Old Gas Station & New Deal Cafe - Roosevelt, TX
N 30° 29.460 W 100° 03.440
14R E 398525 N 3373669
This 1920s/1930s gas station and cafe at Roosevelt Texas catered to the automotive and dining needs of travelers along the Old Spanish Trail.
Waymark Code: WMTVHP
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/10/2017
Views: 3
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.
Blasterz love these old gas stations especially when they are made with local rock. The odd shape and rock façade of this old gas station caught our eye as we made the bending turn on the Texas Loop 291 that would inevitably take us back to the I-10 along the former route of the Old Spanish Trail.
Daddy Blaster indulges Mama Blaster (especially in the Golden Hour), so he was willing to stop for a few minutes. Good thing - we spotted the ghost sign on the side of the building's entry for the New Deal Cafe, which operated here during the 1930s. The cafe would definitely have been a welcome stop for hungry OST travelers.
We tried but failed to find any clue as to the identity of the oil company that operated this station. Maybe it was an indepenent?
State Loop 291 begins as a modern frontage road for the I-10 about a mile west of the point where FM 1674 heads north from running alongside the I-10 to reach Fort McKavett in Menard County. SL 291, and 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
Address of Waymark:
3902 Allison Rd
Roosevelt, TX
Website with More Information: Not listed
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