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U.S. Route 285 in Texas

section of U.S. Numbered Highway in Texas, United States

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ28228458 ↗
Source-derived summary

U.S. Highway 285 (US 285) travels from Sanderson, Texas, to Denver, Colorado. In Texas, US 285 begins at an intersection with US 90 in Sanderson, traveling through Fort Stockton and Pecos before exiting the state into New Mexico between Pecos and Carlsbad.

Route description

US 285 begins at an intersection with U.S. Route 90 in Sanderson, just west of the downtown area. The highway travels through highly rural areas of Terrell and Pecos County before entering Fort Stockton. In Fort Stockton, US 285 shares a short overlap with U.S. Route 385 and meets Interstate 10 before leaving the town. US 285 has an interchange with Farm to Market Road 1776, which serves the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company test track. After FM 1776, US 285 takes on a highly rural route until entering Pecos, where the highway meets with Interstate 20. US 285 briefly runs through Culberson County before crossing the state line into New Mexico.

US 285 has acquired the nickname "Death Highway" because the traffic from oil tank trucks has increased the number of road fatalities by 67% since the beginning of the 2010s oil boom.

Editorial summary

“U.S. Route 285 in Texas” enters the record as section of U.S. Numbered Highway in Texas, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Route, Texas and section can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1776—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1935. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Route, Texas and section.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“U.S. Route 285 in Texas” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Route, Texas and section provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q28228458. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1776.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “U.S. Route 285 in Texas”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow U.S. Route 285 in Texas primary sources, U.S. Route 285 in Texas archive and Route research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “U.S. Route 285 in Texas”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “U.S. Route 285 in Texas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.