Kings Highway
N 30° 19.320 W 096° 55.620
14R E 699308 N 3356287
#57 Kings Highway DAR pink granite marker is facing SH-21 near the junction of SH-21 and CR 440, which is about 2 miles northeast of the SH-21/US 77 interchange.
Waymark Code: WMZCJ3
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2018
Views: 4
The trail known throughout Texas as the Kings Highway can also be called the El Camino Real, El Camino Real de los Tejas, Old San Antonio Road (OSR), and Royal Road. The Kings Highway, or El Camino Real de los Tejas, is really a series of trails that meandered and shifted over time as needs changed for the travelers. However, it stayed within a generally consistent direction and overall location. While other old mission trails in other states are also referred to as El Camino Real, this marker is in the context of the path connecting Mexico City to what is now Natchitoches, Louisiana. Within Texas, a few other labels are sometimes used when referencing the El Camino Real, such as the San Antonio to Nacogdoches Road; or, from during the Civil War era, the Camino Arriba.
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) set these pink granite markers along a major portion of the El Camino Real de los Tejas in 1918, in conjunction with the State of Texas funding the cost of the markers. Many still exist today and are still visible along State Highway 21 and the State Highway OSR which are both documented as covering large portions of the El Camino Real de los Tejas trails. The Texas legislature declared the Old San Antonio Road as a Texas Historical Trail and more recently this trail was designated as a National Historic Trail.
This #57 marker is one that, surprisingly, *is* listed in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas for Lee County as #8159! This marker plus six other twin sister markers are still extant along SH-21 within Lee County. The DAR markers involved are #55, #56, #57, #57B, #58, #59; and, the Lee County officials claim that Kings Highway marker #60 is also within Lee County. I'll go along with calling all seven markers as being in Lee County. Funny thing is, the county only assigned numbers to five of the seven Kings Highway markers!
When driving through Lincoln, TX going from the southeast to the northwest along SH-21, this marker #57 is on the left side of the highway about 500 feet before the junction of SH-21 with CR 440. The marker is near a fence row, and has oak trees growing on both sides of it. Look for the rusty "Lee County 1836 - 1936" sign on a rusty pole to help locate the marker. The rusty sign is directly behind this Kings Highway marker.
Additional References:
Old San Antonio Road: (
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Kings Hwy history: (
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El Camino Real Historical Trail: (
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Old San Antonio Road History: (
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