State Highway 51, abbreviated to SH-51 or OK-51, is a major

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, United States. It runs for east–west across the state, running from the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

state line to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. It is the third-longest state highway in the system.

Route description

Texas to I-35

SH-51 begins at the Texas line

concurrent Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with US-60 just east of

Higgins, Texas Higgins is a rural City, small city in Lipscomb County, Texas, Lipscomb County, Texas, United States, named after G.H. Higgins, a stockholder in the Santa Fe Railroad, which served the community. The population was 356 at the 2020 United States c ...

. It remains concurrent for until it reaches US-270/ US-281/ SH-3 at

Seiling, Oklahoma Seiling ( ) is a city in Dewey County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 850 at the 2020 census. The town was named in 1899 for Louis Seiling, a local store owner who had acquired a homestead in the Cheyenne-Arapaho land run of April 1 ...

. At Seiling, SH-51 joins with those three highways for before splitting off on its own. after splitting off, Highway 51 meets SH-58 in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative divisions * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and entertainment * Canton (band), an It ...

. It then continues east, crossing the

North Canadian River The North Canadian River is a river, long, in Oklahoma in the United States. It is a tributary of the Canadian River, draining an area of U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset/Watershed Boundary Dataset, area data covering Nor ...

and meeting SH-51A before turning northeast toward Okeene, where it intersects SH-8. SH-51 will go for before intersecting another highway. In Hennessey SH-51 meets

US-81 U.S. Route 81 or U.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for in the central United States and is one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by the American Association of Sta ...

before continuing eastward. later, it meets SH-74 north of

Crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...

. to the east, it shares a brief concurrency with

US-77 U.S. Route 77 (US 77) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway which extends for in the central United States. As of 2005, Its southern terminus is in Brownsville, Texas, at Veteran's International Bridge on the Mexican border, ...

; later it has an interchange at

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican bo ...

at Exit 174.

I-35 to Tulsa

After crossing I-35, SH-51 becomes a multilane highway and a major corridor linking I-35 to Stillwater, the home of

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. Along this stretch is an intersection with SH-86. When SH-51 reaches Stillwater, it meets US-177. Continuing east from Stillwater, the road returns to a two-lane highway after sharing a concurrency with SH-108 and intersects with SH-18 later. east of this, it passes through

Yale, Oklahoma Yale is a city in Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,059 at the 2020 census, a decline of 13.6 percent from the figure of 1,227 in United States Census, 2010, 2010. History Yale's founding in 189 ...

before crossing SH-99. It becomes a multilane highway again after SH-48. It turns into the "Mannford Freeway" before passing through the small towns of Mannford and Lotsee on its way toward the

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

area.

Tulsa and beyond

In Sand Springs, SH-51 crosses the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

with SH-97 before merging onto the Sand Springs Expressway ( US-412/ US-64). When this freeway ends at

I-244 Interstate 244 (I-244), also known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Expressway (in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.) since 1984, the Crosstown Expressway, and the Red Fork Expressway, is a east–west Interstate Highway bypass route ...

near downtown Tulsa, SH-51 merges onto I-244 southbound only to exit later, where it runs concurrent with US-64/ US-75. This freeway is actually

Interstate 444 Interstate 444 (I-444) is an unsigned auxiliary route of Interstate 44 located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is part of the Interstate Highway System and makes up half of Tulsa's Inner Dispersal Loop (IDL), forming a partial beltway around Down ...

, but the route is not signed as such. After one more mile, SH-51 leaves the interstate with US-64 and becomes the Broken Arrow Expressway, a freeway running northwest–southeast through Tulsa which is known as "The BA" by locals and local media. US-64 leaves the freeway as a concurrency with US-169 southbound. Later, SH-51 will exit the freeway and become a four-lane highway toward Coweta. The mainline freeway becomes the

Muskogee Turnpike The Muskogee Turnpike, also designated State Highway 351 (SH-351), is a controlled-access toll road in eastern Oklahoma. Route description Opened in 1969, the 53-mile (85.2 km) route begins at the Broken Arrow Expressway ( SH-51) southe ...

. At Coweta, SH-51 turns back east after heading southeast through the Tulsa area. After crossing the Muskogee Turnpike again and bridging the

Verdigris River The Verdigris River is a tributary of the Arkansas River in southeastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map ...

the highway soon enters Wagoner, where it junctions with US-69. Returning once again to a 2-lane road, Highway 51 crosses Ft. Gibson Lake and the town of Hulbert. later, it passes through

Tahlequah Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as par ...

, where it has a brief concurrency with US-62/ SH-10. After spitting with these highways, it heads southeast toward

Stilwell, Oklahoma Stilwell / ᏍᏗᎳᏪᎵ is a city located in the sovereign territory of the Cherokee Nation. It is also the county seat of Adair County, Oklahoma. The population was 3,700 as of the 2020 U.S. census, a decline of 6.7 percent from the 3,949 ...

, running concurrent with US-59 for a mile on the way. After leaving Stilwell it provides access to Adair State Park, and then crosses the Arkansas line becoming

Arkansas Highway 244 Highway 244 (AR 244, Ark. 244, and Hwy. 244) is a designation for two state highways in Northwest Arkansas. Both segments are low volume, two-lane roadways in rural areas. The first segment was created in 1961, with the second designated in 197 ...

, which quickly connects to

Arkansas Highway 59 Arkansas Highway 59 is a north–south List of Arkansas state highways, state highway in Northwest Arkansas. The route runs from Arkansas Highway 22 in Barling, Arkansas, Barling north to the Missouri state line through Van Buren, Arkansas, V ...

History

SH-51 was originally commissioned on June 1, 1927, as a connector from Stilwell to Eldon at SH-27 (present-day US-62). By 1928, it had been extended to Tulsa.Oklahoma Department of Transportation
1928 Highway Map
On June 15, 1933, it was extended to the east to the Arkansas state line, where it became AR-45. ODOT extended SH-51 west to Stillwater and Perry (via a segment of roadway currently serving as US-177).Oklahoma Department of Transportation
1935 Highway Map
On March 18, 1935, the section from Stillwater to Perry was rescinded and SH-51 was extended to SH-8 at Okeene.Oklahoma Department of Transportatio
1937 Highway Map
/ref> It was then extended to Seiling on October 18, 1938. On March 23, 1943, it was extended to the Texas state line by a concurrency with US-60. The Broken Arrow Expressway was built in the early 1960s and opened in 1964. It was not, however, officially named the Broken Arrow Expressway until July 6, 1999 by H.B. 1455. The steel truss bridge carrying SH-51 across Stillwater Creek west of Stillwater, once considered the gateway into the city, was removed on March 25, 2008. In a first for the state of Oklahoma, the bridge, originally built in 1936, was sold to Payne County for $200,000 and transferred to a county road east of Stillwater, where it was installed over Council Creek.

Major intersections

Spurs

Like many in the Oklahoma state highway system, SH-51 has short spurs branching from it that bear the "51" number with a lettered suffix: * SH-51A () runs from SH-58 northeast of Canton to SH-8 near Roman Nose State Park. It is the longest suffixed highway in the system. * SH-51B () connects Coweta to US-69 north of Muskogee. It goes through the towns of

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

and Tullahassee. * SH-51C (decommissioned) () connected SH-51 west of Stillwater to

Carl Blackwell Lake Lake Carl Blackwell a/k/a Carl Blackwell Lake is west of Stillwater, Oklahoma. Primarily a recreational area, it is almost midway between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. It was constructed in 1937.

until it was decommissioned in 2005. * SH-51D (decommissioned) connected SH-51 south of Sand Springs with I-244 in

, running along Avery Drive and West 21st Street. It appeared on some ODOT maps as late as the 1970s, but is no longer shown.Oklahoma Department of Transportation map, ''Average Daily Traffic Volume'', Tulsa inset, 1977. * In 2004, ODOT completed SH-51 Spur, running for as part of a loop through northwest Tahlequah, serving Tahlequah Municipal Airport, and ending at State Highway 82. It is currently the newest Oklahoma state highway.

References

External links