The Old Spanish Trail

Last Sunday Tom took me out to this cool building.  He had driven by it on one of his tours of the area and thought that I'd probably really enjoy taking photos of it.  So after our delicious brunch and a tour of a few other neighborhoods, I had him take me out to The Old Spanish Trail. 



He was right, I did like this building.

Come join me on a tour of the outside. 

The Old Spanish Trail is a building (this one) and also a real trail across the United States.  There is an  incredibly interesting history of the trail from St. Augustine, FL all the way to San Diego, Ca.   I found it on the St. Mary's University website, here.  The photo above was borrowed from that website as well.  I never even thought about going across the road to take a photo. Not sure what I was thinking.  Thankfully I did find this photo. 

 Not sure you can see it, but there is a PRIVATE PROPERTY sign on the gate.

So naturally since the gate was open, I walked right in and took this photo.

I didn't want to get too close, that's why the trash bins are in the shot.

Never mind, I needed some close up shots.

In the center section, there are a pair of tennis shoes on the balcony ledge.

Someone was here because there was a car in the back driveway, too.

I decided that I'd risk it and get closer because there was a stairway that I thought might look cool.

AHHH!  I damn near ran into these two.

Ugh!

I still went over to the stairway.

I really liked this angle featuring the old terracotta.

This was the Photo of the Day (POTD) on Tuesday.

I named it something terribly intriguing.  "Cow" was it's title.  :)

I can't help it.

Sometimes the creativity just explodes and I come up with stunners like this.

In the second photograph, above, you can see the two cows, one on each side of the archway.

On the front of the building, above the two big arches, there was a wooden bull with an arrow and a cow with an arrow.  The cow, poor thing, had lost her legs, so I'll just show the bull. 

Then on the far side of the building, through the fence,  I saw this box with a sign over the top of it.

I have a feeling this isn't from the 1920s!


From what I understand, the building that I photographed was a grocery store and resting area for those traveling along the trail.   It was transformed into another business sometime between the heyday of the building in the 20s and 30s and 70 years later, because it's not in terrible condition. 

Once again, I don't have enough answers about this place.  Someone told my husband it was a stage coach stop and someone else said it was a grocery store.  It's such an isolated spot that I'm thinking it's probably been more of a warehouse than a retail space.  I'm hoping that by blogging about it, someone will have answers and let me know.

map source

This map is from the OST Highway Association Archives in Special Collections at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas.

I read nearly all of the OST history from the St. Mary's website and what an adventure that would be to go on the trail, or what's left of the trail.  Road trip anyone??!!

Have a great day!
Kristin