Old Rock Store - Junction, TX
N 30° 29.308 W 099° 45.992
14R E 426433 N 3373163
The Old Rock Store, a fixture on Junction's County Courthouse square since 1879, located about a block off the Old Spanish Trail.
Waymark Code: WMTV1V
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/08/2017
Views: 3
Like almost all the small Texas towns along the Old Spanish Trail, that part of the OST as it passes through Junction is named "Main Street."
As of 1969, the entire route of the former OST through Junction (including Main Street) was redesignated State Loop 481 to serve as a business route for the reroute of the US 290 north of town (preparing for the day to come where the US 290 would become the I-10).
Wikipedia proves that Texas SL 481 was formerly co-signed as US 83 and US 290. The US 83 came in from the south and joined US 290 east of Junction, where the two roads headed west through town. North of town, US 83 diverged from US 290, and continued north to the Oklahoma border.
US 290 entered Junction from the east, joined with US 83 and left US 83 to continue west to El Paso. Therefore, SL 481 is clearly the former route of the Old Spanish Trail. (
visit link)
Visitors traveling past the Kimble County Courthouse Square in Junction during the Old Spanish Trail era would have noticed this old rock store building, built in 1879 -- a reminder of Junction's frontier past.
In the earliest days of the OST era, (19-teens) it may have still been used as Junction's movie theater. In later decades, it would've been a Lodge Hall for various fraternal organizations, but still distinctive and notable on the OST because of its stone construction.
At some point in the modern era the front of this old stone building was covered with stucco, but the state placed a historic marker on it anyway, which reads as follows:
"OLD ROCK STORE, 1879
Built for general merchandise of G. W. Ragsdill, who owned and operated a nearby hotel and wagon yard. Later used for many other businesses.
The top floor has been hall for A.F.& A. M., I.O.O.F. and W.O.W. Lodges, and in 1912 a movie theatre.
Owner: Judge M. E. Blackburn, Sr.
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1964"