| Marker Text |
The exceptional and historic rural atmosphere, vistas, waterways, wildlife, and natural features which are area treasures prompted the 82nd Texas legislature in 2011 to pass House Bill 1499, bestowing historic designation to the Scenic Loop, Boerne Stage, and Toutant Beauregard roads which intersect at this corner. Artifacts, including burned rock middens and stone tools, indicate that Paleo-Indian tribes lived in the area more than ten thousand years ago. Early Spanish explorers found Jumano and Coahuiltecan tribes here, but by the late 18th century, Lipan Apache and Comanche tribes controlled the area, which deterred Spanish, Mexican and Anglo settlement into the mid-19th century. In 1851, the von Plehwe family from Prussia settled at Leon Springs near the wagon trail to Fort Mason. This trail was also a leg of the Boerne Stage Road, which ran from San Antonio to San Diego, California. Historic sites abutting the route include stagecoach stops, ranch complexes dating from the mid-19th to early 20th century, homesteads of various cultural groups, and historic cemeteries. In the 1860s, drovers created the Great Western Cattle Trail next to the Boerne Stage Road. During the 1920s, the transcontinental Old Spanish Trail Automobile Highway followed the Boerne Stage Road west from San Antonio. In the late 1920s, a 46 mile scenic driving loop from downtown San Antonio was created. New recreational areas and communities such as Scenic Loop Playground and McNeel Park developed as commuting to San Antonio became easier. About 13 miles of that original scenic driving loop still exist through Helotes, Grey Forest, and Leon Springs. (2013) |
