OST100 News from 2007

Minutes of the March Meeting of OST100 - OST Research Materials and Lecture

(Please find research materials lists posted at the end of these minutes)

  A volunteer for State Representative Trey Martinez Fischer, Terrell Baptiste generously drove from Austin, Tuesday, March 13, 2007 to open Representative Martinez Fischer's local Fredericksburg Road Office for our OST meeting held while the full staff attended to legislative duties in Austin.  We thank the representative, his staff and dedicated volunteers for their continuing support of OST100. 

            The Bexar County Historical Commission has generously funded the digitizing of the St. Mary’s University Blume Library Old Spanish Trail collection from the 1920s OST Board of Directors.  That collection being posted on http://library.stmarytx.edu/ost/ was organized for storage by archivist Brother Robert Wood. Other library, university, museum and on-line research sources collected by Our reSearch Team were displayed March 13^th and are now posted at the end of these minutes.  We thank Charlotte Travis, Pat Ezell and Marlene Richardson for generously sharing their lists of materials used as they gather information and build the stories of OST people, buildings and sites.  

            This March Tuesday evening, Michael Ingraham, Ph.D., gave the first of several lectures on the Old Spanish Trail (OST) Association Headquarters Archive: Promotion of a Transcontinental Highway (1913-1933): Chronology & Context

            In this first presentation the archive of over 1500 individual item was described in full—elementally and statistically--and its contents shown in relation to the astounding growth of U.S. highways and automobiles in the twenty-year period 1913 to 1933.  

              Ingraham inventoried and studied all items, including letters, maps, brochures, booklets, travelogs, bulletins, conference papers, financial documents and accounts, meeting minutes, news clippings, manuscripts, yearbooks, and others.   Documents cover the tenure of the organization from its first headquarters in Mobile, Alabama to its decade-long stay at the Gunter Hotel, in San Antonio, Texas.  Documents reference both internal (organizational and fraudulent) and external (promotional, socio-cultural) relations that reflect the successes and failures of this promotional effort to orchestrate, administrate, and build one of the first transcontinental highways in U.S. history. 

            Started locally, administered by association, and then countered by state and federal standards and bureaucracy, the OST Association held its own before dissolving in the depression.  Dr. Ingraham showed that the thinking and planning set forth by the OST Association anticipated our current highway system displaying that the build-out of infrastructure has always lagged the demand for it. His sprinkling of quotes from archival letters of OST Executive Director Ayres, engineer Locke and other board members show the joys and frustrations during the decade of creating this grand highway.

Charlotte Kahl
Co-Chair OST100
(210)735-3503
with Marianna Jones

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Research Sources about People

OST Board, Beautification Committee, Association Members and Founders

http://oldspanishtrailcentennial.com/     1920s Travelogs and lists of Founders

http://library.stmarytx.edu/ost  St. Mary’s University Louis J. Blume Library – 1920s OST Membership Books and other archives Old Spanish Trail Board of Directors documents and letters.   (in development stage but continually adding more materials)

http://www.sat.lib.tx.us/central/texana.htm  San Antonio Public Library – Genealogy/Texana Dept

San Antonio Public Library Texana Room Obituary Files

http://texas.i-found-it.net/bexarahgp.html Bexar County History and Genealogy Project

http://genforum.genealogy.com/my/  Genealogy.com -  Gen Forum

San Antonio City Directories from 1800s to present available in public libraries listing residences and places of business

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online Handbook of Texas Online  -  Articles about individuals, businesses, volunteer and civic organizations, etc.

Heritage Quest Online for census records of 1900, 1910, 1920 & 1930Family & occupation information

http://ftp.rootsweb.cem/pub/usgenweb/tx/bexar/cemeteries/citycem2.txt    or   /citycem1.txt

http://home.sats.rr.com/citycemetery1/e.html             For information about burial places              

http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/ Social Security Death Index

http://www.familysearch.org/ LDS/Family History website: resource for 1880 census, plus other records

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/txfiles.htm Rootsweb

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsearch.htm General Search page:  Texas archives by county: Great resource for birth & death records by county

Also good resource for cemetery records that have been posted on-line by county

Individual surname search availability. Identify state or county and then search by surname

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgenweb/ Texas GenWeb project

A history of Texas and Texans by Frank W. Johnson  (1916) American Historical Society, Chicago ; New York            biographical accounts of men of Texas

The new encyclopedia of Texas, compiled and edited by Ellis A. Davis and Edwin A. Davis and Edwin H. Grobe, (n.d.)            Texas development bureau   Dallas, Texas   biographical accounts of men of Texas

Saving San Antonio: The Precarious Preservation of a Heritage   By Lewis Fisher (1996).  Texas Tech Press, Lubbock, Texas. information on ladies that became members of the San Antonio Conservation Society

San Antonio’s Monte Vista: Architecture and Society in a Gilded Age 1890-1930.   By Donald E. Everett (1999). Maverick Publishing Company, San Antonio. information about those who lived in Monte Vista and their homes

Law and Liberty: A History of the Legal Profession in San Antonio  by Jan Brendon (1996).  Taylor Publishing Company, Dallas.  information about those who were lawyers

Place Names of San Antonio: plus Bexar and Surrounding Counties.  By David P. Green (2002).  Maverick Publishing Company, San Antonio. information about those for whom streets are named

http://www.co.bexar.tx.us/historic/Center/center.htm  for historic buildings in Bexar County

http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/Students.htm Palo Alto College – Small town history projects

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsaghs2/texas.htm San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society

http://www.thc.state.tx.us/ Texas Historical Commission

http://www.drtl.org/index.asp Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library

http://lib.ollusa.edu/libinfo/info/collections.htm Our Lady of the Lake Library Special Collections

http://www.texastejano.com/ Texas Tejano.com

http://lonestar.texas.net/~gdalum/archives.html Zion Lutheran Church – Archives – San Antonio, TX

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/index.php Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin

http://www.onr.com/user/cat/ Catholic Archives of Texas

http://www.thdi.org/ Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative of highly creditable sites sponsored by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission. (in the development stage but continually adding more sites)

http://www.battersbyornamental.com/pianta.htm Many plaster building enhancements along the OST - Majestic Theater and building on Houston St. at Bowie were created in Hannibal Pianta's 300 Fredericksburg Road studio.

Resource Lists courtesy of www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com

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Resource List for Researching Properties

Note: Many sites have links to additional resource websites.

All sites listed are available at no charge, although some require initial registration.

http://www.bcad.org/ Bexar County Appraisal District:

Tips:   Do not put in the word, “road”, “loop”, “street”, etc. For example, instead of typing in Fredericksburg Road, type in simply Fredericksburg.  Then page through until you find the street number that is needed.  Sometimes it’s problematic to put in actual street number!  This site also has Maps of the area that can be used to identify boundaries as well as adjacent property owners.

http://maps.sanantonio.gov/ City of San Antonio, GIS Map

Click on: Development Services/ Zoning website Then type in the actual address and Zoom in.

Or Click on CoSA Main Map Then zoom to preferred location. OST can be activated by opening General Folder and clicking on OST to have red line appear in Bexar County

http://www.countyclerk.bexar.landata.com/ Bexar County Records

http://www.glo.state.tx.us/ Texas General Land Office

http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ National Register of Historic Places

http://www.co.bexar.tx.us/historic/Center/center.htm  for historic buildings in Bexar County

San Antonio’s Planning Department Historic Preservation section is surveying the 36-mile square of original city limits.  Preliminary survey results along the Old Spanish Trail are included in the following sites.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/Historic/survey_fredericksburg.asp
http://www.sanantonio.gov/Historic/survey_woodlawnplace.asp

http://www.sanantonio.gov/Historic/survey_jims.asp

http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/ Atlas site of THC - provides detailed information on Texas sites with historical designations

http://www.saconservation.org/ San Antonio Conservation Society

http://www.saconservation.org/research/library.htm Library site has links to many additional resources

http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/public/index.htm Institute of Texan Cultures

http://www.cr.nps.gov/hdp/habs/index.htm Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS)

Historical photos of buildings with supplemental information

http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapar/departmenthistory.asp San Antonio City Parks – history

http://www.sanantonio.gov/sapar/histories.asp?res=1280&ver=true

http://www.sanantonio.gov/historic/ City of San Antonio – Designated Landmarks

http://www.cah.utexas.edu/index.php Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin

http://www.birdseyeviews.org/index.php Texas Bird’s-Eye View Maps – digital format provided by Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

http://www.drtl.org/index.asp Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library

http://lib.ollusa.edu/libinfo/info/collections.htm Our Lady of the Lake Library Special Collections

http://www.accd.edu/pac/history/rhines/Students.htm Palo Alto College – Small town history projects

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/texshare/pl/remote.htmlTexas State Library/Texas Share Databases

The Login and Password code must be obtained from the San Antonio Public Library, Texana/Genealogy Dept. There is no charge to access this resource. Search by last name; use variable spellings

Search by 1^st name only, when last name isn’t coming up

http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/  Social Security Death Index

http://www.familysearch.org/ LDS/Family History website: resource for 1880 census, plus other records

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/txfiles.htm Rootsweb:Texas archives by county:

Great resource for birth & death records by county. Also good resource for cemetery records that have been posted on-line by county. Individual surname search availability

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/newsearch.htm General Search page: Identify state or county and then search by surname

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgenweb/  Texas GenWeb project

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/ Texas Online Handbook

http://www.sat.lib.tx.us/central/texana.htm San Antonio Public Library – Genealogy/Texana Dept

http://www.thc.state.tx.us/ Texas Historical Commission

http://texas.i-found-it.net/bexarahgp.html Bexar County History and Genealogy Project

http://genforum.genealogy.com/my/  Genealogy.com -  Gen Forum

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsaghs2/texas.htm San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society

http://www.texastejano.com/ Texas Tejano.com

http://www.sanantonio.gov/safd/History/History_1848_1900.asp?res=1280&ver=true

www.sanantonio.gov/safd/History/History_1848_1900.asp San Antonio Fire Department – History

http://www.onr.com/user/cat/ Catholic Archives of Texas

http://lonestar.texas.net/~gdalum/archives.html Zion Lutheran Church – Archives – San Antonio, TX

Resource Lists courtesy of www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com

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Resources Online for General Highway Information

http://www.drivetheost.com            Information of the Old Spanish Trail. Murpheys have driven the whole length of OST numerous times

http://tfhrc.gov/pubrds/summer96/p96su2.htm Building the Foundation by Richard F. Weingroff           History of building the early automobile roads

http://www.us-highways.com A historical resource of the US numbered highway system.

http://www.marion.ohio-state.edu/fac/schul/trails/trails.html Information on all the “named” highways

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/trailstoc.htm The National Old Trails Road. Part 1:  The Quest for a National Road

http://www.roadandtravel.com/celebrities/womensautohistory.html  History of Women in the Automotive World

http://gbcnet.com/ushighways/history.html             Brief history of the US highway system

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online

Resource Lists courtesy of www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com

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Resource List for Maps with Old Spanish Trail Routes

http://oldspanishtrailcentennial.com TRAVELOG, GALLERY and LINKS sections have maps

http://oldspanishtrailcentennial.com/Travel%20logs/Travel%20log%20index.htm 1920s OST TRAVELOG section has maps of both the whole route and inset blocks for cities of San Antonio, El Paso, Houston and New Orleans.

http://oldspanishtrailcentennial.com/Gallery/aaa_map_jpeg_low_res.htm GALLERY section has 1926 AAA  map

http://maps.sanantonio.gov/ City of San Antonio, GIS Map

Click on: Development Services/ Zoning website Then type in the actual address and Zoom in.

Or Click on CoSA Main Map Then zoom to preferred location. OST can be activated by opening General Folder and clicking on OST to have red line appear in Bexar County

http://www.glo.state.tx.us/ Texas General Land Office

The biggest resource for maps, other than GIS, is the General Land Office.  One can’t actually read the maps on-line, but you can see what they look like, they can be enlarged a bit and you can see what is available for purchase.

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/texshare/pl/remote.htmlTexas State Library/Texas Share Databases

The Login and Password code must be obtained from the

San Antonio Public Library, Texana/Genealogy Dept.

There is no charge to access this resource.

The Texas Digital Sanborn maps  -  early property maps by block of each property within a city used by firefighters to effectively access property.

San Antonio Conservation Society, Institute of Texan Cultures Library, and Trinity University also have Sanborn maps in the original big volumes.

Early San Antonio and Bexar County maps are stored for viewing in the

http://www.sat.lib.tx.us/central/texana.htmTexana/Genealogy Room of the San Antonio Central Library,

http://www.saconservation.org/research/library.htm The San Antonio Conservation Society Library,

http://www.rootsweb.com/~txsaghs2/texas.htmThe San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society Library,

http://www.drtl.org/index.asp Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library and

University Libraries.

http://www.birdseyeviews.org/index.php Texas Bird’s-Eye View Maps – digital format provided by Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas

Alling Blueprint Co map c. 1930 is available in the Texana Room of the San Antonio Central Public Library

http://home.att.net/~texhwyman/  has a 1950s map of Bexar County in the photo section under San Antonio area freeways

http://psy1.psych.arizona.edu/~jforster/rides/Marsh%20Station.htm OST in Tucson

Official Log Book for Texas   1914   D. E. Colp     Auxiliary Publishing  San Antonio. Tx

            Available in Texana Collection Central Public Library

Resource Lists courtesy of www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com

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 Links to Old Spanish Trail related sites

As posted www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com 2007

http://library.stmarytx.edu/ost/  Archives of the Old Spanish Trail Association in Special Collections
of the Louis J. Blume Library, St. Mary's University. Materials of 1920s Old Spanish Trail Association Board of Directors

http://www.drivetheost.com/   Primary OST website

http://americanroadmagazine.com/forum/

John and Kris Murphey are gathering more OST information with a forum on the American Road Magazine website

http://www.americanroads.us/ushighways/ushighway80CA.html
Steve Varner, also known as PARSA, has some wonderful information about Imperial and San Diego Counties, California OST on this site 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Spanish_Trail_%28auto_trail%29   OST100 in Wikipedia

http://www.byways.org/ and http://www.bywaysonline.org/ - The National Scenic Byways Program is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The program is a grass-roots collaborative effort established to help recognize, preserve and enhance selected roads throughout the United States.

http://www.historicroads.org/   Source of guidelines for historic road identification, preservation, and management

http://www.co.leon.fl.us/PUBWORKS/oper/canopy/visitCR.asp How to preserve the beautiful old canopied roads, especially along the OST

http://www.edwardsaquifer.org/ Model for protecting water sources through legislation and oversight.

http://www.pima.gov/sdcp  Conservation Plan for the Sonoran Desert.

http://www.universalcitytexas.com/documents/Public%20Works/uc_osmp.pdf  A useful list of Park Funding Sources can be found, provided by Land Design Partners, on Page 43 of the Universal City, Texas 2006 Parks Master

http://www.sanantonio.gov/nad/devdiv/tif/tif.asp
http://www.sanantonio.gov/nad/DevDiv/TIF/pdf/targetareasmap.pdf 
http://www.sanantonio.gov/nad/DevDiv/TIF/pdf/T11-Application%20and%20Eligibility%20Determination%20Forms.pdf 
Inner City TIRZ 11 map attachment #2.

City of San Antonio investment opportunities along the inner-city OST route.

San Antonio’s Planning Department Historic Preservation section is surveying the 36-mile square that was the original city limits.  Preliminary survey results of areas along the Old Spanish Trail are included in the following sites.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/Historic/survey_fredericksburg.asp
http://www.sanantonio.gov/Historic/survey_woodlawnplace.asp

http://www.sanantonio.gov/Historic/survey_jims.asp

http://www.battersbyornamental.com/pianta.htm  Many plaster building enhancements along the OST - Majestic Theater and building on Houston St. at Bowie were created in Hannibal Pianta's 300 Fredericksburg Road studio on the OST.

http://southeasttexas.iwarp.com has lists that can be checked for OST routes in areas where the highway number is known.

http://home.att.net/~texhwyman/  has a 1950s map of Bexar County in the photo section under San Antonio area freeways

http://www.texasfreeway.com photos of the Interstates 10 and 35 areas of the OST

http://www.cityofcrestview.org/  - Spanish Trail Festival, last weekend of April & first weekend of May each year.

Resource Lists courtesy of www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com

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