State Highway 44 is a Texas state highway that runs from west of Encinal to Corpus Christi, Texas. This highway is also known as the Cesar Chavez Memorial Highway outside the city limits of Robstown, Banquete, Agua Dulce, Alice and Corpus Christi in Nueces and Jim Hogg Counties.

SH 44 was originally proposed in 1919 as a connector route between Waco and Giddings. By 1933, construction was continuing on the highway, with the southern terminus extended south to LaGrange, and was cosigned with U.S. Highway 77. By 1938, this route had been fully converted to US 77, with a new designation from Sinton to Alice via Robstown over former SH 128. In 1939, the section from Sinton to Robstown was reassigned, again taking on the US 77 designation. The western terminus was then extended to Freer in 1940. The section west of Freer approximately 56.4 miles (90.8 km) was Farm to Market Road 863 which traveled west to United States Route 83 in Webb County, today's State Highway 44 terminus.

From 1948 to 1953, FM 863 went from Beaver Creek to the town of Hilda which became RM 648 and is now RM 783. FM 863 was designated over a new route and part of FM 133 from Encinal to Freer in 1953. Before 1955, FM 863 ended at the Webb/Lasalle County Line. In 1990 FM 863 mileage was transferred to State Highway 44.