December 2003  OSTuesday

This is your OSThursday update on the OSTuesday gathering of the Old Spanish Trail auto highway Centennial Celebration Association.  Many new folks stopped by Tuesday evening to see the materials gathered from colleges, libraries, museums and private collections.  Most had heard of  OST100 through their neighborhood associations and came in to offer their help in revitalizing their section of the OST.  Many were from the 32-mile section, from San Antonio to Boerne, used during the 1920s by the original OST Association as a model for development and beautification.  It is gratifying to see that response since OST100 will also use that section as the model for revitalization to be shared over the Internet with the other 67 counties of the OST.

News flash, actually GREAT NEWS flash.   We now have a website and webmaster.  Siegfried Riedel will begin posting quite soon on www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com.   Yes, it's a long title.  The OST is a long highway and OST100 is beginning a decade-long project that now has a name that clearly states what we are all about.  Its not a name easily typed by those in a hurry and will go onto the favorite sites of serious OST supporters.  With the website a reality, your OSThursday messages can be shorter, just reminding new things will be posted On each Second Thursday if you would like to log on to check the progress. We want the site to reflect the seriousness of the project so will take our time building and posting each aspect.  It will be well into 2004 before the format will be completed and new information can appear as the various neighborhoods within Bexar County begin to be able to share success stories on revitalization or beautification. 

OST100 is still in the early stages of development.  Aspects of what OST100 should be trying to accomplish are still being discussed.  We are moving forward with the wonderful ideas from the OctOSTues, the most important being the inventory of what was on the highway in the early days and what is on the highway now.  Neighborhood association members are stepping forward to inventory their sections.

January OSTuesday will be held Tuesday, January 13, 2004, in State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer's office, 1910 Fredericksburg Rd.  It will be another lively discussion, this time about an OST film documentary. Videographer, Rene Lagunas is gathering video of various landmarks on the "headquarters section" of the trail as well as each OST100 activity.   We again need your ideas. What would you like to see included in such a documentary?   What should not be included ? ? Who do you know with expertise in gathering the information that may be included. Etc., etc., etc.

We will invite media representatives from the local TV stations, colleges and production companies throughout the area to share their expertise. Please relay the OST message to anyone you think may have ideas about how to produce and market a successful documentary.  Or maybe a series of documentaries: cuisine of the OST, literature of the OST, music of the OST, military OST, and of course, the Spanish missions and forts from coast to coast. Your special interest in OST100 will make your opinions valuable so please mark you calendar for JanOSTues., 7pm, Tues., Jan 13, 2004.

Safe, healthy and happy New Year to all.

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December 2, 2003 Press Release

San Antonio City Council will recognize the Old Spanish Trail Centennial Task Force with a Resolution of Support at 1pm, Thursday, December 4, 2003, City Council Chambers, 103 Main Plaza.

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November 14, 2003 Press Release

Bexar County Commissioner's Court will recognize the Old Spanish Trail Centennial Task Force with a Proclamation of Support at 9am, Tuesday, November 18, 2003, Bexar County Courthouse first floor.

As San Antonio took the lead in the creation of the first southern transcontinental auto highway, San Antonio and Bexar County are again taking the lead to recognize the 100th anniversary of the "Old Spanish Trail."  The 67 counties of 8 states will follow our lead.

For 10 years from 1919 to 1929 the Gunter Hotel was the Headquarters for the Old Spanish Trail movement.  Prominent San Antonio businessmen took it upon themselves to see that the highway was paved from St. Augustine, Florida to San Diego, California.  Governor Pat Neff placed the 0-mile marker stone of the highway on the San Antonio City Hall grounds in 1924.

The Old Spanish Trail Centennial Celebration Task Force purpose is to locate, revitalize and preserve the roadway, businesses and historic sites of the original 1920s Old Spanish Trail auto highway.  It passed through Bexar County and San Antonio down Old Seguin Rd, New Braunfels St. and Houston St. and out to the west on Flores St. and Fredericksburg Rd. and on to the north on Scenic Loop and Boerne Stage Roads.  Today much of the original road is covered by Interstates 35 an 10 in San Antonio, but many original sections exist and are in need of revitalization before motorcades to celebrate are invited on tour.

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November 2003 OSTuesday

Before reporting on the November OSTuesday meeting we would like to start with the December OSTuesday information:

Old Spanish Trail Open House Celebration
7pm - Tuesday, December 9, 2003
State Representative Trey Martinez-Fischer's Office
1910 Fredericksburg Road

(SPECIAL THANKS TO STATE REPRESENTATIVE MARTINEZ-FISCHER FOR CONTINUING TO SHARE HIS OFFICE SPACE FOR OSTuesday GATHERINGS.)

The December OSTuesday is planned as a non-working celebration of the OST100 accomplishments of 2003.
We will have on display all the maps, documents, newsclippings and other OST memorabilia collected from colleges, libraries and private collections.
It will be a time to share the OST with your family, friends or colleagues who may not yet understand the extent to which OST founders struggled during the 1920s to fund, engineer and build a paved transcontinental highway along the gulf and southern border states.
This will be a thank you party for those of you historians and educators who helped find OST sources, for you descendants who have notified others whose parents and grandparents began the highway, for the neighborhood association members who are inventorying each section through Bexar County, for the politicians who have gathered city and county cooperation and for the other researchers and supporters who have helped this year.
And of course, holiday snacks and free parking.

Now, November OSTuesday report. The search for descendants of the original OST founders is going slowly.  Descendants we can find will be invited to take part in the ceremonial events to honor their ancestors who designed, engineered, funded and paved the first borderlands transcontinental highway.  Judge Wolff has asked us to bring family members to Commissioner's Court when the OST Support Proclamation is presented. We would also like to invite as many as possible for the City Council Resolution.
County Proclamation: 9am, Tuesday, November 18, 2003, first floor Commissioner's Court Room, Bexar County Courthouse, 100 Dolorosa.
City Council Resolution: 1pm, Thursday, December 4, 2003, City Council Chambers, 103 Main Plaza.
Any assistance in identifying the founder's descendants would be greatly appreciated.  If you need a list of San Antonians who were original OST founders, please call or e-mail and we will e-mail or FAX a copy.  735-3503  or    OST100KAHL@aol.com.

Presentations to homeowner's and business associations along the OST route are going well. Members are volunteering to inventory their portions of the highway for revitalization or preservation of businesses, landscaping and especially for landmarks of the original trail.

We are still looking for a volunteer to act as OST100 web master.  The website will be our point of contact for the 67 counties across the 8 states of the OST and will be our window for others to find information about OST preparations for centennial activities.
             Thanks for your continued interest in OST100 activities.

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October 2003 OSTuesday

This is your report On the Second Thursday about the OctOSTuesday meeting.  We especially want to thank those educators, historians and descendants of the founders of the OST who shared ideas and enthusiasm for a Centennial Celebration On the Second Tuesday of October.

Charlotte Kahl (Jefferson/Woodlawn historian) gave a brief history of the 1920s OST movement.  Judy Jackman (Jefferson Neighborhood retired teacher) shared an aspect of the on-going research.  Carol Haywood (Beacon Hill Neighborhood and CoSA Planner) led a lively brainstorming session and Marianna Jones (Conservation Society and City Commissions member) provided closing remarks.

Some of the thoughts and questions that arose included: location of the old highway through maps and oral histories. Is there any original signage left anywhere and what were the original signage materials.  A need for documenting the roadway, businesses and historic structures past and present with photos and oral histories emphasizing points of importance (such as 9-mile hill).

Under revitalizing: What was significant of the original OST and what is significant now.  Inventorying roadway, businesses and historic sites for preservation, rebuilding, change or removal was discussed.

Caution needs to be taken with the "purpose" of OST Centennial Planning. The original OST roadway, due to its age, is historically significant.  Many of its buildings and later recognition monuments are also over 50 years old.  With that in mind, the "revitalization" should be handled with great care.

The longevity, historic, military, economic and engineering significance of the OST were seen to be important in the making of preservation decisions.

Enhanced public awareness could develop from clearly defining an OST theme and incorporating it in website, documentaries, magazine and news articles and mementos (even to T-shirts and coffee mugs). A new OST Travelog similar to those of the 1920s was suggested.  Emphasis was placed on youth involvement, student help with research and website and speakers or historic documents or CDs for schools.

The OSTuesday group saw the OST Centennial Celebration as a way of uniting peoples by visiting and sharing the diverse cultures encountered in a leisurely drive across the gulf and border states.  Thanks to those who attended and we encourage those who couldn't make it to send thoughts as time permits.

There has been a change in the date of when our County Commissioner's Court Proclamation of Support will be presented.  Please change it on your calendars from October 21 to Tuesday, November 18, 2003.  Same time and place, 9am Commissioner's Court, first floor Court House, 100 Dolorosa.

The NovOSTues meeting will be a working session to identify as many of the descendants of the founders and board and beautification committee members listed in OST documents, 1920s news and magazine articles as possible.

This winter the OST100 ROADSHOW will visit Neighborhood Associations along the OST in Bexar County to encourage locating, revitalizing and preserving their parts of the trail.  Speakers will also be sharing OST100 plans with historic groups.

Thanks for you interest in OST100. Until we get our website up and running, OST100KAHL@aol.com is the best way for you to share your ideas with us.  As the OST100 movement grows, we welcome your input.