Like almost all the small Texas towns along the Old Spanish Trail, that part of the OST through Junction is known locally as Main Street.
In Junction, the former OST through town was (as of 1969) designated State Highway Loop 481. Wikipedia shows 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 OST. Loop 481 was designated in 1969. (
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The Isaack Restaurant opened in 1950 on Main Street, which was also part of the Old Spanish Trail and US 290/US 83. For 65 years, Isaack's has been feeding hungry travelers that roll through Junction in their cars.
Our Yelp review for more on this outstanding Junction landmark: (
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5 stars
"CHICKEN FRIED STEAK NIRVANA -- and they do it RIGHT here, with the crispy steak ON the gravy, instead of the other way around. That way the CFS stays crispy and flavors the gravy YUM!!
Outstanding home cooking, one of Texas Monthly's 40 Best Texas cafes.
CFS plate comes with a large scoop of mustard potato salad and a bowl of pinto beans, with a fresh-baked dinner roll on the side.
They have been here since 1950, doing what they do. GET OFF THE I-10 and EAT HERE, you'll thank me later!!!"
The history of the Old Spanish Trail is as varied as the areas it crosses on its journey from Jacksonville FL to San Diego CA. In Texas, the OST has had many routes, but by 1921 a predominantly southern route from Orange to San Antonio to El Paso had been formalized. Source: The Development of Highways in Texas:
A Historic Context of the Bankhead Highway and Other Historic Named Highways, by the Texas Historical Commission
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"The Old Spanish Trail largely overlapped with the “Southern National Highway,” as the route was named by the Texas Highway Commission in 1917. At that time, the agency formally incorporated the roadway as SH 3 in the new state highway system. (See Figure 183.) However, the route marked by the Old Spanish Trail Association included a wideranging variety of alignments other than SH 3; the most notable was the SH 27 alignments travelling through Kerrville, Sonora, and Junction en route to Fort Stockton.
Regardless of the name or designation used, the route quickly assumed a leading role in the state’s emerging highway system, in part, because it traveled to not only some of the state’s most important nodes of military installations (San Antonio) and industrial centers (the oil refineries in Houston and the Gold Triangle areas of Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange), but also some of the state’s best known tourist destinations, parks, and recreational centers, such as the Alamo and Balmorrhea State Park."
By 1926, when the US Federal Highway System converted the old names Auto Tour Routes into a numbered system of US Highways, the OST was well established. At this time, parts of the OST in Texas were co-designated US 90, US 90Alt, US 87, US 80 and US 290.
The OST that passed through Junction as on Main Street was part of the US 290 alignment from the Hill Country west to near Balmorhea.
When the I-10 was completed in Texas, the all that part of US 290 west of its junction with I-10 (at the Kimble county line 25 miles southeast of Junction) was redesignated as state highway loops or scenic roads (like SH 290 between Sheffield and Ozona).