Kings Highway - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The trail known throughout Texas as the Kings Highway can also be called the El Camino Real, El Camino Real de los Tejas, Old San Antonio Road (OSR), and Royal Road. The Kings Highway, or El Camino Real de los Tejas, is really a series of trails that meandered and shifted over time as needs changed for the travelers. However, it stayed within a generally consistent direction and overall location. While other old mission trails in other states are also referred to as El Camino Real, this marker is in the context of the path connecting Mexico City to what is now Natchitoches, Louisiana. Within Texas, a few other labels are sometimes used when referencing the El Camino Real, such as the San Antonio to Nacogdoches Road; or, from during the Civil War era, the Camino Arriba.

The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) set these pink granite markers along a major portion of the El Camino Real de los Tejas in 1918, in conjunction with the State of Texas funding the cost of the markers. Many still exist today and are still visible along State Highway 21 and the State Highway OSR which are both documented as covering large portions of the El Camino Real de los Tejas trails. The Texas legislature declared the Old San Antonio Road as a Texas Historical Trail and more recently this trail was designated as a National Historic Trail.

This marker #96 is one that is not yet listed in Texas Historical Commission Atlas for Atascosa County. This marker plus five other twin sister markers are still extant along Pleasanton Road and SH-173 within Atascosa County (DAR markers #90, #91, #93, #94, #96 and #97). There are two missing markers (#92 and #95) that are classified as "lost" by both the DAR and the TexasCounties.net. The last of this set of markers, #98, is on private property and the public has no access to it.

This pink granite Kings Highway marker #96 is located on the left side of the road when traveling south on FM 140 (named Edwards Ave. within the city limits of Charlotte, TX). If you get to Charlotte, TX via SH-97, the street name of this road becomes Hindes Ave. in Charlotte. At the intersection of Hindes Ave (SH-97) and Edwards Ave (FM 140), turn south onto Edwards Ave and continue driving southward for about 2 miles. When you pass the intersection with CR 334, you are about 0.5 mile from the Kings Highway marker. It is a tall stone in front of a barbed wire fence in an open setting, so it should be easy to see even when the grasses are tall.

Additional References:
Old San Antonio Road: (visit link)
Kings Hwy history: (visit link)
El Camino Real Historical Trail: (visit link)
Old San Antonio Road History: (visit link)

Marker Number: -None- Marker Text: Kings Highway Camino Real Old San Antonio Road Marked by the Daughters of the American Revolution And the State of Texas A. D. 1918

Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   12/02/2018 WayBetterFinder visited it