El Camino Real, aka King's Highway, Texas 21, Old Spanish Trail, & Old San Antonio Road. (original) (raw)
Texas | Trips | Texas Drives
AKA
The King's Highway,
Texas 21,
Old Spanish Trail, and
the Old San Antonio Road
by Archie P. McDonald
In 2004, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison succeeded in persuading Congress to designate El Camino Real, at least the Texas and Louisiana portions, a national historic corridor. We Texans, especially we East Texans, knew it all along.
El Camino Real, or King's Highway, or Royal Road, designates an official thoroughfare, much as we would refer to I-20 or US 59 today. It began in 1690 when Alonzo DeLeon crossed Texas on a northeastern course previously untroubled by Europeans to establish Mission San Francisco de las Tejas near the Neches River so France would understand that the territory belonged to Spain... more
From "Holiday Day Trips" by Bob Bowman
"If you're into road trips, take a drive down East Texas' oldest highway. The King's Highway (Texas 21) stretches from Toledo Bend Reservoir near Milam to San Antonio. It is also one of our most scenic roadways. The route was used by Indians and traveled by Spanish missionaries in 1791. It is also known as El Camino Real, the Old Spanish Trail, and the Old San Antonio Road."
Marker for the Camino Real (King's Highway)
that passes through Milam.
Photo courtesy Terry Jeanson, December, 2007
