On June 21, 1917, SH 24 was designated from Denton to Whitesboro. The historic routing of SH 24 was one of the 25 original Texas state highways. On August 21, 1923, the routing had changed substantially. The original Denton to Whitesboro route was removed from the state highway system. A portion of the former SH 28 from Jacksboro to Benjamin was reassigned as SH 24. A portion of SH 22 from Graham to Olney that was concurrent with SH 28, was also signed as SH 24, and was not concurrent with another state highway as there were two state routes that replaced part of SH 22 north and south of SH 24. By 1929, the highway extended south from Jacksboro to Mineral Wells, replacing a portion of the former SH 25. On May 25, 1929, plans were to extend the highway west to Guthrie once the location was decided. On December 17, 1929, the location was decided. On March 19, 1930, SH 24 extended west to New Mexico, replacing most of SH 53 and all of SH 134. On June 24, 1931, the road from Jacksboro to Mineral Wells was transferred to SH 66. SH 24 was rerouted northeast to Paris, replacing SH 39. On September 21, 1937, SH 24 Spur was designated in Frisco. On January 25, 1938, SH 24 Spur was designated in Klondike. By May 24, 1938, SH 24 Spur was designated in Whiteface and SH 24 Loop was designated in Levelland. On September 20, 1938, another SH 24 Spur was being constructed to Lorenzo. The spur to Lorenzo was designated on June 20, 1939. But on September 26, 1939, this extended western plan had been dropped and the highway was rerouted west of Newcastle over the portion of SH 120 from Newcastle to Old Glory. The old route had been transferred to SH 251, SH 199, U.S. Highway 82, and the western section was renumbered as SH 290. The SH 24 Loop and SH 24 Spur designations were transferred to Spur 26, Spur 33, Spur 39, Loop 44, and Spur 74 On October 1, 1968, the portion between Jacksboro and Bridgeport was rerouted south of Lake Bridgeport, replacing State Highway 824, which was an alternate route designated in 1964, and all of RM 2475. On September 1, 1971, the portions west of Greenville were removed from SH 24 and assigned to U.S. Highway 380. Later, on May 21, 1979, the part of SH 24 southwest of Commerce was moved to a different highway, making it concurrent with SH 50 down to Campbell, which shortened SH 24 to its present form. On September 24, 2009, SH 50's concurrency with SH 24 was removed.
Business routes
SH 24 has one business route. Business State Highway 24-D is a business loop that runs through Cooper. The route was created in 1968 when SH 24 was rerouted west and north around town; it is. The road was redesignated as Business SH 24-D on June 21, 1990.
Former Commerce business loop
Business State Highway 24-B was a business loop that ran through Commerce. The route was created in 1958 when SH 24 was rerouted north of town. The route was redesignated as Business SH 24-B on June 21, 1990, but was redesignated again to Business SH 224-B on April 27, 2000.
