Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway Marker - NE San Antonio, TX
N 29° 29.622 W 098° 26.051
14R E 554847 N 3262818
One of three markers in San Antonio, TX placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy designating the route of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway. (waymark 1 of 3)
Waymark Code: WM9MK6
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 09/04/2010
Views: 13
The Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway (JDMH) was developed in the 1910s-1920s by a private group called the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) whose efforts to promote the history of Jefferson Davis was done in a time before there were well developed roadways and before the federal government oversaw the naming, numbering and development of interstate highway systems. The UDC developed plans for the JDMH to stretch from Washington DC across the country to San Francisco. There end up being one main route that was to be the transcontinental route and two ancillary routes that were designed to highlight important events in Davis' career. The roads in the 1920s were fragmented and many no longer exist, but originally the path of the JDMH through Texas was "SH3 from Sabine River to Houston, SH20 from Houston to Austin, SH2 from Austin to San Antonio, SH3 from San Antonio to Alpine, SH54 from Alpine to Van Horn, SH1 from Van Horn to El Paso." This translates to modern road designations as, "East to West enters Texas near Orange on I-10/US90 to Houston; on US290 to Austin; on I-35 to San Antonio; on US90 to Alpine; on TX118 to Fort Davis; on TX17 to Marfa; on US90 to El Paso, crossing border with New Mexico at Anthony, TX. A southern route split off in Houston on US59 to Victoria and then on US77 to Brownsville." This JDMH marker was placed in 1929 by the Robert E. Lee Chapter No. 1853 of the Texas Division. Its physical location is along Austin Highway near its intersection with Harry Wurzbach Rd. at 1475 Austin Highway, San Antonio, TX 78209. It is a square block of granite about 4 feet tall that is rough cut with polished stone lettering and numbering in bass relief. A Confederate flag emblem is in the upper right corner of the marker. The monument is set on a large concrete slab base.
Condition: Immaculate
Date placed: 01/01/1929
Material: Stone
Inscription:
Texas Division 61-66/ Confederate Flag/
Jefferson Davis Highway/
Erected by Robt. E. Lee/
Ch. No. 1853/
U.D.C./
1929
Name of road: Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, San Antonio, TX
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