Can You Guess This Location Near San Antonio? (Spring, Hondo: versus, cars)

[SATX56]

Was gonna say old Pleasanton road bridge... wrong design though. Maybe another Medina river bridge off 281 south. Looks more hill country-ish though.

[majormadmax]

Nope, that's a good guess; but you are in the wrong direction from the city...

[txtea]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

OK, I know this post is over a year-and-a-half old but I recently was down 271 out north of Castroville last Saturday and at no time did I see a crossing like this!

There is one really nice concrete bridge along the road before it comes out on FM 2676 to Quihi, I can only think that this road was a small offshoot from 271. Does anyone know

But mlhradio is quite right, there are hundreds of beautiful county backroads that are a blast to explore, especially in an open Jeep!

Cheers! M2

You need to keep going south on 271 past where it meets FM 2676....this is the old Haby Settlement Road that follows the Medina river until it makes a left and winds up on fm 471. I believe the concrete bridge you crossed is north of FM 2676 and goes over one of the irrigation canals built to provide water to the farms in the area over 100 years ago. The crossing in the pic is just before the road takes a left and on to FM 471. Still a few of the old homesteads left that you can see from the road. You can go to street view on Google Earth and follow it to where it crosses the river.....pretty spot! I have no idea how to give a link to the street view of it, or I would....

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by txtea

You need to keep going south on 271 past where it meets FM 2676....this is the old Haby Settlement Road that follows the Medina river until it makes a left and winds up on fm 471. I believe the concrete bridge you crossed is north of FM 2676 and goes over one of the irrigation canals built to provide water to the farms in the area over 100 years ago. The crossing in the pic is just before the road takes a left and on to FM 471. Still a few of the old homesteads left that you can see from the road. You can go to street view on Google Earth and follow it to where it crosses the river.....pretty spot! I have no idea how to give a link to the street view of it, or I would....

Nope, I actually took 271 off of 471 (where the old homestead sits) then took it west then north until it hits 2676. The bridge I stopped on is hard to see on online maps, but sits in the middle of this map. I continued on that road until it hit 2676, then turned West towards Quihi, so there's no chance I could have missed it.

Here's a pic of the bridge facing north on 271 but well south of 2676. It is just beyond the bend where 271 changes from being westbound to northbound...



Cheers! M2

[txtea]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

Nope, I actually took 271 off of 471 (where the old homestead sits) then took it west then north until it hits 2676. The bridge I stopped on is hard to see on online maps, but sits in the middle of this map. I continued on that road until it hit 2676, then turned West towards Quihi, so there's no chance I could have missed it.

Here's a pic of the bridge facing north on 271 but well south of 2676. It is just beyond the bend where 271 changes from being westbound to northbound...



Cheers! M2

Hmmm....that looks like the spot in question, but the bridge looks totally different. Did it appear to be a newly constructed bridge? If you use Google Earth and go to street view on that spot, you will see the exact picture that Mlhradio posted. It says the Google Earth view was taken in 2012, but who knows.
Bet they built a new bridge...I drove over that bridge roughly a year ago with my son, and it looked just like Mlhradio's pic. We had to stop and get our feet wet of course! Too bad if they did.....took away the charm of the old crossing. Progress, some say.

P.S.....That IS the same crossing. The big Cottonwood tree across the bridge to the left of your Jeep is the same in both pics, so that has to be a new bridge. Sorry you didn't get to see the old one.....it was really cool.

I know I've passed that abandoned bridge that you posted a pic of......is it off hwy. 211 ? My memory is not the best..lol.

[SATX56]

Hard to believe how Castroville has changed over the years. Quihi even looks unrecognizable. I made that patronage many times back in the early 70's. The subject of the bridge namesake likely kin to Haby's Bakery family. Used to work with a Haby at Union Stockyards in SA early 70's. The old Quihi Gun club was the site of many fun music filled nights back in the day. Big barn on stilts in a low water area i think. Man named Benny Digiorno (sp) Worked for a Commission Co. at the Stockyards and was the President of the gun club back then. I miss those days.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by txtea

Hmmm....that looks like the spot in question, but the bridge looks totally different. Did it appear to be a newly constructed bridge? If you use Google Earth and go to street view on that spot, you will see the exact picture that Mlhradio posted. It says the Google Earth view was taken in 2012, but who knows.
Bet they built a new bridge...I drove over that bridge roughly a year ago with my son, and it looked just like Mlhradio's pic. We had to stop and get our feet wet of course! Too bad if they did.....took away the charm of the old crossing. Progress, some say.

P.S.....That IS the same crossing. The big Cottonwood tree across the bridge to the left of your Jeep is the same in both pics, so that has to be a new bridge. Sorry you didn't get to see the old one.....it was really cool.

I think you are right, which makes me wonder why tax money would be wasted on a bridge that was so unnecessary. There are routes away from the river in both directions, to 471 to the south and 2676 to the north if that crossing flooded; so it wasn't critical for those who live in the area. Perhaps it was stimulus money!

Shame though, that is a very nice place to park and enjoy a quiet section of the Medina river. The old crossing kept you much closer to the water, it is still nice but obviously all that concrete kinda ruins the serenity of the place.

I know I've passed that abandoned bridge that you posted a pic of......is it off hwy. 211 ? My memory is not the best..lol.

Nope, but you're getting closer; and I know which one you were thinking of. It's across Geronimo Creek just south of 471, I stopped there one time years ago and hiked that canyon underneath it. Gorgeous place!

Cheers! M2

[majormadmax]

OK, I see now, the original pic was shot facing south whereas mine was taken facing north. I have another which makes it clearer...

mlhradio's original photo...



And my pic facing that same direction...



It appears that a few trees were removed to the left in the original picture to facilitate the wider concrete bridge. Otherwise it's pretty clear that it is the same location.

Shame, I would have preferred the lower bridge, especially in the Jeep!

Cheers! M2

[SATX56]

Major that first pic in post above is exactly what the one on Applewhite looked like. If you went south on Applewhite from Mauerman Road there was a trestle bridge over a creek. Then a ways down from that was a low water crossing of the Medina. It looked just like the one in your photo. I haven't been out Applewhite since Toyota came. Looks like they straightened the road and made it a major thoroughfare.

I'll bet all the area north and west of Quihi is nice. I'm assuming D'Hanis and Hondo have exploded and are no longer the fun small towns I once knew. Pity.

[huckster]

That old bridge runs paralel to 471 out towards Medina Lake about 3/4 of the way out.
I have been to that exact spot, parked and gotten out and walked down and seen the eroded
cap rock from the gulley washers down at the bottom and the box culvert underneath the
new highway.