Did You Know Texas’ Oldest Highway Dates Back 300+ Years?

Here's a fun Texas fact for you today: our state's oldest highway dates way back to 1691. That's right, and it stretched across the Lone Star State out of San Antonio, TX?

It's called The Old San Antonio Road, and its beginnings date back to the 1690s, with much of it based on traditional Native American trails. Back then, it was more of a network of trails than a single road.

Texas' Oldest Highway Dates Back to 1691

Today, however, much of the Old San Antonio Road is now on private ranches. According to Wikipedia, Spanish explorer Alonso de León followed many of these "various Indian and buffalo trails, crossed the Rio Grande on his way to East Texas to establish missions, effectively blazing the Old San Antonio Road."

To commemorate its rich history, in 1918, inscribed granite markers were installed along the highway, but unfortunately, as of 2006, only nine of the 123 original markers were still standing.

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In fact, many had been moved from their proper locations "as the route of the road was straightened by new highway construction."

According to TXDot: "Old San Antonio Road, or El Camino Real (The King's Highway) is the oldest highway in the United States. It was blazed in 1691 between the Spanish missions of Texas and Louisiana. In Texas, it was 1,000 wide and extended 539 miles from the Sabine River to the Rio Grande.

In 2004, President Bush signed a bill that designated the El Camino Real de Los Tejas, of which the Old San Antonio Road is part, a National Historic Trail.

And there's your Texas History lesson for the day.