On our way to visit our grandkids in Texas, I noticed road signs like the one below that had the unfamiliar "FM" designation. Researching what that meant led to an interesting history lesson.
"FM" stands for "Farm to Market" and began in Texas in 1936, and was designed to help farmers get their goods to market. It was immediately popular, grew quickly, and there are now 3,370 FM roads in Texas. You will see some signs using "FM" and others labeled "Farm Road". Same thing.
Soon the ranchers wanted to get in on a good thing, and in 1943 the first "RM", "Ranch to Market" road was completed. Other designations you might encounter are "SH" (State Highway), "RR" (Ranch Road, a subset of Ranch to Market Roads), "PA" (Principal Artery), "BU" (Business Route), and "SL" (State Loop).
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