Roosevelt Store - Roosevelt, TX - Old Spanish Trail Auto Route on Waymarking.com

The vestiges of the Old Spanish Trail in Texas are found on the various Main Streets that run through the center of little downtowns and on the frontage roads that parallel the modern I-10 highway. Many of the FM roads, State Loops, and State Highways that parallel, diverge from, and return to the I 10 as it makes its way from San Antonio to El Paso are what’s left of the old US 290, nationally known before 1926 as the Old Spanish Trail.

In Roosevelt, the OST was Allison Street. It passed through the heart of what once existed here: a store, a gas station or two, a motor court, and a couple of churches. Today this road through Roosevelt is State Loop 291, but you can still see the traces of the OST era.

Note the 1920s swamp cooler in the default waymark photo - old-style air conditioning, still being used today. See: (visit link)

A state historic marker (erected in 1997) in front of this old store gives the history of this place as follows:

ROOSEVELT

The community of Roosevelt began with the establishment of a post office in 1898. Although Alice Wagoner applied for the post office with another name, the Postal Service in Washington substituted the name Roosevelt, presumably in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, whose Roughriders visited this area prior to their legendary Spanish-American war service. 2 military roads traversed this area, and Roosevelt became a social center for surrounding ranch families. In addition to the post office, Roosevelt included a Masonic Lodge, churches, stores, and a school. (1997)"

State Loop 291 begins as a modern frontage road for the I-10 about a mile west of the point where Ranch-to-Market RM 1674 from Junction heads north to Fort McKavett in Menard County. SL 291 turns south to cross over the interstate on the route of the Old US 290, where SL 291 acts as a local access road for ranches on the south side of the interstate. After a few miles, SL 291 veers north to cross back over the I-10 at Allison Road, passing through Roosevelt, before heading back south to parallel, then cross the I-10 westbound, where SL 291 ends.

At this point, the eastbound access road for the I-10 is the old US 290/OST/Kimble County Road 227.

Submission Criteria: Period Culture Website with More Information: [Web Link] Address of Waymark: Allison Street Roosevelt, TX

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Date Logged Log   12/20/2016 Benchmark Blasterz visited it