Kings Highway
N 31° 36.179 W 094° 39.267
15R E 343048 N 3497618
#15 Kings Highway DAR pink granite marker is placed in the center of historical downtown Nacogdoches, TX at the corner of E Main Street (SH-21) and N Fredonia Street.
Waymark Code: WMP959
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/22/2015
Views: 18
This Kings Highway marker is set right next to another, more modern, metal TX historical marker titled "Texas Stagecoaches, C.S.A." (see WM83WK). The opening sentence in the Texas Stagecoach marker's text references the Kings Highway, which is very fitting considering it is mounted right next to one of the earliest markers of the OSR. Both markers are located at 215 E. Main Street, Nacogdoches, TX, at the corner of E. Main and N. Fredonia Streets. It is in front of the Commercial Bank of Texas, N.A.
The trail known throughout Texas as the Kings Highway can be called the El Camino Real, El Camino Real de los Tejas, Old San Antonio Road (OSR), and Royal Road. The Kings Highway, or El Camino Real, is really a series of trails that meandered and shifted over time as needs changed for the travelers. However, it stayed within a generally consistent direction and overall location. While other old mission trails in other states are also referred to as El Camino Reals, this marker is in the context of the path connecting Mexico City to what is now Natchitoches, Louisiana. Within Texas, a few other labels are sometimes used when referencing the El Camino Real, such as the San Antonio to Nacogdoches Road; or, from during the Civil War era, the Camino Arriba.
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) set pink granite markers along a major portion of the El Camino Real de los Tejas in 1918, in conjunction with the State of Texas funding the cost of the markers. Not many still exist today, but some are still visible along State Highway 21 and the State Highway OSR which are both documented as covering large portions of the El Camino Real de los Tejas trails. The Texas legislature declared the Old San Antonio Road as a Texas historical trail. This marker is one that is not yet listed in Texas Historical Commission atlas for Nacogdoches County in which this marker is located. There are more of these twin sister markers still extant along SH 21 and the SH OSR. They just may not have been recorded and numbered in the THC atlas. There are a number of these twin sister marker all along the TX-OSR not that far from Nacogdoches, TX.
This one does not yet have a listing with THC. It is a pink granite marker located facing toward SH 21 (called Main Street in downtown Nacogdoches). The marker is located in Nacogdoches County, TX.
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