 10-mile (16 km) loop to Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend Resort Park north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It lies partially in the Ouachita National Forest and is occasionally signed as a U.S. highway.