Fredericksburg Road First Paved in 1927
Today we are so accustomed to large interstate freeways and asphalt or concrete roads, that most of us can only image the early days of the automobile, when many roads were mostly dirt. The development of our neighborhood happened alongside the adoption of the automobile as a family’s main form of transportation, and during the 1920s, many roads throughout San Antonio were not yet paved. Our original homeowners must have been quite happy when the city made plans to pave the main road leading to our area.
That thoroughfare was Fredericksburg Road, the route between San Antonio and its namesake town about 70 miles north of our city. For most of its history, Fredericksburg Road was a dirt and gravel road, but the city, state, and county began paving efforts as the automobile became more prevalent, and neighborhoods along its route, such as ours, benefited greatly. Here is a picture of Fredericksburg Road just north of San Antonio in 1921…nothing but dirt and gravel.
View of unpaved Fredericksburg Road, 1921 photo: TXDOT
In March 1927, the city of San Antonio opened bids to pave part of Fredericksburg Road in asphalt, from its origin at Five Points northwest to Trinity Street. Trinity Street was at the current intersection of Fredericksburg Road and I-10, so Trinity is essentially today’s access road.
One month later, the State of Texas was making plans to widen its portion of Fredericksburg Road to 100 feet, starting at the city limit near North Drive and proceeding 10 miles north to Leon Springs. In a strong act of solidarity and cooperation, those landowners along the route voted unanimously to deed the necessary land to the state and move back their fence lines to accept the newly widened road. The state would pave that portion in asphalt but would also build a parallel gravel roadway. The news stories did not go into details, but perhaps that was in preparation for future lanes.
Then just two months later, in June 1927, the city began paving the remainder of its portion of the road, starting at Martinez Creek, near the Knowlton Dairy (now Oak Farms) and proceeding to the city limit at North Drive. That work was completed on September 26, 1927, in just 15 weeks, an amazing, record pace!
Just five days after completion of the new paving, the neighborhoods in the Woodlawn District celebrated by closing a portion of the new road and having a street dance! A committee chaired by local real estate developer C.M. Furr planned the event, which included band and orchestra music, speeches by local officials, and other “specially arranged festivities.”
The street dance was held between Elmendorf and Donaldson, in front of what was called the Parkmoor Community Building, a large, block-long Spanish Revival building housing a grocery store, a tailor, a fruit stand, and the Parkmoor Drug Store. Half of this building still stands at 1909 Fredericksburg Road. Sadly, the second half was demolished many years ago.
What an exciting night that must have been, when residents of our neighborhood danced the night away celebrating their good fortunes to finally have a paved road to travel to and from their new houses. Anyone up for a new street dance in 2027, the 100th anniversary of the paving?
