2nd Annual Old Spanish Trail Centennial Celebration (OST100) Conference
Source: Charlotte Kahl, December 2016
Partnering with University of West Florida Historic Trust (venues), Scenic Highway Foundation (volunteers), Visit Pensacola (PR & printing}, National Black Tourism Marketing Corporation (meals), Santa Rosa Historical Society (Milton event), Crestview Spanish Trail Cruisers (classic autos), Florida Black Chamber of Commerce (meals), and Gulf Power (handouts) made for a very successful second annual OST100 conference.
Well over 100 highway enthusiasts from St. Augustine, Florida to San Antonio, Texas, gathered in Pensacola, Florida December 1 – 3, 2016 for a centennial reenactment of the 1916 annual planning convention to pave the Old Spanish Trail auto highway.
UFW Historic Trust Old Christ Church was the site of a symposium on early transportation, roadway development and bridge building and the preservation of early infrastructure. Exhibits of successful preservation, economic development and beautification projects from 17 cities, counties and parishes along the OST filled the Historic Village Museum of Commerce as attendees greeted old friends along the OST and gained insight into possibilities for improvements of their own OST corridors.
During the conference, Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward accepted “Official OST City” designation from OST100 chair Charlotte Kahl and a motion to ask OST cities, counties and parishes to preserve old OST bridges was passed during the Plenary Session.
A Saturday motorcade of modern and classic autos proceeded from the old Pensacola L&N Depot out the 1916 OST route along E. Gadsden Street and on up Scenic Bluffs Highway (paved in 1929) and across the new Escambia River Bridge. They were joined at the site of the Floridatown old ferry docks by 14 autos of Crestview Spanish Trail Cruisers Club to continue on to Milton to be met by the British Auto Club and Santa Rosa Historical Society. After a picnic lunch at Imogene Theater, Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole accepted the “Official OST County” designation and led the procession on a drive eastward on the red brick road portion of the OST paved in 1921. Special permission for driving on the recreational trail was granted by the county for only that one day. The Santa Rosa Historical Society has worked tirelessly over the years with Florida Department of Transportation to transform the red brick road into a recreational trail and preserve the WPA concrete enhancements during restoration of the OST Bridge east of Milton.
We invite everyone to participate in our May 18 – 20, Tallahassee Conference. It will be held at the same time as the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network biennial conference. This will provide the opportunity for participants to attend Network workshops and OST100 lectures and exhibits. OST100 exhibits will include East Texas African American Freedom Colonies and lectures will include “Stripes but No Stars”: Convict Labor and Southern Good Roads, and inclusion of black music and dance in the art of the OST. The OST100 conference fee is free and open to anyone with a love of travel and the open road.
To see more photos, videos and information about our conferences and upcoming events, go to the “Old Spanish Trail Highway” Facebook Group.
For Registration forms to participate in the Tallahassee OST100 conference, visit: www.oldspanishtrailcentennial.com
