Kings Highway
N 29° 54.163 W 097° 52.075
14R E 609296 N 3308544
TX SH 21 is known to follow the route of a major portion of the ancient road known as the Kings Highway, also called El Camino Real. SH 21 ends/begins near San Marcos, TX and this classic pink granite historical marker is one of many on this road.
Waymark Code: WMP9NE
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/25/2015
Views: 13
Texas State Highway 21 splits off of State Highway 80 a few miles or so east of San Marcos, TX. This designation of SH 21 is a modern one. Since before the Spanish explorers came to Texas to establish their missions, an ancient animal trace turned into a road connecting what is now Mexico with a commercial path across Texas and into Louisiana. That road is still being used but is called by various names and designations nowadays. Many of the Texas roads still remember its historic past by means of historical markers, such as this one.
The trail know 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 Mean, 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 was not listed in the Texas Historical Commission atlas for Caldwell County in which this marker is located. There are more of these markers still extant along SH 21 and the OSR, they just may not have been recorded and numbered in the THC atlas. Examples of twin sister markers that did get listed are WMP1AC and away WMP0JN.
This one does not yet have a listing with THC. It is a large pink granite marker located along SH 21 in front of the San Marcos Municipal Airport located at 1807 Airport Drive, San Marcos, TX. This airport and the marker are within Caldwell County, TX. It is set in the ground alongside a widened siding of SH 21 that allows cars to pull off onto a graveled area to park in order to see the historical marker. Stay a while to watch the airplanes take off and land.
Marker Number: Not Listed
Marker Text:
Camino Real
Old San Antonio Road
Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution and the State of Texas
A.D. 1918
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Visit Instructions:
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