Uptown in San Antonio in Bexar County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Kings Highway

Photographed by WayBetterFinder, July 23, 2015

1. Kings Highway Camino Real — Old San Antonio Road Marker

Inscription. Kings Highway
Camino Real
Old San Antonio road

Erected 1918 by The Daughters of The American Revolution (DAR) and The State of Texas. (Marker Number 83.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Roads & Vehicles. In addition, it is included in the Daughters of the American Revolution series list.

Location. 29° 30.921′ N, 98° 27.236′ W. Marker is in San Antonio, Texas, in Bexar County. It is in Uptown. It is at the intersection of Northeast Interstate 410 Loop and Nacogdoches Road, on the right when traveling east on Northeast Interstate 410 Loop. The marker stands in front of a bank building next to a THC marker. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1100 NE Interstate 410 Loop, San Antonio TX 78209, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Texas.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

and one of the Confederate States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Route of El Camino Real (within shouting distance of this marker); The Dawson Massacre (approx. 2.2 miles away); Dawson Massacre Memorial (approx. 2.2 miles away); The Battle of the Salado (approx. 2.9 miles away); Dodd Field (Fort Sam Houston) Enemy Alien Detention Station, World War II

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(approx. 2.9 miles away); Patsy P. and Walter Scott Light House (approx. 2.9 miles away); The Legacy of the Houston “Mutineers” (approx. 2.9 miles away); The Argyle (approx. 2.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Antonio.

Regarding Kings Highway. During the Spanish colonial period in North America, numerous “royal roads”—or caminos reales—tied far-flung regions of the empire to Mexico City. One particular collection of indigenous trails and trade routes became known as El Camino Real de los Tejas, the primary overland route for the Spanish colonization of what is today Texas and northwestern Louisiana. The trail’s name is derived not only from its geographic extent but also from some of its original users. Spaniards referred to a prominent group of Caddo Indians as the Tejas, a word derived from the Caddo term for ‘friend’ or ‘ally.’ Thus, the Spanish province of Tejas, the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas, and the historic trail traversing them owe their name to the Caddo language.
El Camino Real de los Tejas served as a political, economic, and cultural link between Mexico City and Los Adaes (and all points in between). Settlers, missionaries, soldiers,

Photographed by WayBetterFinder, July 23, 2015

2. Kings Highway Camino Real — Old San Antonio Road Marker

servants, and indigenous allies followed various roads and trails along the 2,500 miles of this route to populate the settlements, missions, and presidios of eastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana. Linking a variety of cultural and linguistic groups, the royal road served as an agent for cultural diffusion, biological exchange, and communication and as a conduit for exploration, trade, migration, settlement, and livestock drives. Spanish, Mexican, French, American, Black, and American Indian travelers along El Camino Real de los Tejas created a mix of traditions, laws, and cultures that is reflected in the people, landscapes, place names, languages, music, and arts of Texas and Louisiana today.” (NPS)

In 1915 the Texas legislature appropriated $5,000 to survey and mark the route. The Daughters of the American Revolution and other organizations sponsored and endorsed the project, and professional surveyor V. N. Zivley was commissioned to make the study. From 1915-18, the State of Texas and the Daughters of the American Revolution together placed 123 pink granite markers about every five miles along the King’s Highway, also known as Camino Real or Old San Antonio Road

The El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail is a national historic trail covering the U.S. section of El Camino Real de Los Tejas, a thoroughfare from the 18th-century Spanish colonial

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era in Spanish Texas, instrumental in the settlement, development, and history of Texas. The National Park Service designated El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historic Trail as a unit in the National Trails System in 2004. (Wiki)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 20, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 10, 2023, by Carolyn Sanders of Plano, Texas. This page has been viewed 380 times since then and 65 times this year. Last updated on May 19, 2026, by Jeff Leichsenring of Garland, Texas. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 10, 2023, by Carolyn Sanders of Plano, Texas. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.