Texas Department of Transportation's Atlanta District is having two events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the state agency.
The first event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Atlanta District Office, 701 E. Main in Atlanta.
The second event will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 5 at Central Mall, 2400 Richmond Road in Texarkana.
Visitors will be able to learn about TxDOT and all it has done through the years to create one of the best transportation systems in the world, said Marcus Sandifer, spokesman for the Atlanta District.
Information booths and banners will be each location, along with equipment-old and new. One special guest will be Roger Polsen, author of "Miles and Miles of Texas-100 years of the Texas Highway Department."
"Through 100 years of collaboration and leadership, TxDOT has helped connect communities to commerce and people to opportunity by building and maintaining the backbone of our healthy economy-now the 10th-largest in the world," said Gov. Greg Abbott. "That robust transportation system paves the way to prosperity for more families and more businesses each and every day."
To commemorate this 100-year milestone, TxDOT invites the public to visit its centennial website. The public also is invited to "Track the Truck" and join the celebration as a refurbished, 27-foot-long 1918 Liberty Truck makes its way across the state as part of a traveling exhibit that tells the district-by-district story of the agency's 100-year history. Along with the truck, the exhibit will feature historical photos and a visual timeline highlighting significant dates and achievements.
Originally called the Texas Highway Department, TxDOT was founded April 4, 1917.
In its first nine months, TxDOT registered nearly 200,000 automobiles and drew the first official map showing the routes of 8,865 miles of improved roadways that would tie Texas together.