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Building Old Highway 80
November 3, 2023 @ 8:00 am - 1:00 pm
Free
Building Old Highway 80 is the 100 year old story of Col. Ed Fletcher and the people who brought a transcontinental highway to San Diego.
Join us for a morning presentation by an outstanding lineup of historians and writers.
The Speakers
- Bonnie Fletcher, San Diego native, descendant of Col. Ed Fletcher, Trustee of the San Diego History Center and Co-chair of the Ed & Mary Fletcher Foundation,
- Robert M. Harding, Jr, writer, lecturer and VP of the Lakeside Historical Society,
- John W. Murphey, architectural historian and research consultant now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico,
- Connie Sue Low, Travel and Texas history writer, and
- Charlotte Kahl, President of the Old Spanish Trail Centennial Association.
The Topics
- Building Old Highway 80,
- Ed Fletcher: Bringing Highways to San Diego,
- Remembering Harry Locke – Prolific US Early Highway Designer,
- and more….
Before Interstate 8 there was US Highway 80. Before US Highway 80 there was an auto trail that stretched from San Diego to Florida.
Telling the story is the theme of the morning session of the Old Spanish Trail Centennial Conference and Celebration scheduled for November 3rd, 2023 at the Marriott Hotel in El Cajon. After the morning session you are invited to browse the exhibits in the adjacent exhibit hall. Meet the speakers and relive this exciting period in San Diego history when the automobile was young.
Attending the Event
Attending the event is free, however, registration is required to attend the complimentary lunch on Friday, November 3rd. For information, please see the Information and Registration Packet or contact the Centennial Association at: OST100Kahl@aol.com
About Us
The Old Spanish Trail Centennial Celebration Association (OST100) was organized to locate, revitalize and preserve the roadway, businesses and historic sites of the original 1920s OLD SPANISH TRAIL (OST) auto highway and to create a decade long Centennial Celebration reenacting annual conferences held by the original Old Spanish Trail Association of the early 1900s.
Plans began in 2002 for a decade-long OST Centennial Celebration with the first reenactment set for 2015 in Mobile, Alabama. Annual conference reenactments have been held in various cities and will culminate in a grand historic transcontinental motorcade in 2029.
About the History
The first San Diego OST conference was held in 1923 hosted by Col. Ed Fletcher, then vice president of the Old Spanish Trail Association.
The San Antonio, Texas OST Headquarters Executive Director brought together California highway engineers and commissioners, chambers of commerce and Good Roads Club members. They discussed how best to pave the OST into and across southern California. El Cajon Boulevard and the El Cajon to Alpine, Pine Valley and Boulevard corridors were chosen as the OST route.