Site of Junction's First Livery Stable - Junction, TX
N 30° 29.291 W 099° 45.979
14R E 426453 N 3373131
The earliest travelers on the Old Spanish Trail would have passed by Junction's first livery stable, which they themselves helped consign to history
Waymark Code: WMTV3F
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/08/2017
Views: 9
Travelers in the earliest years of the Old Spanish Trail would have passed by Junction's courthouse square livery stable while it was still in business.
But by the late 1920s, the automobile had made horse transportation obsolete, and this livery stable closed forever, a victim of the cars passing by on the Old Spanish Trail and other auto routes.
The old livery stable was located at the corner of Sixth and College streets on the southwest corner of the courthouse square, which fronted on to the Old Spanish Trail. Its owner would have watched the cars go by that were to put him out of business VERY SOON.
A state historic marker erected in 1967 preserves the location and history of the spot as follows:
"SITE OF FIRST LIVERY STABLE
Busiest spot in early Junction. Fed and housed visiting ranch teams. Had horses and buggies for public hire. Men collected here to gossip, trade.
Built 1879 by John Allen on this lot where public corral operated as early as 1877. Owned by T. M. Hodges when outmoded by autos in 1920s. (1967)"
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. (
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