Details for Old Alice Road

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5489012297

Data

Marker Number 12297
Atlas Number 5489012297
Marker Title Old Alice Road
Index Entry Alice Road, Old
Address
City La Jarita
County Willacy
UTM Zone
UTM Easting
UTM Northing
Subject Codes roads; military topics
Marker Year 1997
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location 1 mi. N. of Santa Monica on FM 1420; 3 mi. E of La Jarita
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 18" x 28"
Marker Text Once used by Indian tribes, then widened by Mexican oxcarts and Spanish expeditions, this trail has been called the Old Alice Road since its establishment as a stagecoach line from San Antonio to Brownsville in the 1860s. It was the main route between Brownsville and central and east Texas. Dubbed "The Cotton Road" in the Civil War, when Union troops blockaded Texas ports, this was the route by which cotton was moved down to Mexico. When the railroad arrived in south Texas in 1904, the old stage route fell into disuse. By the late 20th century, only impressions of the trail remained. (1997)