The first-ever Adopt-a-Highway sign was erected on this date in 1985, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. Billy Black, a public information officer for TxDOT’s Tyler District, led the initiative asking community groups to volunteer to pick up trash along designated sections of local highways. He was responsible for creating a quarterly cleanup cycle, providing volunteer safety training and equipment, and erecting the well-known Adopt-a-Highway signs that recognize participating organizations. The Tyler Civitan Club was the first group to volunteer, adopting a two-mile stretch of US Highway 69.
TxDOT says the Adopt-a-Highway program has since become a grassroots movement involving nearly 90,000 groups in 49 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. More than 60 percent of independent pharmacy owners provide monetary support to at least five community organizations, finds the 2025 NCPA Digest, sponsored by Cardinal Health. Have any adopted a highway, we wonder? 🤔
