AROUND TOWN
At some point when I wasn’t paying close-enough attention, it seems a decision was quietly made to dispense with the “old” part of Old Christoval Road, where signage and online mapping are concerned.
It looks like most folks who live along that historical stretch of blacktop have kept their “old” addresses, but it may cause some confusion for people who’ve only known it by its “old” name their entire lives, or who aren’t from here.
How long has it been the Old Christoval Road?
RELATED: Council Eyes Construction Along Old Christoval Road
Like many of the major roads in frontier towns, early street naming conventions usually called the route by its next destination when followed out of town.
So, Chadbourne Street, back when it dead-ended into Fifth Street, was the road that led from Fort Concho to points north and east, including Fort Chadbourne, and Sherwood Way led to Sherwood, Texas, and the Old Ballinger Highway led to Ballinger, and still does (kind of) and you can still see bits of the Old Sterling City Highway along the west side of U.S. 87 out by Carlsbad.
The other main roads out of town led east to Paint Rock and south to Ben Ficklin and Christoval, and the answer to how long that stretch of Christoval Road has carried the “Old” designation is 104 years.
According to historical news records, the first time the phrase Old Christoval Road appeared in print was in 1922, when a major highway improvement, known then as the New Sonora Route, was being constructed along what is now U.S. Highway 277 South.
This highway was seen as especially important because it connected San Angelo to U.S. Route 90 at Sonora, which was then known as the Old Spanish Trail, running from Florida to California.
On March 29 of that year, Tom Green County Commissioners Court held a special called meeting at the request of citizens who lived along the “Old Christoval Road” who wanted to make sure the road would stay open and receive maintenance in the future.
This was the first real paved highway in the county, and the history of this roadway is emblematic of the constant headaches and financial burdens associated with keeping early roads passable.
The earliest roads in the were, of course, essentially cow paths and two-track trails wending their way along the easiest path between any two places, generally speaking.
As there was no construction involved, other that stream crossings, the hardpan earth of the roadway didn’t really vary too much when it rained, except in low places where water tended to pond and form mud holes.
But when graded roads became the standard, it seemed like some section of any road that wasn’t perfectly level would wash out every time there was a gully-washer, which kept local road crews plenty busy, so the advent of macadam blacktop roads was seen as the way of the future.
In Texas, the first real paved highway was the Austin Post Road constructed in 1915 when the U.S. Post Office provided funding and manpower to build a 16-foot-wide macadam road to San Antonio for faster mail delivery.
The project was widely hailed as the finest road in Texas for several years, and soon people wanted blacktop everywhere. Since automobile traffic was increasing every year, it seemed like a sound investment, and during the 1920s several routes were identified for asphalt upgrades.
U.S. Highway 67 was first designated in 1926, and initial paving on what was known as the historic Bankhead Highway from Texarkana to Dallas began around 1927, though sections remained unpaved gravel or graded dirt for years as the route was progressively extended toward San Angelo and the Mexican border through the early 1930s.
U.S. Highway 87 was extended into Texas in 1935, and various segments were progressively paved through the late 1930s rather than all at once.
Other Local Street Names
According to a very informative article on the subject published in 1920, Twohig Avenue was named by Bart J. Dewitt himself, the man who platted the town of Santa Angela originally, in honor of Mr. John Twohig, a prominent philanthropist and financier who owned property here.
Beauregard, another original avenue of town, was named in honor of Mr. Augustine Toutant-Beauregard, also of San Antonio, who was the brother of confederate general Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard.
(A.T. Beauregard is noted in the Handbook of Texas as the man who bought his neighbor, Samuel E. Maverick’s famous cattle herd in 1856.) https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mavericks-and-mavericking
What is now North Chadbourne was originally called Paine Street, in honor of American patriot Thomas Paine, was renamed sometime between 1908 and 1914, resulting in the little jog in the road by the train tracks.
The Miles Addition, which includes much of north San Angelo, was named to honor Jonathan Miles, a prominent early citizen and landowner, and once included a Sherwood Street running north and south west of Randolph Street. It was named for the addition’s actual owner, G.H. Sherwood who served as the land commissioner for the Fisher and Miller Colony, and owned sizable tracts of land there also.
Streets in the Fort Concho Addition were named by the Fort Concho Realty Company, beginning with Oakes Street, Burgess, Rust, Powell, Parsons, Spencer, Duggan and Metcalfe. Allen Street was named for F.E. Allen, the first city commissioner under the commissioner-manager form of government adopted in 1915.
Bird Street was named for George J. Bird, a pioneer rancher and former mayor of San Angelo who lived at 126 W. Beauregard Ave. and died in 1922.
Baker Street was named for Col. A.J. Baker, a confederate officer who owned the Baker Flats and died in 1913.
Duggan Street was named for a former Tom Green County clerk, Burgess was named for a local lawyer named A.R. Burgess who later moved to El Paso, and Rust Street was named for the Rust brothers who owned the first telephone company here.
Powell Street was named for C.H. Powell, a cashier at the First National Bank. Guess he was a pretty good guy.
Parsons Street was named for pioneer doctor S.C. Parsons, who served as an alderman for San Angelo, and Spencer Street was named for Austin Spencer, a dry goods merchant who also served as an alderman and who also established the Spencer Addition across the river from what is now McNease Convention Center.
Mr. M. Koenigheim was another man from San Antonio, an attorney, who once owned much of the land underlying the early town.
Abe, David and Sam streets were named in honor of his brothers. (Sam Street was later renamed Kenwood.)
Park Street, the first street across the Concho River in Angelo Heights, was named because Mr. Dewitt thought bordered a perfect spot for a park.
Emerick Street was named for Harry Emerick, a former stockman of San Angelo, and Malone Street was named for J.L. Malone who owned the Lone Star Drug Store in town.
Poe, Emmerson, Pope and Browning streets were named for famous poets.
Pueusser Street was named for pioneer resident J.G. Preusser, and Koberlin Street was named for a shoemaker in town who had that name, while Spaulding Street was named for a clerk who worked for the Asa-Frary Dry Goods Company.
W.S. Veck lent his name to Veck Street, and Probandt, Culberson, Bryan, Roosevelt, Mayse and Schwarts streets were named for people who lived in that neighborhood.
