State Highway 39, abbreviated as SH-39, is a

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 ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

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 ...

. It is in length. It runs east–west through the central part of the state, beginning at unincorporated Tabler, east of

Chickasha Chickasha is a city in and the county seat of Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 16,051 at the 2020 census, a 0.1% increase from 2010. The city is named for and strongly connected to Native American heritage, as "Chicka ...

, and ending east of Konawa. Along the way, SH-39 serves the counties of Grady, McClain,

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Pottawatomie, and

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

. It currently has no lettered spurs. SH-39 was built in 1923 but not added to the state highway system until approximately 1936. Originally connecting Tabler to

Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version of Shakespeare's ...

, SH-39 was extended to the east over the next five years, first to

Asher Asher ( ''’Āšēr''), in the Book of Genesis, was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Zilpah, and Jacob's eighth son overall. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Asher. Name The text of the Torah states that the name אָ� ...

and then to Konawa.

Route description

The highway begins at the concurrency of U.S. Highway 62 (US-62)/ US-277/ State Highway 9 (SH-9) near the unincorporated community of Tabler, east of

. The road begins traveling east from there, intersecting SH-76 later west of Dibble. From Dibble, it continues east, meeting the eastern terminus of SH-59 and intersecting SH-24 in the unincorporated town of Woody Chapel. It then continues east to Purcell. In

, SH-39 passes under

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 ...

, but does not have a junction with it. The highway soon encounters

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, ...

/ SH-74 just east of the interstate. Here, it turns northward and begins an

overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...

with the two highways through Purcell. SH-74 splits off after a few blocks while SH-39 and US-77 turn eastward and cross over the

Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .James C. Nance Memorial Bridge. After crossing the river, the highways arrive in the town of Lexington and US-77 splits off to the northeast. SH-39 continues eastward, serving the Lexington prison and overlapping for less than a mile with SH-102. In the town of

, the highway intersects SH-3W and SH-59 again. later, the highway meets SH-9A in Konawa. The highway ends east of Konawa at US-377/ SH-3E/ SH-99. The mainline of the highway becomes SH-56.

History

The road that would become SH-39 was built in 1923, but it was not assigned a state route number until at least late 1936, first appearing on the 1937 state map. Originally, the route's eastern terminus was at US-77 in Purcell. By April 1939, it had been extended eastward to end at Asher. The route first reached its current termini in 1941 (although at the time, SH-99 passed through Konawa). A short gap existed west of Asher in the SH-39 designation between 1946 and 1947; by 1948 this gap had been filled. The final change to SH-39 occurred in 1968 or 1969, when SH-99 was rerouted to bypass Konawa, and SH-39 was extended east of town to end at the present junction. No changes have been made since.

Spurs

SH-39 once had one spur route, SH-39B. It ran along what is now May Avenue from SH-39's junction with SH-59 to SH-74B east of

Cole, Oklahoma Cole is a town in McClain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 624 at the 2020 census, up from 555 in 2010. History Cole was founded on of land donated by Mrs. A. E. Cunningham and Judge Presley Cole. The town was named "Cole" ...

.Map of McClain County. Date unknown. Washington High School library. Referenced February 13, 2006 (UTC).

Junction list

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title,inline
SH-39 on OKHighways.com
039 Transportation in Grady County, Oklahoma Transportation in McClain County, Oklahoma Transportation in Cleveland County, Oklahoma Transportation in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma Transportation in Seminole County, Oklahoma