El Camino Real -- San Pedro Springs, San Antonio TX
N 29° 26.763 W 098° 30.205
14R E 548158 N 3257508
San Pedro Springs, a watering hole for Native Americans, animals, and Europeans for many thousands of years, an important stopping place for travelers along the El Camino Real
Waymark Code: WMXNDZ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/02/2018
Views: 3
San Pedro Springs have been nourishing and providing fresh clear water from what is now known as the Edwards Aquifer for thousands of years. A DAR El Camino Real marker stands nearby, attesting to the importance of these springs to the travelers along the road, the Native Americans of yore, and the settlers who made their homes here.
From Edwards Aquifer.net: (
visit link)
"The San Pedro Springs are located a few miles northwest of downtown San Antonio and the Alamo. They emerge at an elevation of about 663' through a fault at the base of a limestone bluff. At the surface the Austin chalk limestone is present on the southeast side of the fault and the Pecan Gap chalk on the northwest (Brune, 1981).
The site is much more than just Springs. It is one of the most important places in all of the southwest United States, and no web page of a few thousand words can begin to describe the pre-historic and historic significance of the Springs and surrounding Park.
The Springs and a small natural lake just below the Springs were a favorite meeting place and campsite for native Americans for thousands of years. The bones of mastadons, giant tigers, dire wolves, Colombian elephants, and extinct horses have been found here, along with projectile points and stone tools. In early historic times, a band of Coahuiltecan Indians known as Payayas called the Springs and their village there Yanaguana.
After European settlement, the site was the social and recreational center of San Antonio for many decades, and a number of important old roads, including the Camino Real (King's Highway) radiated from this point. Early travelers would sometimes confuse these Springs with another major cluster of springs four miles to the northeast, San Antonio Springs. A nearby street, Calle del Camaron was named for the abundant crawfish that were found in the Springs and Creek. Limestone quarried from just northwest of the Springs provided stone for many of the town's early buildings.