San Antonio Area Roads History
Historical
Fredericksburg Rd. Photos |
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This page last updated July 21, 2022 |
Below
are historical photos of Fredericksburg Road including the old
highway
to Boerne and Comfort. These
photos were compiled from the TxDOT
photo library and the San Antonio
TxDOT district office.
Locations are given using the present-day roadway names. The
photos are arranged from south to north. Click on each photo for an
enlarged view.
Click
here
to return to the historical photo galleries page.
Route
history
    
The
road to Fredericksburg became SH 9 as part of the first state
highway system designated in 1917. By the early 1920s, it also became
part of SH 27 to Kerrville.
This
road was also part of the Old Spanish Trail, a transcontinental
auto trail with its headquarters in San Antonio.
The section of road between San Antonio and Boerne was known as the
"Headquarters Section" and was used to test various road improvements
such as pavements, alignments, and safety features and became a model
that other localities could emulate.
When
the US Highway System was first designated in 1925, this road was
numbered US 290, which ran via Comfort to Kerrville and points
west. Meanwhile, the road from Comfort to Fredericksburg (SH
9)
was numbered US 385. Initially, these routes met in Comfort,
but
by the late '20s, it
appears the route for US 385 was rerouted away from Comfort and instead
ran through Waring and Welfare to meet US 290 at
Nelson
City (where PoPo's is), likely to facilitate a more direct route to San
Antonio. Although
the official southern terminus for US 385 was listed as being at its
junction with US 290, it appears that by 1932, US 385
was co-signed with US 290 along the Fredericksburg Road into
San
Antonio, likely to provide a more logical terminus for the route in San
Antonio. In a 1935 revision of the system, US 87 was extended
south from Wyoming into Texas and supplanted US 385. At the
same
time, US 290 was rerouted east from north of Mountain Home through
Fredericksburg, Austin, and on to Houston, leaving the segment from
Comfort through Kerrville and Mountain Home as SH 27. Finally, a new
road for US 87 from Fredericksburg to Comfort was also completed around
that time.
In
Bexar County, the route has been fairly stable, running along
Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio. Around today's Loop 1604, the route
initially used what's now Old Fredericksburg Road; this was bypassed by
the current route in the mid '30s.
In
Leon Springs,the first road ran
parallel to and just to the east of the main road through Leon Springs
today
(i.e. that little road behind Rudy's.) Prior
to the state highway system, one route from Leon Springs to
Boerne
continued along what's now Old Fredericksburg Road northward. However,
it appears the
initial state highway turned
left onto Boerne Stage Rd. and followed
it northwest and then curved north onto Scenic Loop Rd. and continued
into Kendall County.
The route entered Boerne on Old San
Antonio Rd. and curved left onto Oak Park Dr. and right onto Main St.
through Boerne. North
of Boerne, the route crossed back and forth on today's I-10
right-of-way to Nelson City. There, the route curved onto today's FM
289 and onto the Waring-Welfare Rd. to the T intersection at Green
Cedar Rd. There, SH 9 turned right to Welfare while SH 27 turned left
and continued mostly on today's FM 289, Old Comfort Road, and High
Street Rd., before crossing the Guadalupe River on the High St.
bridge into Comfort.
By
the mid '30s, the route through Leon Springs shifted a couple hundred
feet
west (today's main road through Leon Springs) where it continued
north-northwest on a new road (today's
path for I-10) that had been built between Leon Springs and Boerne to
replace the route along Scenic Loop Road. Further north, several
sections of the route between Nelson City and Comfort were straightened
and a new bridge over the Guadalupe River (today's Business US 87) was
built.
San
Antonio's first expressway was built to provide a bypass for US 87 from
Fredericksburg Rd. at Woodlawn into downtown. US 87 from
Woodlawn
to Huebner was shifted from Fredericksburg Rd. to I-10 after
it
was completed in the mid '60s. Fredericksburg Road west
of I-10 was then redesignated SL 345 but was signed as
Business US
87 until the early '90s.

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Fredericksburg Rd. at Five Points looking
northwest
(ca. 1958)
(Texas Transportation Museum)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Five Points looking
northwest
(1961)
(Texas Transportation Museum)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Cincinnati Ave.
looking northwest (ca. 1940)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at I-10 looking
southeast (ca. 1949)
This was shortly after the expressway opened.
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at I-10 looking
northwest (ca. 1950)
The US 87 expressway ended here at this time. To the right, you can see
a ramp curving up from the underpass-- the carried traffic from the
expressway onto northbound Fredericksburg Rd. at Magnolia Ave.
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. probably at Martinez
Creek looking northwest (1921)
This photo shows flood damage.
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Donaldson Ave.
looking southeast (ca. 1959)
(TxDOT)
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Old Spanish Trail monument at
Fredericksburg Rd. and Vance Jackson Rd. (ca. 1936)
This monument was placed by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas to
commemorate the OST and is still there today!
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Vance Jackson Rd.
looking northwest (1959)
The monument in the photo above is near the center of this photo.
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Vance Jackson Rd.
looking southeast (1959)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Gardina St. looking
northwest (1959)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Gardina St. looking
southeast (1959)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Williamsburg Pl.
looking southeast (1959)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. at Balcones Dr./Spencer
Ln. looking northwest (1959)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. near Oaklawn Dr.
looking northwest (1921)
Today's Callaghan Rd. crosses near the middle of this photo.
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. - Location unknown
(1921)
(TxDOT)
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Fredericksburg Rd. - Location unknown
(1921)
(TxDOT)
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US 87 - Location unknown (ca.
1935)
This is the highway somewhere between San Antonio and Boerne.
(TxDOT)
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US 87 in Leon Springs looking northwest
(1940)
This is on today's westbound I-10 access road just north of Boerne
Stage Rd.
(Courtesy of a site visitor)
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Main Street bridge in Boerne probably
looking east
(ca. 1935)
Photo shows flooding in progress on Cibolo Creek.
(TxDOT)
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US 87 bridge over Guadalupe River south of
Comfort probably looking northwest (ca. 1935)
This bridge has since been replaced.
(TxDOT)
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Business US 87 and Ave. A in Comfort
looking south
(ca. 1935)
At this time, this was the junction of US 87, SH 9, and SH 27. The
right fork was SH 27 to Kerrville while the left fork was US 87 and SH
9 to San Antonio. The building in the middle was a gas station and
still exists today.
(TxDOT)
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Click
here
to return to the historical photo galleries page.
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