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Introduction

Road Trip

Internet Resources

Image Gallery

Introduction

          The El Camino Real de los Tejas and the, played a vital part in the history and development of Texas for more than 400 years.  The Indians and French traders originally used the road as a trade route. It was also an exploration route used by the Spanish and French.

      The road served as a military highway for the Mexican and Texas armies as well as a migration route for many immigrants traveling westward.

     During the Spanish colonial period, this was the primary overland trail from what is now Mexico, across the Rio Grande to east Texas and the Red River Valley in what is now northwest Louisiana.  San Antonio, Nacogdoches, and Laredo, Texas were founded along this ever-changing 2,500-mile route.

     The portion of this migration route within the United States is approximately 550 miles in length.  Extending between the Rio Grande River and Natchitoches, Louisiana.    

     The Old San Antonio Road generally follows the El Camino Real between San Antonio, Texas and Robeline, Louisiana.

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Road Trip

If you have traced your 18^th or 19^th century ancestors to any of the counties listed below it is quite possible that they traveled to that location along this migration route.  Therefore you may find additional relevant information about your ancestral lineages by taking the following road trip through these localities.

COUNTY (Road Trip Segment)

COUNTY (Road Trip Segment)

COUNTY (Road Trip Segment)

Bastrop County, TX (6)

Bexar County, TX (7,8)

Brazos County, TX (4)

Burleson County, TX (5)

Caldwell County, TX (6)

Cherokee County, TX (2,3)

Comal County, TX (7)

Dimmit County, TX (9)

Frio County, TX (8,9)

Guadalupe County, TX (7)

Hays County, TX (6)

Houston County, TX (3)

Lee County, TX (5)

Leon County, TX (4)

Madison County, TX (4)

Maverick County, TX (9)

Medina County, TX (8)

Nacogdoches County, TX (2)

Natchitoches Parish, LA (1)

Robertson County, TX (4,5)

Sabine County, TX (1)

Sabine Parish, LA (1)

San Augustine Co., TX (1,2) 

Genealogy Road Trip

This “Family History Road Trip” is divided into segments that require between 1 and 2 hours of driving time.  The entire 575 mile journey should take approximately 12 hours to drive at 50 miles per hour.  Within each segment you will find links to resources that will assist you in planning a successful and enjoyable experience.  The following maps are designed to show a close-up view of the counties and communities along this historical route. 

Please understand that it is NOT our intention to document the EXACT course of this historical route.  After we have thoroughly researched the original documentation of an historical route we attempt to design a “road trip” that generally follow along U.S. (USR), State (SR), and County (CR) designated roadways.  We do advise that if you are unsure of following local or unpaved roadways that you consider bypassing them by utilizing the aforementioned government maintained roadways.

SEGMENT 1

From: Natchitoches, TX

To: San Augustine, TX

SEGMENT 2

From: San Augustine, TX

To: Alto, TX

SEGMENT 3

From: Alto, TX

To: Midway, TX

SEGMENT 4

From: Midway, TX

To: Benchley, TX

SEGMENT 5

From: Benchley, TX

To: Paige, TX

SEGMENT 6

From: Paige, TX

To: San Marcos, TX

SEGMENT 7

From: San Marcos, TX

To: San Antonio, TX

SEGMENT 8

From: San Antonio, TX

To: Dilley, TX

SEGMENT 9

From; Dilley, TX

To: El Indio, TX

Segment 1

From: Natchitoches, TX

To: San Augustine, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 73 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.50 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 2

From: San Augustine, TX

To: Alto, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 63 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 3

From: Alto, TX

To: Midway, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 63 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 4

From: Midway, TX

To: Benchley, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 59 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The  National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 5

From: Benchley, TX

To: Paige, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 64 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The  National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 6

From: Paige, TX

To: San Marcos, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 58 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 7

From: San Marcos, TX

To: San Antonio, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 50 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.00 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 8

From: San Antonio, TX

To: Dilley, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 72 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.25 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Segment 9

From; Dilley, TX

To: El Indio, TX

Driving Distance = approximately 74 miles;   Driving Time = approximately 1.50 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to Wikipedia;   The USGenWeb Project; and The National Register of Historical Places to obtain additional information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Internet Resources

The Google search engine

 button  and following web

sites    may     provide    you

with additional information

to assist with your research

about   this   topic. 

• American Migration Patterns
• Migration Routes, Roads & Trails
• Brethren Life: Migrations
• Trails West
• Historical U.S. roads and trails - Wikipedia
• U.S. Historical Maps - Perry-Castañeda Collection
• Early American Roads and Trails
• Frontier Trails: A Brief History
• MIGRATIONS.org
• ROOTS / MIGRATIONS

·         Cyndi's List - Migration Routes, Roads & Trails

·         Map guide to American migration routes,1735-1815

·         Migration Book Store

·         Early Migration Routes

·         The Overland Trail Links--Ancient Indian Trails

·         American Westward Expansion

·         Migration Message Boards – Ancestry.com

·         The African-American Migration Experience 

·         Migration Trails – map of many U.S. trails

·         Migration Information & Maps By Ethnic Group

·         El Camino Réal de los Tejas  - Texas Society, DAR

·         El Camino Real de los Tejas NHT Association

·         Nacogdoches Convention & Visitors Bureau

·         List of Old San Antonio Road DAR markers

·         Old San Antonio Road

·         El Camino Real de los Tejas - Texas Time Travel

·        El Camino Real in Sabine County Texas

·         El Camino Real de los Tejas: Milam Co. Hist. Comm.

·         Old San Antonio Road: Facts, Forum, & Article

·         El Camino Real de los Tejas National Historical Trail

·         El Camino Real de los Tejas -  US Natl. Park Service

·         El Camino Real de los Tejas Trail - Wikipedia

·         El Camino de los Tejas Trail: San Augustine Co.

·         Old San Antonio Road - Wikipedia

·         Handbook of Texas Online: Old San Antonio Road

·         Texas State Historical Association (TSHA)

·         Carnegie Library El Camino Real de los Tejas

·         El Camino de los Tejas - AMTRAK Podcasts

Download a free 2-page Fact Sheet

about American migration routes

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books.   Here you will find books about historic American roads, trails, and paths.  In addition, there are texts that pertain to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography as well as other books that will assist you with your research.

This Link will take you to our

collection of reference books.  

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of historic American roads, trails and migration.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of this topic as well as our ancestors past lives.

Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo at San Antonio, Texas

Use this LINK to see the “Image

Gallery” that pertains to this topic.

Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search   page.   Enter   the   topic   you   are

searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it is associated.

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-- This webpage was last updated on --

01 October 2013