La Calle de los Diez Amigos

La Calle de los Diez Amigos. The Street of Ten Friends , 1835. , When Martin De Leon was granted his Empresario contract in 1824 he understood that there was much work to be done. For many years, he had laid the groundwork that was necessary to attain his land grant on the Guadalupe River. In the most basic terms, he was a land agent for the Mexican Government, tasked with settling families in the area and doling out property in his colony. , Cultivating relationships and forging alliances was as important to De Leon as it is now. La Calle de los Diez Amigos - The Street of Ten Friends - pays homage to a cadre of influential figures of the day. , The street itself was a product of Spanish Colonial law, dating back to the 1500's. After Columbus established Spanish claims in the New World, Imperial Spain saw the need for uniformity of colonization within its vast territories. A precursor to modern urban planning standards, the Laws of the Indies set forth rules for colonizers. Topics such as site selection, land distribution and allocation, and street layout, were mandated. , Victoria's historic downtown owes its grid system of streets, and the placement of landmarks, such as De Leon Plaza and the Victoria County Courthouse, to colonial law. Among these holdovers from colonial Victoria is Main Street. Original research on the topic has revealed who the "Ten Friends" were. Additionally, we know the names of the thirteen original streets. Calle Libertad, Calle Empesario, and La Calle de los Diez Amigos, are three of those names. The remaining street names are those of the "Ten Friends.", Captions , Upper Right: "Don Martin De Leon" , Original Illustration by Tom Jones , Lower Right: Streets in Guadalupe Victoria . 1835 , Original researchers graphic courtesy of Dr. Robert Shook