There is a great sense of pride in being part of the community’s history, and wheel ruts that are still visible today in the limestone bed of Onion Creek at the Old San Antonio Road bridge serve as a nice reminder to all of Manchaca’s historic past. Today, many of the founding families still have relatives living on the original plats of land that were purchased in the 1800s. People passed through the area, took note of the beauty afforded by the abundant creeks and lush vegetation, and returned to settle down. The community of Manchaca developed just to the north of the springs. We were ushered into a snug supper-room andįound a table set with wheat-bread, ham, tea and preserved fruits waited on by Heavy limestone rocks, now water-stained and mossy.
Adjacent, within, was the spring which deserved Was large and well constructed, standing in a thick grove, separated from the “We found a plantation that would have done no discredit to Virginia. Olmsted, who hailed from New York and was the landscape architect for Central Park, gives us his firsthand account of the accommodations there: A Journey Through Texas, written by Frederick Law Olmsted and published in 1857, records a wonderful window in time at Manchaca Springs. The Manchaca Springs stage stop, owned by Adolphus Weir in the 1850s, was rather well equipped compared with others. Reports of hard biscuits, greasy pork gravy, and bitter black coffee abound. The fare at most stage stops was sparse and minimal. Some stations also provided overnight accommodations as well.
Stagecoach lines set up way stations or stops along their routes for their passengers to get a bite to eat and rest, and also to change out their horses or mules with fresh stock. An ad in the Austin City Directory for 1877 mentions Scott’s Stage Line, which ran from Austin to San Antonio via “Manchac Springs.” Harrison of Harrison & McCulloch that traveled through “Manchac Spring,” San Marcos, and New Braunfels, connecting Austin with San Antonio.
Advertisements in Austin’s Texas State Gazette in 1850 record a tri-weekly mail route run by J. Located on the Old San Antonio Road, Manchaca Springs was a way station for at least two different stagecoach lines, and probably more. The drive from Austin to San Antonio takes about an hour and a half today, depending on the traffic, and traveling Interstate 35 can be an irritating experience when the traffic tangles, but that same trip by stagecoach took 18 hours in 1850.